BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1146
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 3, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1146 (Norby) - As Amended: April 25, 2011
SUBJECT : Political Reform Act of 1974: contribution limits.
SUMMARY : Increases the threshold at which contributions and
expenditures are required to be disclosed on campaign reports.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Increases, from $100 to $200, the threshold at which
political candidates or committees are required to itemize the
following items on campaign statements:
a) Independent expenditures;
b) Campaign contributions;
c) Campaign expenditures; and,
d) In-kind contributions.
2)Increases the limit, from $100 to $200, on anonymous
contributions permitted to a candidate, committee, or any
other person.
3)Makes findings and declarations regarding anonymous
contributions.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a candidate or committee that has made independent
expenditures totaling $1,000 or more in a calendar year to
support or oppose a candidate, a measure, or qualification of
a measure, to file independent expenditure reports. Requires
the independent expenditure report to include specific
information, including but not limited to:
a) The total amount of expenditures related to the
candidate or measure during the period covered by the
report made to persons who have received less than $100;
and,
AB 1146
Page 2
b) The total amount of expenditures related to the
candidate or measure during the period covered by the
report made to persons who have received $100 or more.
2)Requires the independent expenditure report to include the
name, street address, and committee number assigned by the
Secretary of State (SOS), if any, for each person to whom an
expenditure of $100 or more related to the candidate or
measure has been made during the period covered by the report,
and for each person who has provided consideration for an
expenditure of $100 or more.
3)Requires elected officers, candidates, and committees to file
semiannual statements each year. Requires each campaign
statement to include specific information including but not
limited to:
a) The total amount of contributions received during the
period covered by the campaign statement from persons who
have given a cumulative amount of $100 or more;
b) The total amount of contributions received during the
period covered by the campaign statement from persons who
have given a cumulative amount of less than $100;
c) The total amount of expenditures made during the period
covered by the campaign statement to persons who received
$100 or more; and,
d) The total amount of expenditures made during the period
covered by the campaign statement to persons who have
received less than $100.
4)Requires the campaign statement to include the name, street
address, occupation, name of employer, and transaction date
and amount for each person from whom the committee has
received a contribution or loan, or to whom the committee has
made a loan, if any of the following is true for the period
covered by the campaign statement:
a) If the cumulative amount of contributions (including
loans) received from the person is $100 or more and a
contribution or loan has been received from that person;
or,
AB 1146
Page 3
b) If the cumulative amount of loans received from or made
to the person is $100 or more and a loan has been received
from or made to a person or is outstanding.
5)Requires a campaign statement, for each person to whom an
expenditure of $100 or more has been made, to include the
person's full name, street address, the amount of each
expenditure, and a brief description of the consideration for
which each expenditure was made, among other things.
6)Requires the value of all in-kind contributions of $100 or
more be reported in writing to the recipient upon the request
in writing of the recipient.
7)Prohibits a person from making an anonymous contribution or
contributions to a candidate, committee, or any other person
totaling $100 or more in a calendar year. Requires an
anonymous contribution of $100 or more be promptly paid to the
SOS for deposit in the General Fund of the state.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author, "AB 1146 seeks
to amend the Political Reform Act of 1974 to raise the minimum
campaign contribution and expenditure reporting threshold from
$100 to $200 conforming it to federal election law. The
current state threshold of $100 was established more than 30
years ago. By 2010 estimates, $100 indexed to reflect
inflation is approximately $440. AB 1146 is a common-sense
measure which eliminates confusion and will garner greater
participation by small donors in future elections."
2)Political Reform Act : California voters passed an initiative,
Proposition 9, in 1974, that created the Fair Political
Practices Commission (FPPC) and codified significant
restrictions and prohibitions on candidates, officeholders,
and lobbyists. That initiative is commonly known as the
Political Reform Act (PRA). The PRA, among other things,
requires detailed disclosure of contributions and expenditures
in connection with campaigns supporting or opposing state and
local candidates and ballot measures. The original limit for
disclosure of contributions and expenditures in the PRA was
$50; however, subsequent legislation increased the threshold
AB 1146
Page 4
to the current $100 limit. The author argues that the current
limit does not reflect inflation and should be increased.
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.
3)Federal vs. State : Federal election law requires campaign
reports for political committees of federal election campaigns
to disclose detailed information for contributions and
expenditures of $200 or more. This federal limit is higher
than the state's current $100 reporting threshold. The author
argues that this bill will conform state law to federal law.
However, it is not uncommon for state law to differ from
federal law, especially in elections policy. The committee
may wish to consider if disclosure thresholds is an area of
policy in which the people of California would benefit from
conforming to federal requirements.
4)Who and How Much ? Disclosure of campaign contributions and
expenditures serves as an integral part of efforts to prevent
corruption, and the appearance thereof, that may occur through
the campaign finance system. Complete reporting of donations
and spending allows enforcement agencies, such as the FPPC, to
enforce contribution limits and other regulations and, at
times, to detect instances of bribery and other violations of
the PRA.
Disclosure in campaign finance activity is consistent with the
widely held belief that government transparency is essential
for public accountability. Knowing who gave how much to a
political campaign is viewed as a means of deterring
potentially corrupting practices. With the passage of the PRA,
California voters embraced the notion that receipts and
expenditures in election campaigns should be fully and
truthfully disclosed in order that the voters may be fully
informed and improper activities may be inhibited. This bill
proposes to increase the reporting threshold on specific
campaign finance activity, which will limit the amount of
information available to the public.
5)Do Existing Disclosure Thresholds Deter Individual
Participation : Because contributions of $100 or more need to
be reported with specific detailed information about the
contributor, some individual donors have been hesitant to
AB 1146
Page 5
donate higher amounts of money for fear of their information
being made public and possible retaliation due to their public
support or opposition to a candidate or measure. This bill
will allow individual donors to contribute higher amounts of
money to political campaigns without having to disclose
personal information.
6)How Many Contributions Are We Talking About ? As an
illustration of how many contributions would no longer need to
include additional disclosure, committee staff reviewed
campaign statements for the 2010 General Election for the
major party candidates for the offices of Attorney General and
Governor. The review focused on all contributions received and
itemized on the campaign statements. Below is a table
illustrating the percentages of contributions under $200
reported by each candidate whose statement was reviewed:
------------------------------------------------------
| | | |
| | Attorney General | Governor |
| | | |
|---------------+-------------------+------------------|
| | | |
|Candidate | 33% | 55% |
|1 | | |
| | | |
|---------------+-------------------+------------------|
| | | |
|Candidate | 15% | 22.5% |
|2 | | |
| | | |
------------------------------------------------------
If this bill were law at the time of the 2010 General
Election, detailed information about a large number of
contributions received to these statewide candidates would not
have been disclosed.
7)Arguments in Support : In support of this bill, the California
Political Treasurers Association notes that, "raising the
reporting threshold for contribution�s] and expenditures from
$100 to over $200 would not only simplify the reporting
process for all concerned, it would also afford many
grass-roots operations the peace of mind that their Treasurers
are not overwhelmed with small contributor processing."
AB 1146
Page 6
8)Arguments in Opposition : The Secretary of State, in
opposition, argues that if this bill were enacted it will be
"more difficult to determine who is contributing to political
campaigns and how those contributions may affect a particular
political or governmental issue." The SOS continues that this
bill represents "a step backwards" from the standard that
California voters approved with the passage of the PRA.
9)Related Legislation : AB 447 (Feuer and Huffman), which will
also be heard today in this committee, makes several changes
to the reporting requirements for political candidates and
committees.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Political Treasurers Association
One individual
Opposition
Secretary of State Debra Bowen
Analysis Prepared by : Maria Garcia / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094