Bill Text: CA AB2284 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Special elections to fill vacancies.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-05-16 - From committee: Without further action pursuant to Joint Rule 62(a). [AB2284 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB2284-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2284 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Patterson
FEBRUARY 18, 2016
An act to add Section 10708 to the Elections Code, and to amend
Sections 89510 and 89519 of the Government Code, relating to
elections.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2284, as amended, Patterson. Special elections to fill
vacancies.
The California Constitution requires the Governor to immediately
call an election to fill a vacancy in the Legislature. Existing law
provides specific procedures for the nomination and election of
candidates at any special election to fill a vacancy in the office of
State Senator or Member of the Assembly.
Exiting law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides that
contributions deposited into a campaign account are deemed to be held
in trust for expenses associated with the election of a candidate or
for expenses associated with holding office. The act provides that
campaign funds under the control of a former candidate or elected
officer are considered surplus campaign funds at a prescribed time,
and it prohibits the use of surplus campaign funds except for
specified purposes.
This bill would prohibit a State Senator or Member of the Assembly
who decides to resign from office before the expiration of his or
her term from subsequently using campaign funds held in trust for any
purpose other than paying outstanding campaign debts or reasonable
expenses. The bill would amend the list of specified purposes
allowable for the use of surplus campaign funds to include the
payment of expenses to hold a special election to fill the vacancy
created by the Member's resignation and would require the former
Member to pay from his or her surplus campaign funds such
election-related expenses, to the extent he or she has funds
available to do so. Once election-related expenses are paid, this
bill would limit the use of excess surplus funds to
charitable certain purposes.
This bill would further make a Member who, after deciding to
resign, uses campaign funds for purposes other than those authorized
in that circumstance personally liable for expenses to hold a special
election.
A violation of the provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974
is punishable as a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of an existing
crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides
that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes
upon a 2/3 vote of each house and compliance with specified
procedural requirements.
This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 10708 is added to the Elections Code, to read:
10708. (a) A State Senator or Member of the Assembly who resigns
from office before the expiration of his or her term shall reimburse
from his or her surplus campaign funds the county or counties that
hold a special election pursuant to this chapter to fill the vacancy
for any expenses authorized and necessarily incurred in the
preparation for, and conduct of, the special election.
(b) Expenses for which reimbursement is required pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall be paid from the former officeholder's surplus
campaign funds, as defined by Section 89519 of the Government Code,
to the extent he or she has funds available to do so; however, if a
former officeholder violates subdivision (c) of Section 89510 of the
Government Code, he or she shall be personally liable for those
expenses to the extent he or she lacks sufficient surplus campaign
funds to pay them.
(c) If the legislative district encompasses more than one county,
the surplus campaign funds shall be prorated among the counties
conducting the special election in proportion to the percentage of
the district each county composes.
SEC. 2. Section 89510 of the Government Code is amended to read:
89510. (a) A candidate for elective state office may only accept
contributions within the limits provided in Chapter 5 (commencing
with Section 85100).
(b) All contributions deposited into the campaign account shall be
deemed to be held in trust for expenses associated with the election
of the candidate or for expenses associated with holding office.
(c) If a State Senator or Member of the Assembly decides to resign
from office before the expiration of his or her term, he or she
subsequently shall only use funds held pursuant to this section to
pay outstanding campaign debts or reasonable expenses. Funds held
pursuant to this section are subject to Section 89519 to the extent
they become surplus funds.
(d) There is a rebuttable presumption that a State Senator or
Member of the Assembly who resigns resigned
decided to do so six months before he or she vacated office.
The presumption may be rebutted by objective evidence, such as
evidence indicating that the former officeholder initiated or
responded to an offer of employment on a particular date, that the
State Senator or Member of the Assembly decided to resign greater
than or less than six months before he or she vacated office.
SEC. 3. Section 89519 of the Government Code is amended to read:
89519. (a) Upon the 90th day after leaving an elective office, or
the 90th day following the end of the postelection reporting period
following the defeat of a candidate for elective office, whichever
occurs last, campaign funds under the control of the former candidate
or elected officer shall be considered surplus campaign funds and
shall be disclosed pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section
84100).
(b) Surplus campaign funds shall be used only for the following
purposes:
(1) The payment of outstanding campaign debts or elected officer's
expenses.
(2) The repayment of contributions.
(3) Donations to a bona fide charitable, educational, civic,
religious, or similar tax-exempt, nonprofit organization, where no
substantial part of the proceeds will have a material financial
effect on the former candidate or elected officer, any member of his
or her immediate family, or his or her campaign treasurer.
(4) Contributions to a political party committee, provided the
campaign funds are not used to support or oppose candidates for
elective office. However, the campaign funds may be used by a
political party committee to conduct partisan voter registration,
partisan get-out-the-vote activities, and slate mailers as that term
is defined in Section 82048.3.
(5) Contributions to support or oppose a candidate for federal
office, a candidate for elective office in a state other than
California, or a ballot measure.
(6) The payment for professional services reasonably required by
the committee to assist in the performance of its administrative
functions, including payment for attorney's fees and other costs for
litigation that arises directly out of a candidate's or elected
officer's activities, duties, or status as a candidate or elected
officer, including an action to enjoin defamation, defense of an
action brought for a violation of state or local campaign,
disclosure, or election laws, and an action from an election contest
or recount.
(7) The payment of expenses authorized and necessarily incurred in
the preparation for, and conduct of, a special election, as required
by Section 10708 of the Elections Code. Surplus campaign
funds shall be applied to these costs before being used for any other
purpose, and any funds remaining after payment of these costs shall
be used only for the purposes described in paragraph (3) of this
subdivision.
(c) A former officeholder subject to Section 10708 of the
Elections Code may only use surplus funds for the purposes described
in paragraphs (1) and (7) of subdivision (b) of this section. Once
the costs identified in paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) are paid in
full, a former officeholder may also use surplus funds for the
purposes described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b).
(d) For purposes of this section, the
payment for, or the reimbursement to the state of, the costs of
installing and monitoring an electronic security system in the home
or office, or both, of a candidate or elected officer who has
received threats to his or her physical safety shall be deemed an
outstanding campaign debt or elected officer's expense, provided that
the threats arise from his or her activities, duties, or status as a
candidate or elected officer and that the threats have been reported
to and verified by an appropriate law enforcement agency.
Verification shall be determined solely by the law enforcement agency
to which the threat was reported. The candidate or elected officer
shall report an expenditure of campaign funds made pursuant to this
section to the Commission. The report to the Commission shall include
the date that the candidate or elected officer informed the law
enforcement agency of the threat, the name and the telephone number
of the law enforcement agency, and a brief description of the threat.
No more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) in surplus campaign
funds may be used, cumulatively, by a candidate or elected officer
pursuant to this subdivision. Payments made pursuant to this
subdivision shall be made during the two years immediately following
the date upon which the campaign funds become surplus campaign funds.
The candidate or elected officer shall reimburse the surplus fund
account for the fair market value of the security system no later
than two years immediately following the date upon which the campaign
funds became surplus campaign funds. The campaign funds become
surplus campaign funds upon sale of the property on which the system
is installed, or prior to the closing of the surplus campaign fund
account, whichever comes first. The electronic security system shall
be the property of the campaign committee of the candidate or elected
officer.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
SEC. 5. The Legislature finds and declares that this bill furthers
the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974 within the meaning
of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the Government Code.
