BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1226|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1226
Author: Correa (D), et al.
Amended: 4/7/14
Vote: 27
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM .: 5-0, 4/22/14
AYES: Torres, Anderson, Hancock, Jackson, Padilla
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/5/14
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
SUBJECT : Political Reform Act of 1974: local campaign
finance reform
SOURCE : County of Orange
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Fair Political Practices
Commission (FPPC) to administer and enforce a local campaign
finance ordinance upon mutual agreement between the FPPC and the
city or county.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Authorizes, until January 1, 2018, the 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.
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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.
2.Authorizes, pursuant to the aforementioned agreement, 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.
3.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.
4.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:
1.Extends existing provisions to any participating city or
county. It modifies these existing provisions by requiring
the FPPC to be the civil prosecutor responsible for the civil
enforcement of the local campaign finance ordinances and
authorizes them to provide advice and guidance regarding the
ordinances and to bring civil actions to enforce the civil
penalties and remedies of the ordinances.
2.Provides 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.
3.Extends these provisions indefinitely by repealing the January
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1, 2018 sunset date but maintains the requirement that the
FPPC file the aforementioned report to the Legislature on or
before January 1, 2017.
Background
Local Campaign Ordinances and the Policy Reform Act (PRA) .
Pursuant to AB 2146 (Cook, Chapter 169, Statutes 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 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 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 Internet Web
site.
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
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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
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,
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those boards or commissions have the authority to bring
administrative enforcement proceedings, similar to the authority
the FPPC has under the PRA.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, all costs to
the FPPC will be reimbursed by the city or county that opts to
enter into the mutual agreement. (Local Fund)
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/7/14)
County of Orange (source)
Urban Counties Caucus
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : 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.
This bill 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
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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.
RM:e 5/7/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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