BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1226 (Correa) - Local Campaign Finance Reform
Amended: April 7, 2014 Policy Vote: E&CA 5-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 5, 2014 Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense file.
Bill Summary: SB 1226 will authorize the Fair Political
Practices Commission (FPPC) to administer and enforce a local
campaign finance ordinance upon mutual agreement between the
Commission and the city or county.
Fiscal Impact:
All costs to the FPPC will be reimbursed by the city or
county that opts to enter into the mutual agreement. (Local
Fund)
Background: Under existing law, the Fair Political Practices
Commission is charged with enforcing the Political Reform Act of
1974 (PRA) and has the primary responsibility for the impartial,
effective administration and implementation of the PRA.
Local governments are prohibited from enacting a campaign
finance ordinance that imposes reporting requirements that are
different from those set forth in the PRA unless the different
requirements apply only to the candidates seeking election in
that jurisdiction, their controlled committees or committees
formed primarily to support or oppose their candidacies, and to
committees formed to support or oppose the qualification or
passage of a local ballot measure which is being voted on only
in that jurisdiction. Any jurisdiction that adopts or amends a
local campaign finance ordinance is required to file a copy of
that ordinance with the FPPC. The FPPC posts those ordinances
on its Internet Web site.
Some cities and counties have adopted extensive campaign finance
ordinances which include campaign contribution limits,
reporting, and disclosure requirements that supplement the
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requirements of the PRA. In many cases, local campaign finance
ordinances are enforced by the district attorney of the county
or by the city attorney. In a few instances, local
jurisdictions have set up independent boards or commissions to
enforce the local campaign finance laws.
Existing law, Chapter 169 Statutes of 2012, authorizes the Fair
Political Practices Commission, upon mutual agreement with the
San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, to have primary
responsibility for the administration, implementation, and
enforcement of a local San Bernardino County campaign finance
reform ordinance.
Current law requires the FPPC to report to the Legislature by
January 1, 2017 regarding the performance of any agreement that
was entered into with the County of San Bernardino. The report
is to include the following:
a) The status of the agreement;
b) The estimated annual cost savings, if any, for the County of
San Bernardino;
c) A summary of relevant annual performance metrics, including
measures of utilization, enforcement, and customer satisfaction;
d) Any public comments submitted to the Commission or to the
County of San Bernardino relative to the operation of the
agreement; and
e) Any legislative recommendations.
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 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
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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, 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.
Proposed Law: SB 1226 will authorize the Fair Political
Practices Commission (FPPC) to administer and enforce a local
campaign finance ordinance upon mutual agreement between the
Commission and the city or county.
SB 1226 will authorize the FPPC to do all of the following:
a) Provide advice and guidance regarding the local campaign
finance ordinance;
b) Investigate possible violations of the local campaign
finance ordinance;
c) To bring administrative actions to enforce the local
campaign finance ordinance; and
c) Bring civil actions to enforce the civil penalties and
remedies of the local campaign finance ordinance.
SB 1226 requires a city council or board of supervisors to
consult with the Commission prior to adopting or amending any
local campaign finance ordinance that is subsequently enforce by
the commission.
In entering into a mutual agreement, the city council or board
of supervisors of the participating city or county will include
agreements pertaining to any necessary reimbursement of state
costs with county funds for costs incurred by the Commission in
administering, implementing, or enforcing a local campaign
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finance ordinance. The agreement will be prohibited from
including a cancellation fee, a liquidated damages provisions,
or other financial disincentive to terminating the agreement,
and will instead allow for cancellation at any time.
Additionally, SB 1226 eliminates the original sunset of January
1, 2018 on the San Bernardino County authorization to enter into
agreement with the FPPC.
Related Legislation: AB 2146 (Cook), Chapter 169, Statutes of
2012, authorized the County of San Bernardino to contract with
the FPPC to enforce its campaign finance laws.
Staff Comments: San Bernardino County was the first local entity
to enter into an agreement to authorize the FPPC to enforce its
local campaign finance laws. The ordinance that San Bernardino
had was very limited in scope and merely established a voluntary
campaign expenditure limit for candidates for local office. It
did not provide any incentive for candidates to adopt that
voluntary limit, nor did it establish penalties for candidates
who agreed to abide by limits but then who made campaign
expenditures in excess of that limit.
SB 1226 will extend that authorization to any participating city
or county. It will 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 the Commission to provide advice and guidance
regarding the ordinances.
While the FPPC currently does not enforce any local campaign
finance ordinances other than San Bernardino County's, it can
and does bring enforcement actions in response to violations of
the PRA that occur in campaigns for local office.
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
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the County approximately $250,000 a year.
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.
SB 1226 contains findings and declarations that its provisions
further the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974.