BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1921
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1921 (Davis)
As Introduced February 16, 2010
2/3 vote
ELECTIONS 7-0
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|Ayes:|Fong, Adams, Bill | | |
| |Berryhill, Coto, Mendoza, | | |
| |Saldana, Swanson | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : 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."
As part of the Political Reform Act's (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
AB 1921
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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 they are
employed.
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,
AB 1921
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absent additional legislative action.
California voters passed an initiative, Proposition 9, in 1974
that created the Fair Political Practices Commission 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0004143