BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1921
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1921 (Davis) - As Introduced: February 16, 2010
SUBJECT : Political Reform Act of 1974: electronic filing.
SUMMARY : Allows Santa Clara and Ventura Counties and the City
of Long Beach to participate in an ongoing pilot project that
allows certain local jurisdictions to permit statements of
economic interests (SEIs) to be filed electronically.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), and
makes it responsible for the impartial, effective
administration and implementation of the Political Reform Act
(PRA).
2)Requires that candidates for and current holders of specified
elected or appointed state and local offices and designated
employees of state and local agencies file SEIs disclosing
their financial interests, including investments, real
property interests, and income.
3)Establishes a pilot project which permits Los Angeles, Merced,
Orange, and Stanislaus Counties to permit the electronic
filing of an SEI in accordance with regulations adopted by the
FPPC.
4)Requires the pilot project to cover the reporting periods of
2008 through 2010.
5)Requires a county participating in the pilot project to submit
a report to the FPPC not later than July 1, 2011. Requires
the report to include a listing and estimate of associated
operational efficiencies; related savings and associated costs
from implementing and operating the pilot program; a listing
of the safety, security, or privacy issues encountered and an
explanation of how those issues were addressed; available
information related to feedback from electronic filing
participants; and any other relevant information on the
implementation of the pilot program.
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6)Requires the FPPC to transmit the county reports received, as
well as any comments on the reports, to the Legislative
Analyst's Office (LAO) no later than August 15, 2011, and
requires the LAO to provide a report to the Legislature
evaluating the pilot project not later than February 1, 2012.
7)Allows the FPPC, in conjunction with the LAO, to develop
additional criteria for the report to be submitted to the FPPC
by participating counties.
8)Provides that the pilot project will begin on January 1, 2009
and end on January 1, 2012.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
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COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
Assembly Bill 2607 (Davis) provided Los Angeles, Orange,
Merced and Stanislaus Counties with the ability to
participate in a pilot program to provide constituents with
the option of filing their Form 700 Statement of Economic
Interests using a secure electronic template. The program
provides a safe, cost-effective and workload-reducing
option for the filer to utilize to fulfill their annual
filing obligation.
Assembly Bill 1921 would add Santa Clara and Ventura
Counties, as well as the City of Long Beach, to the
existing pilot project. These entities are prepared to
administer the electronic filing option immediately, and
require legislative action to provide them the avenue
needed to officially launch their programs. The language
in AB 1921 will provide the referenced entities with an
additional year of financial and workload savings.
2)Statements of Economic Interests : As part of the PRA's
comprehensive scheme to prevent conflicts of interest by state
and local public officials, existing law identifies certain
elected and other high-level state and local officials who
must file SEIs. Similarly, candidates for those positions must
file SEIs. Other state and local public officials and
employees are required to file SEIs if the position they hold
is designated in an agency's conflict of interest code. A
position is designated in an agency's conflict of interest
code when the position entails the making or participation in
the making of governmental decisions that may foreseeably have
a material financial effect on the decision maker's financial
interests. While the exact number of people that are required
to file SEIs is unknown, the FPPC previously has estimated
that the number exceeds 130,000 officials and employees
statewide.
The information that must be disclosed on an SEI, and the
location at which an SEI is filed, varies depending on the
position held by the individual who is required to file an
SEI. Although there are some exceptions, individuals who are
required to file an SEI typically must file that document with
the agency of which they are an elected official or by which
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they are employed.
3)Is It Appropriate to Modify the Participants In An Ongoing
Pilot Project ? AB 2607 (Davis), Chapter 498, Statutes of
2008, established a pilot project which permits Los Angeles,
Merced, Orange, and Stanislaus Counties to permit the
electronic filing of an SEI in accordance with regulations
adopted by the FPPC. AB 1149 (Davis), Chapter 139, Statutes
of 2009, made two minor changes to that pilot project. The
pilot project began in 2009 for SEIs filed for the 2008
calendar year, and is scheduled to conclude with SEIs filed
for the 2010 calendar year. The Legislative Analyst is
required to provide a report to the Legislature by February 1,
2012 evaluating the pilot program.
This bill seeks to add two additional counties (Santa Clara and
Ventura) and a city (Long Beach) to the ongoing pilot project
that was created by AB 2607. It is fairly uncommon for the
participants in a pilot project to be changed after the pilot
project has already begun, in part because such a modification
may make it difficult to evaluate the impacts of the pilot
program. If this bill is approved and the three entities that
are authorized to participate in the pilot project by this
bill do participate, those three entities will be
participating for just one (2010) of the three filing years
(2008, 2009, 2010) covered by the pilot project.
Additionally, individuals who are required to file SEIs in
Santa Clara and Ventura Counties and in the City of Long Beach
had to file a paper copy of their SEI for the 2009 calendar
year, would have the option of filing electronically for the
2010 calendar year, but then would be required to file a paper
copy again for the 2011 calendar year, absent additional
legislative action. The committee may wish to consider
whether it is appropriate to change the participants in this
pilot project two-thirds of the way in to the duration of the
pilot project.
4)Arguments in Support : The Santa Clara County Board of
Supervisors, a co-sponsor of this bill, writes:
Our County is well suited to begin immediate participation
in the pilot program. In October 2009, our Board
authorized the purchase of an e-filing software program for
Form 700 submissions to simplify the current submission
process for both filers and the Clerk of the Board. The
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software offers an electronic submission feature, which
would be easy to implement if AB 1921 is enacted.
Our Clerk of the Board is the local filing officer for over
4,000 filers in Santa Clara County. Most of these filers
would qualify for electronic filing under the pilot
program. This includes various County employees and
members of local school boards and special districts. As
you can imagine, the large number of filers in our county
creates a tremendous amount of work for the Clerk's Office.
The ability to accept electronic submissions of statements
of economic interest forms will result in staff
efficiencies, reduce the risk of errors, and provide some
cost savings.
5)Political Reform Act of 1974 : California voters passed an
initiative, Proposition 9, in 1974 that created the FPPC and
codified significant restrictions and prohibitions on
candidates, officeholders and lobbyists. That initiative is
commonly known as the PRA. Amendments to the PRA that are not
submitted to the voters, such as those contained in this bill,
must further the purposes of the initiative and require a
two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
(co-sponsor)
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors (co-sponsor)
Ventura County Board of Supervisors (co-sponsor)
City Clerks Association of California
City of Long Beach
City of Thousand Oaks
Orange County Board of Supervisors
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094