BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1001
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Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1001 (Yee) - As Amended: June 21, 2012
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:4-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill imposes fees on certain political committees and
increases fees on lobbyists, with most of the resulting revenues
to be used for the Secretary of State's (SOS's) online
disclosure system. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires each committee that qualifies as a committee by
virtue of having received contributions totaling $1,000 or
more in a calendar year (known as a recipient committee) to
pay a fee of $50 per year to the SOS until the committee is
terminated.
2)Imposes a penalty of $150 for failure to timely pay the fee in
(1).
3)Increases, from $25 to $50, the annual fee each lobbying firm
and lobbyist employer pays for each of their registered
lobbyists, and makes imposition of this fee mandatory rather
than discretionary.
4)Requires the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to
enforce the above requirements.
5)Directs one-half of the monies collected pursuant to (3) to
the General Fund and the other half of these revenues, plus
the revenues generated through the fee in (1), to the newly
established Political Disclosure, Accountability,
Transparency, and Access Fund, which is to be used, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for maintenance, repair, and
improvement of the SOS's online disclosure (Cal-Access)
system.
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)Average annual revenue of $440,000 to the Political
Disclosure, Accountability, Transparency, and Access Fund:
$390,000 from the new fee on recipient committees and $50,000
from the increase in lobbyist registration fees.
2)The SOS will incur annual costs of about $80,000 for one
position associated with collection of the fee and monitoring
of revenues in the account. The bill earmarks revenues in the
new fund to maintenance, repair, and improvement of the
Cal-Access system. The SOS estimates annual maintenance costs
for the system at about $60,000. The remaining annual revenue
($300,000) may accrue into the fund for up to several years,
as improvements to the system, or a new system, could cost in
excess of a million dollars.
3)Any costs to the FPPC for enforcement will be minor and
absorbable.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, "Existing law, pursuant to
the Political Reform Act of 1974, requires the Secretary of
State, in consultation with the Fair Political Practices
Commission, to provide online and electronic filing processes
for use by specified political committees, lobbyists, lobbying
firms, and lobbyist employers. Those processes must enable a
user to comply with all relevant disclosure requirements. The
SOS must also make all the data filed available on the
Internet for public viewing in an easily understood format.
This online reporting and disclosure system is commonly
referred to as the Cal-Access system. Cal-Access has had a
slew of technical issues recently that have resulted in a lack
of access to this information by the public. This information
is essential to ensuring transparency and accountability in
affairs that directly impact the people of this state. While
the SOS has the funding to maintain the existing hardware and
software, because of the nature of the antiquated and uncommon
technology used, finding parts and qualified people to do the
maintenance on such outdated equipment has been increasingly
difficult. This bill seeks to raise additional funds to be
used on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of the
state's online reporting and disclosure system website to
ensure that this information is continuously available as it
SB 1001
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was intended to be."
2)Opposition . The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, while
acknowledging the problems experience by the SOS with the
Cal-Access system, argues that "targeting lobbyists is a
punitive measure that will hit non-profit associations
especially hard in a difficult recession."
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081