BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1181
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 13, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1181 (Huber) - As Amended: April 28, 2009
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:6-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill amends the Political Reform Act (PRA) by lowering the
monetary thresholds that trigger mandatory electronic reporting
(as opposed to allowing paper reporting) of campaign
contributions and expenditures by candidates, officeholders,
major donors, and slate mailer organizations. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Lowers, from $50,000 to $25,000, the cumulative amount of
contributions received, expenditures made, loans made, or
loans received by a candidate or committee in connection with
a state office or measure before the filing of campaign
reports electronically is required.
2)Lowers, from $50,000 to $25,000, the cumulative amount of
contributions received or expenditures made by a general
purpose committee to support or oppose candidates for state
office or state measures before the filing of campaign reports
electronically is required.
3)Lowers, from $50,000 to $25,000, the cumulative amount of
reportable payments received or made to produce slate mailers
before a slate mailer organization must file campaign reports
electronically.
4)Lowers, from $5,000 to $2,500 in a calendar quarter, the
amount of reportable payments, expenses, contributions, gifts,
or other items that must be made by a lobbyist, lobbying firm,
or lobbyist employer before filing of periodic lobbying
disclosure reports electronically is required.
5)Eliminates the requirement that paper copies of certain
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campaign reports regarding statewide candidates and measures
be filed with Los Angeles and San Francisco Counties.
6)Eliminates the requirement that members of the Legislature and
Board of Equalization, court of appeal justices, superior
court judges, and candidates for those offices file paper
copies of campaign reports with the elections official of the
county with the largest number of registered voters in the
districts affected.
7)Requires candidates for the Board of Administration of the
Public Employees Retirement System to file campaign reports
online or electronically with the Secretary of State (SOS).
8)Provides that if a late contribution is required to be
reported to the SOS, that report is to be submitted by online
or electronic transmission only, and a paper copy of the
report is not required.
9)Provides that if a late independent expenditure is required to
be reported to the SOS, that report is to be submitted
electronically.
10)Requires lobbyist registration statements and amendments to
those statements to be filed both by online or electronic
means and physically, submitting the original statement and
one copy in paper format.
FISCAL EFFECT
No net fiscal impact to the SOS, with whom campaign reports are
filed.
COMMENTS
1)Background . SB 49 (Karnette)/Chapter 866 of 1997 required the
SOS to develop a process whereby reports and statements
required under the PRA could be filed online and viewed by the
public. SB 49 also required certain candidates, committees,
slate mailer organizations, lobbyists, lobbyist employers, and
lobbying firms to file campaign reports online.
AB 696 (Longville)/Chapter 917 of 2001 required the SOS to
provide a means whereby individuals subject to mandatory
electronic or online filing may submit required filings free
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of charge. While AB 696 required the free filing option to be
developed by December 31, 2002, the SOS did not report
completing the free filing option until February 1, 2007.
Moreover, the SOS has not yet to make a public determination,
required under current law, that the online campaign
disclosure system is operating effectively.
2)Purpose . This bill originally required that filing of all
required campaign reports with the SOS be done electronically.
Given concerns about the burden this could cause for small
campaigns and whether the current online reporting system is
sufficiently user friendly, amendments adopted in the policy
committee instead lower the threshold at which candidates and
committees must file reports online or electronically from
$50,000 to $25,000, and lower the threshold at which lobbying
reports must be filed online or electronically from $5,000 to
$2,500. These changes will still significantly expand the
amount of campaign finance information that is available
online without imposing potentially significant new burdens on
candidates and committees that have relatively little campaign
activity.
3)Related Legislation . AB 1514 (Hayashi), also on today's
committee agenda, enhances electronic filing requirements for
campaign committees and slate mailer organizations.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081