BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 148
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2011
REVISED
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
AB 148 (Smyth) - As Amended: April 14, 2011
SUBJECT : Local government: ethics training: disclosure.
SUMMARY : Requires the Controller to withhold any funds to which
a local agency is entitled to until the local agency posts its
adopted written attendance compensation policy or adopted
written reimbursement policy on the local agency's Internet Web
site, if any, and submits a copy of the written policy to the
Controller. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Controller to withhold any funds to which a local
agency is entitled to until the local agency posts its adopted
written attendance compensation policy or adopted written
reimbursement policy on the local agency's Internet Web site,
if any, and submits a copy of the written policy to the
Controller.
2)Requires a local agency to post the ethics training records of
those members of the local agency who are elected on the local
agency's Internet Web site, if any, and to submit a copy to
the Controller within 90 days of receiving the records.
3)Adds compensation-setting guidelines as established by
organizations, including, but not limited to, the California
State Association of Counties, the League of California
Cities, the California Special Districts Association, the
California City Management Foundation, or the local agency, to
the list of ethics law required to be covered during a local
agency's mandatory ethics course.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a local agency, if it compensates members of its
legislative body for attending gatherings not involving the
meeting of legislative body, an advisory body, or a conference
or organized educational activity, to adopt in a public
meeting a written policy specifying the other types of
occasions that constitute the performance of official duties
for which a member of the legislative body may receive
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compensation.
2)Requires, if a local agency reimburses members of its
legislative body for actual and necessary expenses incurred in
the performance of official duties, the governing body of the
local agency to adopt at a public meeting a written policy
specifying the occurrences that qualify a member of the
legislative body to receive reimbursement of expenses relating
to travel, meals, lodging, and other actual and necessary
expenses.
3)Requires any member of a local agency legislative body or any
elected official of a local agency who receives compensation
and any designated local agency employee to receive two hours
of specified ethics training every two years.
4)Defines local agency to include a city, county, city and
county, charter city, charter county, charter city and county,
or special district.
5)Defines local agency official to include the following:
a) Any member of a local agency legislative body or any
elected local agency official who receives any type of
compensation, salary, or stipend or reimbursement for
actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance
of official duties; and,
b) Any employee designated by a local agency governing body
to receive the ethics training.
6)Requires the ethics training cover general ethics principles
and relevant ethics laws.
7)Allows local agencies or local government associations to
develop and offer ethics training courses or self-study
materials - at home, in person or online - in consultation
with the Attorney General and the Fair Political Practices
Commission.
8)Requires training providers to give participants proof of
participation.
9)Requires a local agency to annually inform its local officials
about available ethics training.
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10)Requires a local agency to maintain public records of the
ethics training for at least five years and to detail the
ethics training completed by its local agency officials by
indicating the following:
a) The dates local officials satisfied the requirements of
ethics training; and,
b) The entity that provided the training.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Current law on local government compensation and ethics
training was added in 2006 with the intent of boosting public
confidence by instituting ethics training, documenting
reimbursement, and clarifying when compensation is
appropriate. These provisions were drafted based on
suggestions from the State Auditor's report on Independent
Special Water Districts, and closely followed the guidelines
established in the Institute for Local Self Government's
publication "Of Cookie Jars And Fishbowls: A Public Official's
Guide To Use Of Public Resources" and the Association of
California Water Agencies "Guidelines of Conduct: A Primer for
Public Water Agency Officials."
2)According to the author, the City of Bell scandal highlights
the need to strengthen existing laws on ethics training,
compensation policies, and reimbursement policies. The
public, the author says, should have better access to records
on these policies to encourage public participation and
oversight, which in turn could help prevent another city
repeating the City of Bell's example of unethical and bad
faith governance. The author says the solution is to amend
existing law to require all local government agencies to post
on their Internet Web site their compensation policy,
reimbursement policy, and ethics training records and to
submit copies of these policies to the Controller.
3)AB 148 also requires the local agency to forward to the
Controller copies of ethics training records and copies of its
compensation policies. If the local agency does not forward
the compensation policies, the Controller would have new
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authority to withhold any outstanding funds the Controller has
in his or her possession. The Committee may wish to consider
whether giving the Controller the authority to withhold local
government's funds is a disproportionate punishment.
4)Support arguments: Supporters might argue the more
transparency in local government the better the public is
served and having ethics training certificates and travel
reimbursement and attendance policies posted on a local
agency's Internet Web site and sent to the Controller for
review will provide more access to constituents and the state
on local policies.
Opposition arguments: Opposition might argue requiring local
agencies to post the proof
of ethics training completion is unnecessary because adequate
records already are maintained by the local agency and are
deemed public records available for inspection, providing an
acceptable level of accountability and transparency to
constituents and state officials.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
CA Special Districts Association
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Klein Baldwin / L. GOV. /
(916) 319-3958