BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Lou Correa, Chair
BILL NO: SB 18 HEARING DATE:
5/3/11
AUTHOR: BLAKESLEE ANALYSIS BY:
Darren Chesin
AMENDED: 3/23/11
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Political Reform Act: gifts
DESCRIPTION
Existing law prohibits a lobbyist or lobbying firm from
making gifts aggregating more than $10 in a calendar month
to elected state officers, candidates for state office,
specified legislative officials, and specified officials of
other agencies.
Existing law also prohibits these same elected officers,
candidates, and officials from accepting gifts from any
single source in a calendar year with a total value of more
than $420, with certain limited exceptions. The Fair
Political Practices Commission (FPPC) is required to adjust
this gift limit on January 1 of each odd-numbered year to
reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.
Existing law , for the purposes of the Political Reform Act
(PRA), defines "immediate family" as the spouse and
dependent children.
This bill would further prohibit a lobbyist, lobbying firm,
or lobbyist employer to give to a person holding elective
state office or to a member of that officeholder's
immediate family, any of the following gifts:
Theme park tickets.
Sporting event tickets.
Theater and concert tickets.
Racetrack tickets.
Spa treatments and other services of a personal nature.
Golf, skiing, or fishing trips, and other recreational
outings or vacations.
Gift cards.
BACKGROUND
What is a Gift ? Generally, a "gift" is defined as any
payment or other benefit provided to someone that confers a
personal benefit for which the recipient does not provide
goods or services of equal or greater value. A gift
includes a rebate or discount in the price of anything of
value unless the rebate or discount is made in the regular
course of business to members of the public.
A gift made to both an official and his or her family
member (spouse, dependent minor children, and children up
to age 23 who are students and not living on their own or
providing a majority of their own support) is treated as a
gift to the official for the full value of the gift. In
addition, unless the official can establish that there is
an established working or social relationship between the
donor and the family member that is independent of the
relationship between the donor and the official, a gift
given solely to an official's family member will be treated
as a gift to the official if the official receives a
personal benefit from the gift.
COMMENTS
1. According to the author , there are slightly more than
1,000 registered lobbyists in the state of California,
just under 400 lobbying firms and more than 3,000
lobbyist employers all seeking to gain access to elected
officials. Despite rigid laws defining what gift can or
cannot be given to an elected official as well as
well-defined gift limits, lobbyist, lobbyists firms, and
lobbyist employers continue to lavish extraordinary
gifts of influence on elected officials with the intent
to finance access to legislators that is not available
to other members of the public.
California's elected officials are the targets of
unnecessary entertainment gifts by individuals,
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businesses and organizations with interests before the
Legislature. In 2008, members of the State Legislature
reported receiving $12,708.23 worth of theme park
tickets. In 2009, $4,297.08 was spent on sporting event
tickets. Rounds of golf, tickets to the race track and
concert passes are all handed to State Senators and
Assembly Members with the intent to gain access and
favor. These egregious gifts do not help elected
officials legislate more effectively and ultimately
damage public opinion of Sacramento leadership.
Legislators do not require gifts in order to perform their
jobs. The public has provided legislators with per diem
payments to cover meals, office budgets that cover
legislative travel and annual salaries that provide
ample resources to cover any legitimate expenses.
Legislators should not receive special treatment from
those with business before the Legislature.
SB 18 keeps elected officials accountable and interested
parties transparent as to the types of gifts that are
being given and received. SB 18 stops lobbyist, lobbyist
firms and lobbyist employers from taking advantage of
gift-giving loopholes used to unduly influence members
and bans elected officials from receiving entertainment
gifts unrelated to policy, by specifying exactly what
gifts are not appropriate to be exchanged.
2. A TV is OK but not a Ticket to a Game ? Under this
bill, it would still be legal for a lobbyist employer to
give a legislator a gift valued at $420 or less as long
as it is not delineated as specifically prohibited.
Hence, it would be permissible under this bill for a
lobbyist employer to give a legislator a $420
television, $420 worth of food or wine, or even $420 in
cash, but a $7 ticket to a Sacramento Rivercats baseball
game would be illegal. Is this equitable? What is more
important, the type of gift or the monetary value of the
gift?
3. Services of a Personal Nature ? This bill uses several
terms that are not currently defined for purposes of the
PRA such as "theme park," "spa treatments," "services of
a personal nature," and "gift cards." In light of this,
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it would fall on the FPPC to define these terms through
the regulatory process.
4. Related Legislation . AB 2368 (Blakeslee) of 2009,
which died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, and
AB 1412 (Torrico) of 2009, which died on the Assembly
inactive file, both would have prohibited a lobbyist
employer from making gifts of $10 or more in a calendar
month to a member of the Legislature.
AB 2795 (Blakeslee) of 2008, which died in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee, would have extended gift
prohibitions to lobbyist employers, except that a
lobbyist employer would be permitted to provide food or
refreshments of a nominal value other than as part of a
meal. It would also have authorized a lobbyist employer
to give, and a state candidate, elected state officer,
legislative official, or agency official to receive, a
complimentary ticket to an event sponsored by the
lobbyist employer if the event met specified conditions.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: California Common Cause
CALPIRG
Santa Barbara County Republican Party
Oppose: None received
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