BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1716 (Garcia) - Political Reform Act: Postemployment
Restrictions
Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: E&CA 4-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: June 30, 2014 Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1716 makes former local administrative
officials subject to the permanent ban on "switching sides" in a
governmental proceeding that currently applies to state
administrative officials.
Fiscal Impact:
Annual costs of approximately $140,000 to the Fair
Political Practices Commission (General Fund)
The FPPC anticipates the need for one Attorney III position for
advising, updating manuals, trainings webinars, and regulations.
Background: Existing law restricts the post-governmental
activities of certain former public officials. These
restrictions are commonly known as a "revolving door ban," and
there are two main situations in the Political Reform Act that
may apply to former public officials.
First, certain officials are prohibited, for one year after
leaving public service, from representing any other person by
appearing before or communicating with, for compensation, their
former agency in an attempt to influence agency decisions.
Members of the Legislature, members of state boards and
commissions with decision-making authority, local elected
officials, and individuals who manage public investments are
examples of those subject to the one-year ban.
The second type of revolving door restriction permanently
prohibits former state administrative officials from being paid
to work on proceedings that they had participated in while
working for the state. The ban prohibits appearances and
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communications to represent any other person, as well as
advising, consulting or assisting in representing any other
person for compensation, before any state administrative agency
in a proceeding involving specific parties (such as a lawsuit, a
hearing before an administrative law judge, or a state contract)
if the official previously participated in the proceeding. This
permanent ban on "switching sides" does not apply to local
officials, though some local jurisdictions have adopted similar
rules. AB 1716 makes this permanent ban applicable to local
jurisdictions.
Proposed Law: Specifically, AB 1716 does the following:
1) Prohibits a former local administrative official, after the
termination of his or her employment or term of office, from
doing either of the following for compensation:
a) Acting as an agent or attorney for, or otherwise
representing, any person other than the former official's
agency, before a court, local government agency, state
administrative agency, or officer or employee of those courts or
agencies, by a making an appearance or an oral or written
communication with the intent to influence a judicial,
quasi-judicial, or other proceeding, if both of the following
apply:
--- The former local administrative official's agency is a party
or has a direct and substantial interest; and,
-- The proceeding is one in which the former local
administrative official participated.
The official will also be prohibited from aiding, advising,
counseling, or assisting in representing any other person,
except the local government agency, in any proceeding in which
the official would be prohibited from appearing as detailed
above.
2) Provides that the prohibitions outlined above do not apply to
the following:
a) To prevent a former official from making or providing a
statement based on the official's own special knowledge in the
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area that is the subject of the statement, provided that no
compensation is received other than that regularly provided by
law or regulation for witnesses.
b) To communications made solely for the purpose of furnishing
information by a former local official if the court or agency to
which the communication is directed makes the following findings
in writing:
-- The former official has outstanding and otherwise
unavailable qualifications;
-- The former official is acting with respect to a matter that
requires such qualifications; and,
-- The public interest is served by the participation of the
former official; or,
c) With respect to appearances or communications in a
proceeding in which the court or agency has issued a final
order, decree, decision, or judgment but has retained
jurisdiction if the local government agency that formerly
employed the official gives consent by making both of the
following determinations:
-- At least five years has elapsed since the termination of the
former official's employment or term of office; and,
-- The public interest will not be harmed.
AB 1716 provides that these restrictions do not apply to any
person who left government service before the effective date of
this bill.
"Local administrative official" is defined to mean every member,
officer, employee, or consultant of a local government agency
who as a part of his or her official responsibilities engages in
any judicial, quasi-judicial, or other proceeding in other than
a purely clerical, secretarial, or ministerial capacity.
Staff Comments: Existing law restricts the post-governmental
activities of certain former public officials. These
restrictions are commonly known as a "revolving door ban."
AB 1716 (Garcia)
Page 3
There are two main types of revolving door restrictions in the
PRA that may apply to former public officials.
A one-year ban prohibits certain officials, for one year after
leaving public service, from representing any other person by
appearing before or communicating with, for compensation, their
former agency in an attempt to influence agency decisions that
involve the making of general rules (such as regulations or
legislation), or to influence certain proceedings involving a
permit, license, contract, or transaction involving the sale or
purchase of property or goods. Members of the Legislature,
members of state boards and commissions with decision-making
authority, local elected officials, and individuals who manage
public investments are examples of people who are subject to the
one-year ban. (A related, but slightly different, one-year ban
applies to former air pollution control district and air quality
management district members.) When originally adopted, this
one-year ban applied primarily to former state employees, but
subsequent legislation also made the one-year ban applicable to
specified former local officials.
The second main type of revolving door restriction permanently
prohibits former state administrative officials from being paid
to work on proceedings that they participated in while working
for the state. The ban prohibits appearances and communications
to represent any other person, as well as aiding, advising,
counseling, consulting or assisting in representing any other
person, for compensation, before any state administrative agency
in a proceeding involving specific parties (such as a lawsuit, a
hearing before an administrative law judge, or a state contract)
if the official previously participated in the proceeding. This
permanent ban on "switching sides" currently does not apply to
local officials, though some local jurisdictions have adopted
similar rules.