BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 844|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 844
Author: Pavley (D), et al.
Amended: 8/21/14
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 5-0, 3/18/14
AYES: Torres, Anderson, Hancock, Padilla, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-1, 5/23/14
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Gaines
SENATE FLOOR : 35-0, 5/28/14
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, Corbett,
Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani,
Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Knight, Lara, Leno,
Lieu, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nielsen, Padilla, Pavley,
Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak, Walters, Wolk, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Hancock, Liu, Wright, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-1, 8/25/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Ballot measure contributions
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to
create an Internet Web site, or use other available technology,
to consolidate information about each state ballot measure in a
manner that is easy for voters to access and understand, as
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specified.
Assembly Amendments update the information required to be
contained in an online ballot pamphlet; require the Internet Web
site include information about contribution made in support and
opposition to a ballot measure, as specified; add
double-jointing language with SB 1253 (Steinberg), and SB 1442
(Lara); and make other conforming and technical changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides, pursuant to the Political Reform Act (PRA), for
the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including
requiring the reporting of campaign contributions and
expenditures, as defined, and imposing other reporting and
recordkeeping requirements on campaign committees, as
defined.
2. Requires each campaign committee formed or existing
primarily to support or oppose a statewide ballot measure to
file with the SOS periodic reports identifying the sources
and amounts of contributions received during specified
periods.
3. Specifies what information must be included in the statewide
ballot pamphlet, including, but not limited to:
A complete copy of each measure.
A copy of the arguments and rebuttals for and against
each state measure.
A copy of the analysis of each state measure by the
Legislative Analyst.
Tables of contents, indexes, art work, graphics, and
other materials that the SOS determines will make the
ballot pamphlet easier to understand or more useful for
the average voter.
This bill:
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1.Requires the online version of the state ballot pamphlet to
contain all of the following:
A. For each candidate listed in the pamphlet, a means to
access campaign contribution disclosure reports for the
candidate that are available online; and
B. For each state ballot measure listed in the pamphlet, a
means to access the consolidated information, described
below.
1.Requires the SOS to create an Internet Web site, or use other
available technology, to consolidate information about each
ballot measure in a manner that is easy for voters to access
and understand. Requires the information to include all of
the following:
A. A summary of the ballot measure's content.
B. The total amount of reported contributions made in
support of and opposition to a ballot measure calculated
and updated as specified.
C. A current list of the top 10 contributors supporting and
opposing a ballot measure, if compiled by the Fair
Political Practices Commission (FPPC) pursuant to existing
law.
D. A list of each committee primarily formed to support or
oppose the ballot measure, as described by existing law,
and a means to access information about the sources of
funding reported for each committee.
1.Requires information about the sources of contributions to be
updated as new information becomes available to the public
pursuant the PRA.
2.Requires the SOS, if a committee primarily formed to support
or oppose a ballot measure receives $1 million or more in
contributions for an election, to provide a means to access
online information about the committee's top 10 contributors
reported to the FPPC as required by existing law.
3.Requires the FPPC to automatically provide any list of the top
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10 contributors created pursuant to existing law, and any
subsequent updates to that list, to the SOS.
4.Requires the ballot pamphlet, for each state measure to be
voted upon, to contain, immediately below the analysis
prepared by the Legislative Analyst's Office, a printed
statement that refers voters to the SOS's Internet Web site
for a list of committees primarily formed to support or oppose
a ballot measure, and information on how to access the
committee's top 10 contributors.
5.Contains double-jointing language to avoid chaptering problems
with SB 1253 (Steinberg) of the current legislative session.
6.Contains contingent enactment language to avoid implementation
problems with SB 1442 (Lara) of the current legislative
session.
Background
Contributor lists in the ballot pamphlet . Numerous prior bills
have attempted to add campaign contribution information to the
state ballot pamphlet. Most recently, SB 334 (DeSaulnier,
2011), which was vetoed by Governor Brown, would have required
the state ballot pamphlet to contain a list of the five highest
contributors of $50,000 or more to each primarily formed
committee supporting or opposing each state measure appearing on
the ballot.
It should be noted however that this bill does not require the
ballot pamphlet itself to contain the contributor information.
Rather, it requires the statewide ballot pamphlet to include a
printed statement that refers voters to the SOS's Internet Web
site for the required lists of contributors.
Primarily formed committee . The PRA defines a "primarily formed
committee" as a recipient committee which is formed or exists
primarily to support or oppose any of the following:
A single candidate.
A single measure.
A group of specific candidates being voted upon in the same
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city, county, or multicounty election.
Two or more measures being voted upon in the same city,
county, multicounty, or state election.
Sponsored committee . The PRA defines "sponsored committee" as a
committee, other than a candidate controlled committee, which
has one or more sponsors. Any person (organizations,
associations, business entities, etc.), except a candidate or
other individual, may sponsor a committee. A person sponsors a
committee if any of the following apply:
The committee receives 80% or more of its contributions from
the person or its members, officers, employees, or
shareholders.
The person collects contributions for the committee by use of
payroll deductions or dues from its members, officers, or
employees.
The person, alone or in combination with other organizations,
provides all or nearly all of the administrative services for
the committee.
The person, alone or in combination with other organizations,
sets the policies for soliciting contributions or making
expenditures of committee funds.
Related legislation . This bill is similar to provisions
contained in SB 27 (Correa, Chapter 16, Statutes of 2104) which
requires all primarily formed committees that raise $1 million
or more to maintain an accurate list of their top 10
contributors and requires those lists to be disclosed on the
FPPC's Web site. SB 27 also requires committees to use
reasonable efforts to identify the individuals or corporations
that are the true source of contributions made to the committee
when listing the top contributors.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, ongoing
General Fund (GF) costs of $130,000 to the SOS for one full-time
and one part-time position to regularly compile reported
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contributions and top 10 contributors for each ballot measure,
plus one-time GF costs of $50,000 to develop regulations if
required.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/25/14)
California Clean Money Campaign
California Common Cause
California Forward Action Fund
California Voter Foundation
League of Woman Voters of California
MapLight
SEIU California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
Surveys conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California
have consistently found that more than 80 percent of likely
voters support requiring funding disclosure of donations
towards ballot initiatives. According to MapLight, a
nonprofit elections research organization, in order to find
out campaign finance information for Proposition 30 (2012), it
took 460 mouse clicks to compile a complete list of
contributors for and against the ballot initiative.
The average voter does not have the time, nor the expertise to
parse through each individual committee to figure out who the
top cumulative contributors are for or against each
proposition. Without easy-to-access and easy-to-use tools
that can identify the top contributors to campaigns for and
against ballot initiatives, voters will have a more difficult
time making an informed decision about state policy? SB 844
would provide voters with the identities of large financial
contributors who pump millions of dollars into campaigns to
pass or defeat state ballot initiatives. This information is
crucial to ensuring that voters make informed decisions at the
ballot box.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-1, 8/25/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
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Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A.
P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Allen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
RM:k 8/26/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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