BILL NUMBER: AB 2164	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 5, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Norby

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2010

   An act to amend Section  82013   84308 
of the Government Code, relating to the Political Reform Act of 1974.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2164, as amended, Norby. Political Reform Act of 1974:
committees.
   Existing law defines the term  "committee"  
"agency"  for the purposes of  contribution limitations to a
member of a board by a person or entity appearing before the board,
under  the Political Reform Act of 1974.  The definition of
"agency" does not include   a local board whose members are
all directly elected by the public. 
   This bill would  make nonsubstantive changes to this
definition   amend the definition of "agency" under
these provisions to also exclude a local board whose elected members
include current elected officials who have been appointed to serve on
the board  . 
   The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides
that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes
upon a 2/3 vote of each house and compliance with specified
procedural requirements.  
   This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.

   Vote:  majority   2/3  . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 84308 of the  
Government Code   is amended to read: 
   84308.  (a) The definitions set forth in this subdivision shall
govern the interpretation of this section.
   (1) "Party" means any person who files an application for, or is
the subject of, a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other
entitlement for use.
   (2) "Participant" means any person who is not a party but who
actively supports or opposes a particular decision in a proceeding
involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use and who has
a financial interest in the decision, as described in Article 1
(commencing with Section 87100) of Chapter 7. A person actively
supports or opposes a particular decision in a proceeding if he or
she lobbies in person the officers or employees of the agency,
testifies in person before the agency, or otherwise acts to influence
officers of the agency.
   (3) "Agency" means an agency as defined in Section 82003 except
that it does not include the courts or any agency in the judicial
branch of government, local governmental agencies whose members are
directly elected by the voters  and may include current elected
officials who have been appointed as members  , the Legislature,
the  State  Board of Equalization, or constitutional
officers. However, this section applies to any person who is a member
of an exempted agency but is acting as a voting member of another
agency.
   (4) "Officer" means any elected or appointed officer of an agency,
any alternate to an elected or appointed officer of an agency, and
any candidate for elective office in an agency.
   (5) "License, permit, or other entitlement for use" means all
business, professional, trade and land use licenses and permits and
all other entitlements for use, including all entitlements for land
use, all contracts (other than competitively bid, labor, or personal
employment contracts), and all franchises.
   (6) "Contribution" includes contributions to candidates and
committees in federal, state, or local elections.
   (b) No officer of an agency shall accept, solicit, or direct a
contribution of more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) from any
party, or his or her agent, or from any participant, or his or her
agent, while a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other
entitlement for use is pending before the agency and for three months
following the date a final decision is rendered in the proceeding if
the officer knows or has reason to know that the participant has a
financial interest, as that term is used in Article 1 (commencing
with Section 87100) of Chapter 7. This prohibition shall apply
regardless of whether the officer accepts, solicits, or directs the
contribution for himself or herself, or on behalf of any other
officer, or on behalf of any candidate for office or on behalf of any
committee.
   (c) Prior to rendering any decision in a proceeding involving a
license, permit  ,  or other entitlement for use pending
before an agency, each officer of the agency who received a
contribution within the preceding 12 months in an amount of more than
two hundred fifty dollars ($250) from a party or from any
participant shall disclose that fact on the record of the proceeding.
No officer of an agency shall make, participate in making, or in any
way attempt to use his or her official position to influence the
decision in a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other
entitlement for use pending before the agency if the officer has
willfully or knowingly received a contribution in an amount of more
than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) within the preceding 12 months
from a party or his or her agent, or from any participant, or his or
her agent if the officer knows or has reason to know that the
participant has a financial interest in the decision, as that term is
described with respect to public officials in Article 1 (commencing
with Section 87100) of Chapter 7.
   If an officer receives a contribution which would otherwise
require disqualification under this section  ,  
and  returns the contribution within 30 days from the time he
or she knows, or should have known, about the contribution and the
proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use,
he or she shall be permitted to participate in the proceeding.
   (d) A party to a proceeding before an agency involving a license,
permit, or other entitlement for use shall disclose on the record of
the proceeding any contribution in an amount of more than two hundred
fifty dollars ($250) made within the preceding 12 months by the
party, or his or her agent, to any officer of the agency. No party,
or his or her agent, to a proceeding involving a license, permit, or
other entitlement for use pending before any agency and no
participant, or his or her agent, in the proceeding shall make a
contribution of more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) to any
officer of that agency during the proceeding and for three months
following the date a final decision is rendered by the agency in the
proceeding. When a closed corporation is a party to, or a participant
in, a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement
for use pending before an agency, the majority shareholder is subject
to the disclosure and prohibition requirements specified in
subdivisions (b)  ,   and  (c)  ,
 and this subdivision.
   (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to imply that any
contribution subject to being reported under this title shall not be
so reported.
   SEC. 2.    The Legislature finds and declares that
this bill furthers the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974
within the meaning of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the
Government Code.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 82013 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
   82013.  "Committee" means any person or combination of persons who
directly or indirectly does any of the following:
   (a) Receives contributions totaling one thousand dollars ($1,000)
or more in a calendar year.
   (b) Makes independent expenditures totaling one thousand dollars
($1,000) or more in a calendar year.
   (c) Makes contributions totaling ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or
more in a calendar year to, or at the behest of, candidates or
committees.
   A person or combination of persons that becomes a committee shall
retain its status as a committee until that status is terminated
pursuant to Section 84214.