BILL NUMBER: AB 1241	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 14, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Norby

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

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


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1241, as amended, Norby. Political Reform Act of 1974:
contributions.
   The Political Reform Act of 1974 regulates contributions to public
officials and also regulates conflicts of interests on the part of
public officials while carrying out their respective duties. Among
its provisions, the act prohibits an officer of an agency from
accepting, soliciting, or directing a contribution of more than $250
from a party or participant in a proceeding involving a license,
permit, or other entitlement for use while that proceeding is pending
before the agency and for 3 months following the final decision in
the proceeding. For these purposes, "officer" is defined to include
any elected or appointed officer of the agency.
   This bill would change the definition of "officer" for these
purposes to exclude an elected officer of the agency.
   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: 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, 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 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.  An appointed 
 officer of an agency is an o   fficer of that agency
for purposes of this section irrespective of whether the officer is
an elected officer of another 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 applies 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 who receives a contribution that would otherwise
require disqualification under this section 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.