BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Lou Correa, Chair
BILL NO: AB 71 HEARING DATE:
7/5/11
AUTHOR: HUBER ANALYSIS BY:
Darren Chesin
AMENDED: 6/23/11
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Lobbyists: disclosure
DESCRIPTION
Existing law r equires the Secretary of State (SOS) to
maintain on the Internet an updated list of lobbyists,
lobbying firms, and lobbyist employers.
Existing law requires lobbyist employers and persons making
certain payments to influence legislative or administrative
action to file periodic statements disclosing, among other
things, their lobbying interests.
This bill additionally requires the SOS to create a report
each calendar quarter that identifies the bills that were
lobbied during the prior calendar quarter and the lobbyist
employers who lobbied on each of those bills.
Specifically, this bill:
Requires the SOS, not later than 90 days following
the end of each calendar quarter, to display on his or
her Internet web site a list of the lobbying interests
containing a specific reference to a bill number that
were reported on a lobbying disclosure report,
accompanied by a list of all lobbyist employers who
reported each of those lobbying interests for the prior
calendar quarter.
Clarifies that when a filer describes his or her
lobbying interests on a periodic lobbying report, the
lobbying interests shall include the bill number, if
any, of legislation lobbied during the reporting
period.
Makes other technical and corresponding changes.
BACKGROUND
Compounding Interest ? While existing law requires lobbying
entities to report their lobbying "interests," the Fair
Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has never defined
lobbying "interests." Therefore, some lobbying reports
include specific legislative bill numbers while others list
subject or issue areas instead.
COMMENTS
1. According to the author , during the 2009-2010
Legislative Session, special interests spent $538
million to influence the legislative process. During
the 2007-2008 Legislative Session, special interests
spent $558 million. While existing law requires this
disclosure, the way the state provides this information
makes it difficult for the public to identify what
legislation lobbyists are trying to influence.
Currently, lobbying records listed online are not linked
to an issue. The only way to determine which lobbyists
are working for or against specific legislation is to
spend hours viewing or photocopying hundreds of
lobbying disclosure reports, search each and every
report and build a list cross-referenced with over
3,000 bills introduced in the Legislature every two
years.
AB 71 would require the Secretary of State to create an
issue-by-issue list that details online all lobbying
interests that tried to influence the decisions made on
a specific piece of legislation. Doing so will allow
the public to see who actively lobbied on a particular
matter. In one click, the public should be able to see
the complete list of those who fought for or against a
specific bill as it moved through the legislative
process. Current law, the Political Reform Act of
1974, requires lobbyist employers to disclose this
information and AB 71 will ensure that it is accessible
AB 71 (HUBER) Page
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to the public online by cross-referencing it with
specific legislation.
2. Previous Legislation . This bill is similar to AB
1274 (Huber) of 2010 which was approved by this
committee but was held on the Senate Appropriations
Committee's suspense file.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 7-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 17-0
Assembly Floor: 78-0
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees
AB 71 (HUBER) Page
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