BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2162
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Date of Hearing: April 25, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2162 (Portantino) - As Introduced: February 23, 2012
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill amends the Political Reform Act (PRA) by adjusting the
dollar increments for investments and income that are to be used
by public officials in filing a Statement of Economic Interest
(SEI). Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires specified public officials or candidates, when
required to report an investment or interest in real property,
to disclose the fair market value by selecting one of the
following increments:
a) At least $2,000 but not greater than $25,000;
b) More than $25,000 but not greater than $100,000;
c) More than $100,000 but not greater than $250,000;
d) More than$250,000 but not greater than $500,000;
e) More than $500,000 but not greater than $1 million;
f) More than $1 million but not greater than $5 million;
g) More than $5 million but not greater than $10 million;
or,
h) More than $10 million.
2)Requires specified public officials or candidates, when
required to report a source of income or loan on an SEI, to
disclose the aggregate value of income from the source, or in
the case of a loan, the highest amount owed to the source, by
selecting one of the following increments:
a) At least $500 but not greater than $1,000;
b) More than $1,000 but not greater than $10,000;
c) More than $10,000 but not greater than $25,000;
d) More than $25,000 but not greater than $100,000;
e) More than $100,000 but not greater than $250,000;
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f) More than $250,000 but not greater than $500,000;
g) More than $500,000 but not greater than $1 million;
h) More than $1 million but not greater than $5 million;
i) More than $5 million but not greater than $10 million;
or
j) More than $10 million.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor absorbable costs to the Fair Political Practices
Commission (FPPC) to modify the SEI forms to reflect the new
reporting increments.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Current law identifies certain elected and other
high-level state and local officials, as well as candidates
for those positions, who must file SEIs. Other state and local
public officials and employees are required to file SEIs if
the position they hold is designated in an agency's conflict
of interest code-generally when a position entails the making
or participation in the making of governmental decisions that
may foreseeably have a material financial effect on the
decision maker's financial interests. The FPPC has estimated
that the number of SEI filers exceeds 200,000 officials and
employees statewide.
2)Purpose . The author argues that, due to inflation and economic
changes, the current thresholds are not adequately serving the
purposes for which the PRA was passed and therefore need to be
changed.
3)Prior Legislation : AB 1391 (Leno) of 2006, which would have
revised the dollar thresholds for the aggregate value of
income from each source that filers would be required to
report on their SEIs, among other provisions, died on the
Senate inactive file.
AB 2432 (Montanez) of 2006, which was substantially similar,
was never heard in any committee.
4)Political Reform Act : In 1974, the voters passed Proposition
9, commonly known as the PRA, in which created the FPPC and
codified significant restrictions and prohibitions on
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candidates, officeholders and lobbyists. 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081