Bill Text: CA AB37 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Political Reform Act of 1974: campaign funds: security expenses.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2024-01-29 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB37 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB37-Enrolled.html
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Enrolled
September 18, 2023 |
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Passed
IN
Senate
September 13, 2023 |
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Passed
IN
Assembly
September 13, 2023 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
August 31, 2023 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
July 10, 2023 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
June 27, 2023 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 37
| Introduced by Assembly Member Bonta (Coauthor: Senator Wiener) |
December 05, 2022 |
An act to amend Section 89519 of, and to repeal and add Section 89517.5 of, the Government Code, relating to the Political Reform Act of 1974.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 37, Bonta.
Political Reform Act of 1974: campaign funds: security expenses.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 regulates the use of campaign funds held by candidates for elective office, elected officers, and campaign committees. The act authorizes a candidate or elected officer to use campaign funds to pay or reimburse the state for the costs of installing and monitoring a home or office electronic security system if specified conditions are met. These conditions include that the candidate or elected officer has received threats to physical safety that have been verified by law enforcement and that no more than $5,000 in campaign funds be used for this purpose.
This bill would eliminate those conditions. The bill would instead authorize a candidate or elected officer to use campaign funds to pay or reimburse the state for the reasonable costs of installing and monitoring a home or office electronic security system, and for
the reasonable costs of providing personal security to a candidate, elected officer, or the immediate family or staff of a candidate or elected officer, provided that the threat or potential threat to safety arises from the candidate’s or elected officer’s activities, duties, or status as a candidate or elected officer. The bill would require the return of the security system to the committee that paid for the security system or reimbursement by the candidate, elected officer, immediate family, or staff, to the campaign fund account of the committee that paid for the security system and reporting of the reimbursement to the Fair Political Practices Commission, as specified.
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 of the
Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements.
This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Digest Key
Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 89517.5 of the Government Code is repealed.SEC. 2.
Section 89517.5 is added to the Government Code, to read:89517.5.
(a) For purposes of this section, “security expenses” include the reasonable costs of installing and monitoring a home or office electronic security system for, and the reasonable costs of providing personal security to, a candidate, elected officer, or the immediate family or staff of a candidate or elected officer. “Security expenses” do not include payments to a relative, within the third degree of consanguinity, of a candidate or elected officer, unless the relative owns or operates a professional personal security business and the cost of the service is no greater than the relative would otherwise charge.(b) Notwithstanding Section 89517, campaign funds may be used to pay, or reimburse the state, for security expenses to protect a
candidate, an elected officer, or the immediate family or staff of a candidate or elected officer, provided that the threat or potential threat to safety arises from the candidate’s or elected officer’s activities, duties, or status as a candidate or elected officer. An expenditure of campaign funds pursuant to this subdivision shall be reported to the Commission.
(c) (1) If a committee uses campaign funds to pay, or reimburse the state, for the costs of installing a home or office electronic security system, either the security system shall be returned to the committee or reimbursement for the security system shall be made to the campaign fund account of the committee that paid for the security system, pursuant to the requirements in paragraphs (2) and (3).
(2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), return or reimbursement is due
within one year of when the elected officer leaves the office for which the security system was purchased or when the candidate is no longer a candidate for the office for which the security system was purchased, or upon sale of the property on which the security system is installed, whichever occurs sooner.
(B) If there is a continuing threat to the physical safety of the candidate or elected officer, the threat arises from the candidate’s or elected officer’s activities, duties, or status as a candidate or elected officer, and the threat has been reported to and verified by an appropriate law enforcement agency, return or reimbursement is due within one year of when the threat verified by the law enforcement agency ceases, or upon sale of the property on which the security system is installed, whichever occurs sooner.
(3) The amount of the reimbursement shall be the fair market
value of the security system at the time that reimbursement is paid or due pursuant to paragraph (2), whichever occurs sooner. For a security system installed at the home or office of a candidate or elected officer, the candidate or elected officer shall pay the reimbursement. For a security system installed at the home or office of immediate family or staff, either the candidate or elected officer, or the immediate family or staff, shall pay the reimbursement.
(4) The candidate or elected officer shall report reimbursement pursuant to this subdivision to the Commission.
(d) The immediate family or staff of the candidate or elected officer shall not be personally liable for reimbursement for expenditures for security expenses pursuant to this section.
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 the former candidate’s or elected officer’s immediate family, or the former candidate’s or elected officer’s 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, but not limited to, 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.
(c) For purposes of this section, the payment of, or the reimbursement to the state for, security expenses, as defined in Section 89517.5, to protect a candidate, an elected officer, or the immediate family or staff of a candidate or elected officer, shall be deemed an outstanding campaign debt or elected officer’s
expense, provided that the threat or potential threat to safety arises from the candidate’s or elected officer’s activities, duties, or status as a candidate or elected officer. The candidate or elected officer shall report a payment or reimbursement for security expenses made pursuant to this section to the Commission.
