BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1692
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 30, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                    AB 1692 (Garcia) - As Amended:  April 8, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:6-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill amends the Political Reform Act (PRA) to:

          1)Prohibit an expenditure of campaign funds to pay a fine,  
            penalty, judgment, or settlement relating to an expenditure of  
            campaign funds found to be improper by personally benefiting  
            the candidate or officer, and the expenditure was not  
            reasonably related to a political, legislative, or  
            governmental purpose.

          2)Codify a regulatory definition of the term "attorney's fees  
            and other related legal costs" for the purposes of provisions  
            of existing law that specify the permissible uses of funds  
            raised into a legal defense fund.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor absorbable costs to the Fair Political Practices  
          Commission (FPPC) for enforcement, potentially offset to some  
          extent by penalty revenues.

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  . According to the author, "To prevent campaign funds  
          from being used to pay for fines that result from the violation  
          of campaign fund laws (i.e. making expenditures intended for  
          private purposes),  AB 1692 prohibits the use of campaign funds  
          to pay for the associated fines, penalties, judgments and  
          settlements."

          Under the PRA, when a determination is made in an enforcement  
          action that a candidate or other person has received an  








                                                                  AB 1692
                                                                  Page  2

          impermissible personal benefit from a campaign expenditure, a  
          necessary part of that determination is an assessment that the  
          expenditure in question was not related to a political,  
          legislative, or governmental purpose as required by law. To  
          permit campaign funds to be used to pay a fine or penalty in  
          such a situation would appear inconsistent with the policy that  
          campaign expenditures must be related to a political,  
          legislative, or governmental purpose, since the underlying  
          expenditure that led to the fine or penalty being imposed was  
          deemed not to be related to a political, legislative, or  
          governmental purpose.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081