BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 501|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 501
Author: Correa (D)
Amended: 8/20/10
Vote: 21
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Local government: compensation disclosure
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : Assembly Amendments delete the prior version
dealing with the California Debt Limit Allocation
Committee. This bill now deals with local government
compensation disclosures by requiring filers of a county,
city, city and county, school district, special district,
or joint powers agency, to annually file a compensation
disclosure form that provides compensation information for
the proceeding year.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Prohibits a public official at any level of state or
local government from making, participating in making or
in any way attempting to use his official position to
influence a governmental decision in which he knows or
CONTINUED
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has reason to know he has a financial interest.
2. Requires the following persons to file a statement of
economic interest disclosing his investments, his
interests in real property and his income during the
period since their previous economic statement was
filed: state officers, judges and commissioners of
courts of the judicial branch of government, members of
the Public Utilities Commission, members of the State
Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission, members of the Fair Political Practices
Commission, members of the California Coastal
Commission, members of planning commissions, members of
the board of supervisors, district attorneys, county
counsels, county treasurers, and chief administrative
officers of counties, mayors, city managers, city
attorneys, city treasurers, chief administrative
officers and members of city councils of cities, and
other public officials who manage public investments,
and to candidates for any of these offices at any
election.
3. Requires a statement of economic interest be filed as
follows:
A. Persons holding the office of chief administrative
officer and candidates for and persons holding the
office of district attorney, county counsel, county
treasurer, and member of the board of supervisors -
one original with the county clerk, who shall make
and retain a copy and forward the original to the
commission, which shall be the filing officer.
B. Persons holding the office of city manager or, if
there is no city manager, the chief administrative
officer, and candidates for and persons holding the
office of city council member, city treasurer, city
attorney, and mayor - one original with the city
clerk, who shall make and retain a copy and forward
the original to the commission, which shall be the
filing officer.
4. Provides that in enacting the Public Records Act, the
Legislature, mindful of the right of individuals to
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privacy, finds and declares that access to information
concerning the conduct of the people's business is a
fundamental and necessary right of every person in this
state.
5. Provides that every employment contract between a state
or local agency and any public official or public
employee is a public record.
This bill:
1. Requires filer of a county, city, city and county,
school district, special district, or joint powers
agency (JPA), to annually file a compensation disclosure
form that provides compensation information for the
proceeding year.
2. Requires each filer to annually file a compensation
disclosure form that provides compensation information
for the proceeding year.
3. Specifies that the annual filing deadline for a
compensation disclosure form is the same as the filing
deadline established for annual statements of economic
interest.
4. Defines "filer" as:
A. An elected or appointed officer of a county, city
and county, school district, special district, or JPA
who is statutorily required to file a statement of
economic interest pursuant to existing law.
B. Any person who is a superintendent, deputy
superintendent, assistant superintendent, associate
superintendent, community college president,
community college vice president, community college
deputy vice president, general manager, city manager,
county administrator, or other similar chief
administrative officer or chief executive officer of
a local agency who is required to file a statement of
economic interest pursuant to existing law.
5. Defines "school district" as a school district,
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community college district, county board of education,
and county superintendent of schools.
6. Defines "city" as a general law or charter city.
7. Requires that a filer file his/her compensation
disclosure form with the same office of the local agency
that receives that filer's statement of economic
interest.
8. Creates an alternative to the individual filling
process, authorizing a local agency to compile the
required disclosure information for each filer and
posting the information on its Web site.
9. Requires a local agency to post its reimbursement policy
on its Internet Web site if that local agency is already
required by existing to develop a reimbursement policy.
10.Requires that, if a county, city, city and county,
school district, special district, or JPA maintains an
Internet Web site, then it shall post the information
contained on the filed compensation disclosure form on
that Internet Web site.
11.Requires the Secretary of State to develop the
compensation disclosure form.
12.Requires the Secretary of State, when developing the
compensation disclosure form, to review and consider
whether the amounts listed in the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) W-2 for purposes of calculating Medicare
taxes or in the case of a contractor the amount listed
in the IRS 1099 are sufficient.
13.Specifies that if the filer is a contractor, the
compensation disclosure form shall require disclosure of
the contract's compensation provision.
14.Requires the compensation disclosure form to, provide
for disclosure of each of the following:
Annual salary or stipend.
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Local agency payments to the filer's deferred
compensation or defined benefit plans.
Automobile and equipment allowances.
Supplemental incentive and bonus payments; and,
Local agency payments to the filer that are in
excess of the standard benefits that the local agency
offers for all other employees.
15.Specifies that information disclosed on the compensation
disclosure form shall also include any amounts received
by a filer as a result of membership with, or employment
by, any local agency, municipal corporation, public
benefit corporation, or community redevelopment agency,
if the membership of the filer's governing body is
sufficient in number to constitute a quorum or a
majority of the governing body membership of those
entities.
16.Specifies that the compensation disclosure form is a
public record and shall be provided to a person upon
request as soon as practicable, but not later than the
second business day following the day on which the
request was received.
17.Authorizes the district attorney or any interested
person to commence an action by mandamus or injunction
to compel a filer, county, city, city and county, school
district, special district or JPA to comply with the
provisions of this bill.
18.Specifies that nothing in this measure shall be
construed to prevent a filer, county, city, city and
county, school district, special district or JPA from
curing or correcting an action challenging a
compensation disclosure.
19.States that prior to any action being commenced, the
district attorney or interested person shall make a
demand, in writing, of the filer, county, city, city and
county, school district, special district or JPA to cure
or correct the action alleged to have been taken in
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violation of the provisions of this bill.
20.Provides that within 30 days of receipt of the demand
the filer, county, city, city and county, school
district, special district or JPA shall cure or correct
the alleged violation and inform the demanding party in
writing of that decision, or inform the demanding party
in writing of its decision to not cure or correct the
alleged violations.
21.States that within 15 days of receipt of the written
notice of the decision to cure or correct an alleged
violation, or not to cure or correct, or within 15 days
of the expiration of the 30 day period to cure or
correct, whichever is earlier, the demanding party shall
be required to commence the action or thereafter be
barred from commencing the action.
22.States that if the filer, county, city, city and county,
school district, special district or JPA takes no action
within the 30 day period, the inaction shall be deemed a
decision not to cure or correct the alleged violation,
and the 15 day period to commence the action shall
commence to run the day after the 30 day period to cure
or correct expires.
23.Provides that during any action seeking a judicial
determination regarding an alleged violation, if the
court determines, pursuant to a showing that an alleged
violation has been cured or corrected by a subsequent
action, the action filed shall be dismissed with
prejudice.
24.Makes legislative findings and declarations that the
disclosure of compensation paid to filers furthers the
intent and purpose of the California Constitution which
declares that the people have the right of access to
information concerning the conduct of the people's
business.
25.Makes legislative findings and declarations that the
fiscal integrity and stability of local government
agencies in this state, including charter cities, has a
direct impact on the long-term well-being of all the
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residents of this state and therefore declares that the
disclosure of compensation to filers is an issue of
statewide concern and not a municipal affair and
therefore shall apply to charter cities.
Comments
On July 15, 2010, the Los Angles Times broke the story that
the City Manager in the City of Bell was being paid nearly
$800,000 annually for his services. This was just two
weeks after the Times reported that the Los Angeles County
District Attorney's Office was investigating why Council
Members in the City of Bell were making nearly $100,000 per
year for a part-time office.
These stories and many more in this series have caused a
ripple effect across California of local governments coming
under scrutiny for what they are paying officers and
high-level employees. Although information on compensation
is available through a public records request of the local
agency, many times this information is not easily
accessible for the public to find. In the case of Bell, it
took the District Attorney's office and a nationally known
newspaper to make specified request in order to obtain all
the necessary documentation to determine that in fact the
City of Bell was paying excessive salaries to both elected
officials and several employees.
In the wake of the situation in the City of Bell, some
cities across the state have taken the opportunity to
publicly disclose salary information to their
constituencies via legislative body meetings, newspaper
articles, and in some cases posting the information on
their website. In the City of Los Angeles, the City
Controller has now posted the annual salaries of every Los
Angeles City employee online sorted by position. This form
of additional transparency in government is a welcome
relief for many Californians. Although some local agencies
have chosen to provide this information in a more
accessible format, some are still trying to determine what
their own agencies will do in regards to this issue. This
bill provides a comprehensive statewide approach for how
local agencies (counties, cities, school districts, special
districts, and JPAs) should make compensation information
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easily available for constituents and interested parties to
review.
Existing law requires members of planning commissions,
members of the board of supervisors, district attorneys,
county counsels, county treasurers, and chief
administrative officers of counties, mayors, city managers,
city attorneys, city treasurers, chief administrative
officers and members of city
councils of cities, and other public officials who manage
public investments to annually file a statement of economic
interest. This bill requires that these same individuals
file an annual compensation disclosure form, developed by
the Secretary of State. The compensation disclosure form
would require these designated individuals to report on (1)
the amount of salaries and stipends paid, (2) total
reimbursements received for expenses annually, (3)
employer's cost of providing benefits, and (4) any other
monetary or non-monetary perquisites provided. Once the
form is filed with the local agency, this bill requires
that if the local agency maintains a website then the
information contained on the filed compensation form shall
be posted on the agency's Web site.
This bill is not the Legislature's first attempt at
providing more sunshine and transparency to local agencies.
Local agencies are already required to hold most of their
meetings in public under the Ralph M. Brown Act. Under the
Public Records Act, all but a few of the documents
generated by the agency are available for public
inspection. Moreover, after a flurry of questions on how
local officials were using public resources and on the
ability of local officials to follow the ethical guidelines
set forth in statute, the Legislature stepped in and
developed legislation clarifying the rules pertaining to
compensation to members of a local government legislative
body for attendance at authorized meetings and conferences;
required the establishment of guidelines for reimbursement
of members of a local government legislative body for
actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance
of official duties; and established provisions for ethics
training for local government officials and designated
employees [AB 1234 (Salinas), Chapter 700, Statutes of
2005].
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/30/10)
California Taxpayers' Association
Honorable Debra Bowen, California Secretary of State
Honorable Steve Cooley, Los Angeles County District
Attorney
AGB:mw 8/30/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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