BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Norma J. Torres, Chair
BILL NO: SB 1226 HEARING DATE: 4/22/14
AUTHOR: CORREA ANALYSIS BY: Darren Chesin
AMENDED: 4/7/14
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Political Reform Act: local campaign finance reform: FPPC
enforcement
DESCRIPTION
Existing law , until January 1, 2018, authorizes the Fair
Political Practices Commission (FPPC), upon mutual agreement
between them and the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors,
to have primary responsibility for the impartial, effective
administration, implementation, and enforcement of a local San
Bernardino County campaign finance reform ordinance. The San
Bernardino County Board of Supervisors must consult with the
FPPC prior to adopting and/or amending any local campaign
finance reform ordinance that is subsequently enforced by the
FPPC.
Existing law , pursuant to the aforementioned agreement,
authorizes the FPPC to investigate possible violations of the
San Bernardino County campaign finance reform ordinance and
bring administrative actions against persons who violate the
ordinance, as specified.
Existing law also specifies that the San Bernardino County Board
of Supervisors and the FPPC may enter into any agreements
necessary and appropriate for the operation of these provisions,
including agreements for reimbursement of state costs with
county funds, as specified. The San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors or the FPPC may, at any time, by ordinance or
resolution, terminate any agreement for the FPPC to administer,
implement, or enforce the local campaign finance reform
ordinance or any provision thereof.
Existing law requires the FPPC to report to the Legislature with
specified information on or before January 1, 2017, if the FPPC
enters into such an agreement with the San Bernardino County
Board of Supervisors.
This bill would extend these provisions to any participating
city or county. It would modify the existing provisions by
requiring the FPPC to be the civil prosecutor responsible for
the civil enforcement of the local campaign finance ordinances
and authorize them to provide advice and guidance regarding the
ordinances and to bring civil actions to enforce the civil
penalties and remedies of the ordinances.
This bill would provide that as the civil prosecutor of a
participating city's or county's local campaign finance
ordinance, the FPPC is not required to seek authorization from
the city attorney or district attorney of a participating city
or county to bring a civil or administrative action to enforce
the ordinance.
This bill would extend these provisions indefinitely by
repealing the January 1, 2018 sunset date but would maintain the
requirement the FPPC file the aforementioned report to the
Legislature on or before January 1, 2017.
BACKGROUND
Local Campaign Ordinances and the PRA : Pursuant to AB 2146
(Cook), Chapter 169 of 2012, San Bernardino County and the FPPC
entered into an agreement that provides for the FPPC to enforce
the County's local campaign finance ordinance.
Under existing law, local government agencies have the ability
to adopt campaign ordinances that apply to elections within
their jurisdictions, though the PRA imposes certain limited
restrictions on those local ordinances. For instance, SB 726
(McCorquodale), Chapter 1456, Statutes of 1985, limited the
ability of local jurisdictions to impose campaign filing
requirements that differed from those in the Political Reform
Act (PRA), permitting such requirements only when they applied
solely to candidates and committees whose activity is restricted
primarily to the jurisdiction in question. This provision
sought to avoid the necessity of a candidate or committee active
over a wider area being required to adhere to several different
campaign filing schedules. Similarly,
AB 1430 (Garrick), Chapter 708, Statutes of 2007, prohibited
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local governments from adopting rules governing member
communications that are different than the rules that govern
member communications at the state level.
Aside from these restrictions, however, local government
agencies generally have a significant amount of latitude when
developing local campaign finance ordinances that apply to
elections in those agencies' jurisdictions. Any jurisdiction
that adopts or amends a local campaign finance ordinance is
required to file a copy of that ordinance with the FPPC, and the
FPPC has begun posting those ordinances on its website.
San Bernardino County as well as several other cities and
counties have adopted campaign finance ordinances, some of which
that are very extensive. In some cases, those ordinances
include campaign contribution limits, reporting and disclosure
requirements that supplement the requirements of the PRA,
temporal restrictions on when campaign funds may be raised, and
voluntary public financing of local campaigns, among other
provisions. In many cases, local campaign finance ordinances
are enforced by the district attorney of the county or by the
city attorney. In at least a few cases, however, local
jurisdictions have set up independent boards or commissions to
enforce the local campaign finance laws.
The FPPC does not currently enforce any local campaign finance
ordinances other than San Bernardino County's. The FPPC can and
does, however, bring enforcement actions in response to
violations of the PRA that occur in campaigns for local office,
even in cases where the local jurisdiction brings separate
enforcement actions for violations of a local campaign finance
ordinance.
Criminal, Civil, and Administrative Enforcement of the PRA and
Local Campaign Ordinances : Violations of the PRA are subject to
administrative, civil, and criminal penalties. Generally, the
Attorney General (AG) and district attorneys have responsibility
for enforcing the criminal provisions of the PRA, though any
elected city attorney of a charter city also has the authority
to act as the criminal prosecutor for violations of the PRA that
occur within the city. The FPPC, the AG, district attorneys,
and elected city attorneys of charter cities all have
responsibility for enforcement of the civil penalties and
remedies provided under the PRA, depending on the nature and
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location of the violation, while any member of the public also
has the ability to file a civil action to enforce the civil
provisions of the PRA, subject to certain restrictions. The
FPPC has the sole authority to bring administrative proceedings
for enforcement of the PRA. When the FPPC determines on the
basis of such a proceeding that a violation of the PRA has
occurred, it can impose monetary penalties of up to $5,000 per
violation, in addition to ordering the violator to cease and
desist violation of the PRA and to file any reports, statements,
or other documents or information required by the PRA.
In the case of local campaign ordinances, there is no single
approach as to the types of penalties that are available for the
violations of those ordinances. Many local ordinances provide
for misdemeanor or civil penalties for violations, while some
ordinances do not establish any penalties for violations. In
some local jurisdictions that have independent boards or
commissions to enforce the local campaign finance ordinances,
those boards or commissions have the authority to bring
administrative enforcement proceedings, similar to the authority
the FPPC has under the PRA.
COMMENTS
1.According to the Author : The PRA allows local government
agencies to adopt campaign finance ordinances that apply to
elections within their jurisdictions. These ordinances may be
more stringent than the local restrictions that the PRA
imposes. While the FPPC has broad investigative and
administrative authority across the state, it does not assume
primary responsibility for local campaign finance ordinances.
The Boards of Supervisors must monitor ordinances or create a
County Ethics Commission with this authority.
In order to address concerns of local campaign finance
violations, a report by the Orange County Grand Jury
recommended that the Board of Supervisors establish a County
Ethics Commission to oversee its local campaign finance
ordinance. However, establishing a County Ethics Commission
and policing behavior could cost local governments millions of
dollars. For comparison, the current contract established by
the FPPC and San Bernardino County after the enactment of AB
2146 (Cook), costs the County approximately $250,000 a year.
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SB 1226 enables cities and counties to contract with the FPPC
for the administration and enforcement of local campaign
finance ordinances. This gives cities and counties the
ability to bring in an experienced, independent, and impartial
entity to investigate possible local campaign finance
violations and bring administrative action against these
violators. This bill allows participating entities to
eliminate the potential for bias, favoritism, or conflicting
interests by authorizing the FPPC to assume primary
responsibility for the administration and enforcement of local
campaign finance ordinances.
2.Related Legislation . AB 2146 (Cook), Chapter 169 of 2012,
permitted San Bernardino County and the FPPC to enter into an
agreement that provides for the FPPC to enforce the County's
local campaign finance ordinance.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: County of Orange
Support: Urban Counties Caucus
Oppose: None received
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