BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Lou Correa, Chair
BILL NO: SB 50 HEARING DATE:
4/5/11
AUTHOR: CORREA ANALYSIS BY:
Darren Chesin
AMENDED: AS INTRODUCED
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
High Speed Rail Authority: conflicts of interest
DESCRIPTION
Existing law establishes the California High-Speed Rail
Authority (HSRA) and charges it with planning, designing,
constructing, operating, and maintaining a high-speed train
system for California. The HSRA is governed by a nine
member board, including five members appointed by the
Governor, two members appointed by the Senate Rules
Committee, and two members appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly. Members of the HSRA are subject to applicable
provisions of the Political Reform Act (PRA).
Existing law lists certain high-ranking public officials
(known as "87200 filers") who are subject to specified
disclosure requirements under the PRA. These 87200 filers
include elected state officers, judges, members of the
Public Utilities Commission, members of the Fair Political
Practices Commission (FPPC), members of the California
Coastal Commission, members of county boards of
supervisors, district attorneys, mayors, and members of
city councils, among others.
Existing law requires 87200 filers to file periodic
statements of economic interest (SEIs) disclosing
investments, interests in real property, and income
(including gifts).
Existing law requires an 87200 filer who has a financial
interest in a governmental decision, with limited
exceptions, to do all of the following immediately prior to
the consideration of a matter in which the filer has a
conflict of interest:
Publicly identify the financial interest that gives
rise to the conflict of interest in detail sufficient
to be understood by the public;
Recuse himself or herself from discussing and
voting on the matter; and,
Leave the room until after the discussion, vote,
and any other disposition of the matter is concluded,
unless the matter is placed on the portion of the
agenda reserved for uncontested matters.
Existing law requires every state and local governmental
agency to adopt a Conflict of Interest Code. Each Conflict
of Interest Code must include a specific enumeration of the
positions within the agency (not including 87200 filers)
that involve the making or participation in the making of
decisions which may foreseeably have a material effect on
any financial interest. Each person who holds such an
enumerated position must file periodic SEIs disclosing his
or her financial interests in accordance with the
provisions of the agency's Conflict of Interest Code.
These enumerated individuals are known as 87300 filers.
Existing law prohibits a public official at any level of
state or local government from making, participating in the
making, or in any way attempting to use his or her official
position to influence a governmental decision in which the
official knows or has reason to know that he or she has a
financial interest, as defined.
This bill adds members of the HSRA to the list of 87200
filers thereby requiring them to publicly identify the
financial interest that gives rise to a potential conflict
of interest, to recuse himself or herself from discussing
or voting on the matter, and to leave the room until after
the discussion, vote, and any other disposition of the
matter is concluded. Expands the amount of information
that a member of the HSRA must disclose on a statement of
economic interests (SEI). Specifically, this bill adds
members of the HSRA to a statutorily-designated list of
high-ranking public officials who are subject to the most
expansive disclosure requirements under the Political
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Reform Act (PRA).
BACKGROUND
"87200 Filers" vs. "87300 Filers" As noted above, existing
law designates certain high ranking public officials who
are subject to the most expansive disclosure requirements
under the PRA. These officials are commonly referred to as
"87200 filers" after the section of state law (Section
87200 of the Government Code) in which the officials
subject to those requirements are designated.
However, 87200 filers are not the only public officials
that are subject to the PRA's disclosure and conflict of
interest rules. Every public official who holds a position
that is enumerated in his or her agency's Conflict of
Interest Code as a position that involves the making or
participation in the making of decisions which may
foreseeably have a material effect on the financial
interests of that official is required to file periodic
SEIs disclosing his or her financial interests. These
filers are commonly referred to as "87300 filers" after the
section of state law (Section 87300 of the Government Code)
that requires governmental agencies to adopt Conflict of
Interest Codes. Additionally, existing state law prohibits
any public official, whether that official is an 87200
filer, an 87300 filer, or neither an 87200 nor an 87300
filer, from making or participating in the making of any
governmental decision in which he or she has a financial
interest.
This bill proposes to add members of the HSRA to the
statutorily-established list of 87200 filers. Currently,
members of the HSRA are enumerated in the HSRA's Conflict
of Interest Code, and thus are 87300 filers. This change
would have two primary effects on the members of the HSRA:
First, members of the HSRA board would be subject to
somewhat broader disclosure when they file their SEIs;
currently board members must disclose only those interests
that fall within one of the disclosure categories listed in
the HSRA's Conflict of Interest Code, but as 87200 filers,
board members would be required to disclose all
investments, interests in real property, and income, with
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certain limited exceptions.
Second, adding members of the HSRA board to the list of
87200 filers would mean that if a member of the board had a
conflict of interest in a matter before the board, that
member would have to publicly identify the financial
interest and leave the room until after the discussion of
that matter had finished. It should be noted, however,
that members of the HSRA board are already prohibited under
existing law from participating in the making of any
governmental decision in which they have a financial
interest, and that this bill would not change that
prohibition.
COMMENTS
1. According to the author , this bill will require the
members of the HSRA to publicly disclose a financial
interest which would give rise to a conflict of
interest and require them to recuse themselves from
participation in any such matter before the HSRA.
2. Related Legislation . This bill is identical to AB 41
(Hill), which passed the Assembly Committee on
Elections and Redistricting 7-0 and is now pending in
the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: California High Speed Rail Authority
Fair Political Practices Commission
Professional Engineers in California Government
(PECG)
Oppose: None received
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