BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2452
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 1, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 2452 (Ammiano) - As Introduced: February 24, 2012
AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED
SUBJECT : Political Reform Act of 1974: online disclosure.
SUMMARY : Permits local government agencies to require elected
officials, candidates, and campaign committees to file campaign
disclosure reports online or electronically. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Permits a local government agency to require an elected
officer, candidate, committee, or other person required to
file statements, reports, or other campaign disclosure
documents required by the Political Reform Act (PRA), to file
those statements, reports, or documents online or
electronically with a local filing officer.
2)Requires a local government agency that requires online or
electronic filing pursuant to this bill to comply with all of
the following conditions:
a) Requires the legislative body for the agency to adopt an
ordinance approving the use of online or electronic filing,
including a legislative finding that the system will
operate securely and effectively and would not unduly
burden filers. Permits the ordinance to specify that the
requirements apply only to specifically identified types of
filings or are triggered only by identified monetary
thresholds.
b) Provides that the ordinance may not require an official,
candidate, committee, or other person that receives
contributions or makes expenditures of less than $1,000 in
a calendar year to file reports online or electronically.
Provides that the ordinance may not require, but may
permit, an official, candidate, committee, or other person
to file a copy of a report online or electronically if the
original report is required to be filed with the Secretary
of State (SOS).
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c) Requires the online or electronic filing system to
accept a filing only in the standardized record format
developed by the SOS pursuant to a provision of existing
law, and that is compatible with the SOS's system for
online or electronic filing.
d) Requires the online or electronic filing system to
ensure the integrity of the data transmitted and to include
safeguards against efforts to tamper with, manipulate,
alter, or subvert the data.
e) Provides that the date of filing for a statement,
report, or other document that is filed online or
electronically shall be the day that it is received by the
local filing officer.
f) Requires the filing system to issue a confirmation
notifying a filer that his or her statement, report, or
other disclosure document was received. Requires the
confirmation to include the date and time that the report
was received by the filing officer and the method by which
the filer may view and print the data received by the
filing officer.
g) Provides that a copy of the confirmation retained by the
filer creates a rebuttable presumption that the filer
timely filed the report.
h) Requires the local filing officer to make all the data
filed available on the Internet in an easily understood
format that provides the greatest public access. Requires
the data to be made available free of charge as soon as
possible after receipt. Prohibits the data made available
on the Internet from containing the street name and
building number of the persons or entity representatives
listed on the electronically filed forms or any bank
account number required to be disclosed by the filer.
Requires the filing officer to make the complete,
unredacted version of the campaign reports available to a
member of the public upon request.
i) Requires the online or electronic filing system to
include a procedure for filers to comply with the
requirements that they sign statements and reports under
penalty of perjury.
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j) Requires the local government agency to enable filers to
complete and submit filings free of charge.
aa) Requires the local filing officer to maintain a secured,
official version of each online or electronic statement,
report, or other document filed pursuant to this bill
online for a period of at least 10 years commencing from
the date filed, and requires the information to be archived
in a secure format after that period of time. Provides
that the secured, official version of each online
statement, report, or other document shall serve as the
official version of that report for purpose of audits and
any other legal purpose.
bb) Provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of
law, any statement, report, or other document filed online
or electronically pursuant to this bill shall not be
required to be filed with the local filing officer in paper
format.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), and
makes it responsible for the impartial, effective
administration and implementation of the PRA.
2)Requires the SOS, in consultation with the FPPC, to develop
online and electronic filing processes for use by persons and
entities that are required to file campaign disclosure reports
and lobbying disclosure reports with the SOS's office.
Required the SOS, not later than July 1, 1999, to develop a
nonproprietary standardized record format or formats for the
transmission of data required to be filed online or
electronically with the SOS under the PRA.
3)Required the SOS, not later than December 31, 2002, to develop
at least one means or method whereby filers subject to the
online or electronic disclosure requirements of the PRA are
able to submit required filings free of charge.
4)Requires certain elected officials, candidates, committees,
slate mailer organizations, lobbyists, lobbying firms,
lobbyist employers, and other persons required to file
periodic lobbying disclosure reports, to file campaign and
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lobbying disclosure reports online or electronically with the
SOS.
5)Requires all candidates, elected officers, and their
controlled committees, with certain exceptions, to file one
copy of all campaign statements with the elections official of
the county in which the candidate or elected official is
domiciled.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS :
1)Proposed Amendments : In response to questions and concerns
raised by committee staff, the author has agreed to accept a
number of amendments to this bill. This analysis reflects
those proposed amendments. The details of the proposed
amendments are as follows:
a) Threshold for Online or Electronic Reporting : In order
to avoid creating a burden for candidates, committees, and
other filers that have limited campaign activity, the
author has agreed to two amendments to this bill.
First, this bill will be amended to provide that a local
government agency may not require an entity that made
contributions or expenditures of less than $1,000 in a
calendar year to file reports online or electronically.
Local governments would be able to set a higher monetary
threshold for triggering mandatory online or electronic
filing requirements, but could not establish a lower
threshold.
Second, the author has agreed to accept an amendment to
clarify that any local government agency that establishes
online or electronic filing requirements pursuant to this
bill must provide a method to enable filers to complete and
submit those filings free of charge.
b) Filing Confirmation : In order to protect candidates and
committees from facing penalties for failure to file if the
online or electronic system fails, the author has agreed to
accept amendments that provide that any entity that files a
campaign disclosure report online or electronically
pursuant to this bill will be provided with a confirmation
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that the filing was received, including the date and time
that the filing was received. That confirmation indicating
that the entity timely filed the report would create a
rebuttable presumption that the report was timely filed.
c) Access to Redacted Information : In order to ensure that
the public does not lose access to information that is
disclosed on campaign reports, but that would be redacted
from the version of reports that is posted on the Internet
pursuant to this bill, the author has agreed to accept an
amendment that requires a local jurisdiction to make the
complete, unredacted version of campaign reports available
to any member of the public upon request.
d) Period for Retention of Campaign Reports : To conform to
the retention policy that applies to campaign reports that
are filed online or electronically with the SOS, the author
has agreed to accept amendments to require the data from
reports to be maintained online for a period of not less
than 10 years, and then archived in a secure format after
that period of time.
e) Policy Regarding Copies of Reports Filed with Local
Jurisdictions : In order to avoid subjecting candidates and
committees who file reports with the SOS to the additional
complexity that could be created by requiring those
entities to also file copies of those reports online or
electronically with local filing officers, the author has
agreed to accept an amendment to provide that when a
candidate or committee is required to file the original of
a report with the SOS and a copy of the report with a local
government agency, the agency may permit, but may not
require, the candidate or committee to file those copies
online or electronically.
f) Technical Amendment : Finally, committee staff
recommends the following technical amendment to this bill:
On page 2, line 27, strike out "date" and insert "data."
2)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
Many campaign statements required by the Political
Reform Act of 1974 filed by persons and committees at
the state and local level are archived electronically
and are available to the public on the Internet.
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Currently, persons and committees filing these
campaign forms electronically must still print up to
two paper copies of the forms already posted online
and mail them to a local filing officer. These
officers must then process and archive copious amounts
of paper documents already available online.
Not only is this requirement redundant, but operating
costs are increased because agencies must pay
permanent and seasonal staff to process forms and
maintain paper archives. In San Francisco, it has
become so unwieldy that the Ethics Commission was
forced to rent additional office space and off-site
storage space to accommodate the growing mass of paper
files. Rather than spending the bulk of their time
assisting filers, clerks and local ethics officers are
kept occupied by processing paper forms. These
cumbersome archives are also much more difficult to
navigate than those stored in an electronic database,
making filing errors more likely while decreasing the
accessibility of campaign finance information to the
public.
AB 2452 would authorize local ethics agencies to
require that all persons or committees filing campaign
documents or reports must do so online or
electronically. These changes would enormously reduce
paper waste and allow county clerks to focus more
attention to helping filers comply with campaign
disclosure requirements instead of managing, in many
cases, both electronic and paper-based filing systems
containing the exact same data. Local ethics agencies
also could devote less time and fewer resources to
meticulously filing and providing public access to
paper statements since they could be easily accessed
online.
This bill acts on recommendations put forth by the
2010 Fair Political Practices Commission's Task Force
on the Political Reform Act, which found that
electronic filing already occurs in 21 local
jurisdictions and is more desirable than the current
system because it would increase transparency,
simplify compliance for filers, and allow local
officers to spend more time assisting filers with
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disclosure requirements. Pilot programs requiring only
electronic filing have been implemented in in the
counties of Los Angeles, Stanislaus, Orange, Long
Beach, Merced, Santa Clara, and Ventura and all
programs demonstrated positive outcomes in terms of
cost-savings, improved efficiency, and greater
transparency.
3)Existing Online and Electronic Disclosure : SB 49 (Karnette),
Chapter 866, Statutes of 1997, the Online Disclosure Act,
required the SOS to develop a process whereby reports and
statements required to be filed with the SOS under the PRA
could be filed online and viewed by the public. SB 49 also
required certain candidates, committees, slate mailer
organizations, lobbyists, lobbyist employers, and lobbying
firms to file campaign reports online. Since that time,
subsequent legislation has gradually expanded the
circumstances under which campaign and lobbying reports are
required to be filed online or electronically. Most recently,
the Legislature approved and Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB
1181 (Huber), Chapter 18, Statutes of 2010, which lowered the
monetary thresholds that trigger mandatory online or
electronic filing of reports required to be filed with the SOS
under the PRA.
While the Online Disclosure Act and subsequent amendments have
made information about certain candidates and committees
widely available on the Internet, the information that is
available through the SOS's website generally does not include
information about local candidates or about committees that
make contributions and expenditures exclusively or primarily
in local campaigns. That's because the requirements of the
Online Disclosure Act generally were limited to candidates,
committees, and other entities that were required to file
disclosure reports with the SOS. Campaign disclosure reports
filed in connection with local candidates or ballot measures
generally must be filed with local clerks or elections
officials.
Many local clerks and elections officials have implemented their
own online or electronic disclosure systems. In some cases,
the local jurisdictions require certain candidates and
committees to file disclosure reports online or electronically
pursuant to a local campaign ordinance. Even in circumstances
where local candidates and committees are required to file
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reports online or electronically, however, the PRA still
generally requires paper copies of those reports to be filed
with the local clerk or elections official. As a result, even
in circumstances where local jurisdictions have taken steps to
make campaign disclosure reports more broadly available by
moving to an electronic reporting system, the local
jurisdictions still must maintain paper versions of those
reports.
4)Statements of Economic Interests Electronic Filing Pilot
Project : As part of the PRA's comprehensive scheme to prevent
conflicts of interest by state and local public officials,
certain public officials are required to file statements of
economic interests (SEIs). AB 2607 (Davis), Chapter 498,
Statutes of 2008, and subsequent legislation established a
pilot project which permitted certain jurisdictions to permit
the electronic filing of an SEI in accordance with regulations
adopted by the FPPC. That pilot project began in 2009 and is
scheduled to end in December 2012. Participants in the pilot
project were required to submit a report to the FPPC in 2011,
and in turn the FPPC was required to forward the reports to
the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) along with comments
that the FPPC had on those reports or the pilot project.
Based on that information, the LAO submitted a report to the
Legislature evaluating the pilot project in January of this
year. According to the LAO report, the participating
government entities indicated that the paper-based filing
process was time-consuming and required significant amounts of
staff time to review the SEIs, work with the filers to correct
errors and maintain the paper file systems. However, after
implementing the electronic filing system, participating
entities found that electronic filing resulted in operational
efficiencies through reduced personnel due to the significant
reduction in the number of errors in the filers' SEIs and
other operational costs. Additionally, it was reported to the
LAO that none of government entities reported any security
issues with the electronic filing systems and found that most
of the public officials and employees who filed using the
electronic filing system considered it to be a useful and an
easy process.
Although the process for filing campaign reports is not
identical to the process for filing SEIs, the author and the
sponsor of this bill nonetheless argue that the pilot project
demonstrates that moving from a paper-based filing process for
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campaign reports to an electronic-based process can
significantly reduce costs to local governments.
5)Arguments in Support : The sponsor of this bill, the City and
County of San Francisco, writes in support:
Many FPPC forms are electronically filed at the state level
and in numerous local jurisdictions using the Secretary of
State's CAL 2.01 electronic data format. The data files
are converted into electronic FPPC forms. In jurisdictions
with electronic filing, the electronic FPPC forms are
immediately made available on the Internet. Committees
that file electronically must then print up to two paper
copies of the electronic FPPC forms and file with their
respective state or local filing officer(s). Since the
paper FPPC forms are derived from the electronic FPPC
forms, the content is identical. Therefore, there would be
no public harm in eliminating the paper copies.
The San Francisco Ethics Commission spends a significant
portion of its operating budget on permanent and seasonal
staff costs for processing paper forms, scanning and copier
equipment, and storage for paper filings. In 2007, the
Ethics Commission expanded into an additional office space
for the sole purpose of storing the growing number of paper
filings, in addition to its off-site storage facility.
While the Ethics Commission's limited staff engages in this
bureaucratic exercise, the public and filers remain
underserved. Researchers are often confused by the
duplicative electronic and paper filings in the Ethics
Commission's records. Filers consistently reach out for
assistance during filing deadlines when staff is busy
processing paper forms.
In the face of repeated budget cuts, the Ethics Commission
cannot afford to continue spending funds on outdated and
inefficient procedures. If electronic filing is approved
and paper filing eliminated, the resources spent on
processing paper forms could alternatively be devoted
towards increased assistance to filers and the public,
additional audits, and increased enforcement.
6)Related Legislation : SB 1553 (Lowenthal), which is pending in
the Senate Appropriations Committee, would create a pilot
program for the 2013 through 2014 reporting periods that
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authorizes the City of Long Beach to permit any person who
files a campaign statement with the city clerk to file that
statement online or electronically.
AB 2062 (Davis), which is pending in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, allows any agency to permit the electronic filing
of an SEI, subject to certain restrictions and in accordance
with regulations adopted by the FPPC. AB 2062 was approved by
this committee on a 7-0 vote.
7)Political Reform Act of 1974 : California voters passed an
initiative, Proposition 9, in 1974 that created the FPPC and
codified significant restrictions and prohibitions on
candidates, officeholders and lobbyists. That initiative is
commonly known as the PRA. 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.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
City and County of San Francisco (sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Fair Political Practices Commission
Urban Counties Caucus
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094