BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2007
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2007 (Adams)
As Amended April 5, 2010
2/3 vote
ELECTIONS 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 14-1
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|Ayes:|Fong, Adams, Bill |Ayes:|Fuentes, Conway, Ammiano, |
| |Berryhill, Coto, Mendoza, | |Coto, Davis, Bonnie |
| |Saldana, Swanson | |Lowenthal, Hall, Harkey, |
| | | |Miller, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Torlakson, Hill |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Skinner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the Fair Political Practices Commission
(FPPC), on or before February 1 of each year, to post on its
Internet Web site information describing all gifts that were
reported on lobbying disclosure reports to have been given to
Members of the Legislature and designated employees of the
Legislature in the previous calendar year.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, the FPPC will incur annual GF costs of about $90,000
for a full-time analyst position and a part-time Political
Reform Act (PRA) specialist position to review each statement
filed by approximately 4,500 lobbying entities, extract the gift
information, enter the data into a spreadsheet, and regularly
check the Secretary of State's (SOS's) Web site for amendments
to the reports.
COMMENTS : This bill appears to be motivated, at least in part,
by a number of fines recently imposed by the FPPC on several
members of the Legislature and legislative employees for failure
to disclose the receipt of gifts that lobbyist employers
reported making to those members and employees. Because the PRA
requires lobbyist employers to disclose any activity expenses
(which includes gifts to members of the Legislature and
legislative employees) that they incur on their lobbying
disclosure reports, the FPPC was able to compare the gifts
reported as having been made by lobbyist employers with the
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gifts reported as having been received by members of the
Legislature and legislative employees on their SEIs. In cases
where a lobbyist employer reported making a gift to a member of
the Legislature or a legislative employee that was valued at $50
or more, and the member or employee did not report that gift on
his or her SEI, the FPPC initiated an investigation and pursued
enforcement actions.
This bill requires the FPPC to post information on its Internet
Web site about gifts that lobbyist employers (and other entities
that are required to file lobbying disclosure reports) disclosed
making to members of the Legislature and to legislative
employees. While the posting of this information on the
Internet may make it easier for Legislators and legislative
employees to ensure that they are disclosing gifts that were
given to them, it would not relieve Legislators and legislative
employees of the obligation under the PRA to report having
received gifts of $50 or more in a calendar year from a single
source if that source did not report having made a gift to that
Legislator or employee.
Almost all of the information that the FPPC would be required to
post online under the provisions of this bill is already
available online. Because most lobbyist disclosure reports are
required to be filed electronically with the SOS, the only
information that would be posted online under this bill that is
not already available through the Web site of the SOS is
information from lobbying disclosure reports of entities that
did not reach the threshold at which they are required to file
reports electronically. Under existing law, any person who is
required to file lobbying disclosure reports must file those
reports electronically if the total amount of reportable
payments, expenses, contributions, gifts, or other items was
$5,000 or more in any calendar quarter. Any entity that reached
that $5,000 threshold in any calendar quarter since July 1, 2000
is required to file all subsequent lobbying disclosure reports
electronically, even if they do not reach that $5,000 threshold
in subsequent quarters. As such, it is likely that the vast
majority of gifts reported as having been given to members of
the Legislature and legislative employees are already reported
electronically and immediately posted to the SOS Web site.
Given this fact, the desirability for having the FPPC post this
information as well is unclear, particularly given the
commission's stagnant staffing levels and the state's budget
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pressures.
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.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0004057