BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 400
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 400 (Fong)
As Amended August 11, 2014
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |53-24|(April 29, |SENATE: |23-12|(August 13, |
| | |2013) | | |2014) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |53-24|(August 21, | | | |
| | |2014) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY : Requires an initiative, referendum, or recall petition
that is circulated by a paid circulator to include a statement
identifying the five largest contributors in support of the measure,
as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall
petition that is circulated by a paid circulator, as defined, who
is paid by a committee to include, in 12-point type at the top of
the petition, a disclosure statement identifying the names of the
persons from whom the committee received the five largest
cumulative contributions of $10,000 or more, as defined.
2)Provides that if more than five donors meet the disclosure
threshold at identical contribution levels, the five highest
donations shall be disclosed according to chronological sequence.
3)Requires the disclosure statement to be updated within seven days
of any change in the five largest cumulative contributors.
4)Requires a committee that employs one or more paid circulators to
circulate a state initiative, referendum, or recall petition to
submit the disclosure statement required by this bill, and any
updates, to the Secretary of State (SOS), and requires the SOS to
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post those statements on his or her Internet Web site.
5)Requires the petition to include the name of the committee
immediately following the disclosure statement. Requires the
committee to identify itself using a name or phrase that clearly
identifies the economic or other special interest of its major
donors of $50,000 or more. Provides that if the major donors to
the committee share a common employer, the identity of that
employer shall be disclosed.
6)Provides that local elections officials shall not be required to
verify the accuracy of the disclosures required by this bill, or
to reapprove the petition when the petition is updated to reflect
a change in the five largest cumulative contributors.
7)Provides that signatures collected on a petition shall not be
invalid solely because the information required by this bill was
absent or inaccurate.
The Senate amendments :
1)Provide that a person who is one of the five largest contributors
to a proposed measure is required to be listed on the petition for
that measure, pursuant to this bill, only if the person's
cumulative contributions to the committee that is seeking to
qualify the measure total $10,000 or more.
2)Provide that a requirement for the disclosure statement required
by this bill to be submitted to the SOS and posted on the SOS's
Internet Web site applies only to state initiatives, referenda,
and recalls, and not to local measures.
3)Make a technical change.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,
pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Surveys consistently have shown
that voters want improved public disclosure of the sources that are
funding signature gathering for proposed ballot measures. In fact,
the Public Policy Institute of California has found greater than 70
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percent support for increasing public disclosure of funding sources
for initiative campaigns each of the eight times that they asked
that question. AB 400 will improve transparency about the financial
backers of proposed ballot measures by requiring initiative,
referendum, and recall petitions to include a listing of the five
top donors to the committee that is funding the petition drive."
In 2000, then-Assembly Speaker Robert M. Hertzberg created a
commission on the California initiative process. The goal of the
commission was to examine the initiative process and recommend
changes to make the process more responsive to voter concerns. The
commission issued its final report in January 2002. Among the
recommendations proposed by the commission was a requirement that
all petitions to qualify a statewide initiative for the ballot be
accompanied by a written campaign financial disclosure, which may be
printed on, attached, or bound to the petition.
The Senate amendments to this bill established a threshold of
$10,000 in contributions before a contributor is required to be
listed on a petition, pursuant to this bill, and provided that
proponents of local measures are not required to submit their
disclosure statements to be posted on the SOS's Internet Web site.
This bill, as amended in the Senate, is consistent with Assembly
actions.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
Information regarding contributions is most important for
voters when they are deciding whether to vote for or
against a measure that is on the ballot. Earlier this year
I signed legislation to provide up-to-date information
regarding committees for or against a measure or candidate
that have raised over $1 million. Now, voters can inspect
the top 10 contributors on the Fair Political Practices'
Web site at www.fppc.ca.gov/top10Nov2014 or
www.fppc.ca.gov/candidateNov2014 . These links are also
provided in the ballot pamphlet - an essential source of
information for voters.
It is not practical to include contributor information on
petitions as signatures are being gathered. The brief time
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allotted to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures
does not provide flexibility for a proponent to reprint
petitions each time there is a change in the top five
contributors.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0005628