Amended
IN
Senate
August 21, 2014 |
Amended
IN
Senate
August 28, 2013 |
Amended
IN
Senate
June 25, 2013 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
May 14, 2013 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 15, 2013 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 21, 2013 |
Introduced by Assembly Member |
February 22, 2013 |
The Political Reform Act of 1974 imposes various reporting requirements with regard to contributions and independent expenditures, as defined, made for political purposes. The act establishes the Fair Political Practices Commission as the agency responsible for administering and enforcing the act. A violation of the act’s provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor.
This bill would require the Commission to develop a Nonprofit and Multipurpose Organization Disclosure Statement form. The bill would require that the form provide for the disclosure of specified information relating to certain contributions, expenditures, and independent expenditures made by, and donations made to, a nonprofit corporation. The bill would, except as otherwise provided,
require a nonprofit corporation to file a Nonprofit and Multipurpose Organization Disclosure Statement, at a time prescribed by the Commission, in any year in which the nonprofit corporation makes combined contributions, expenditures, or independent expenditures in support of or opposition to a candidate, political party, or ballot measure in this state aggregating $50,000 or more during the nonprofit corporation’s fiscal year.
The bill would require the Commission to make Nonprofit and Multipurpose Organization Disclosure Statements available to the public. The bill would authorize a nonprofit corporation or a donor to the nonprofit corporation to petition the Commission to maintain the confidentiality of information relating to donors and donations. The bill would require the Commission to grant a petition to maintain the confidentiality of donor and donation information if the petitioner establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the public
disclosure of donor information will cause undue harm, threats, harassment, or reprisals to the donor, or that the donor did not know or have reason to know that his or her donation would be used to make a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure in support of or opposition to a candidate, political party, or ballot measure, as specified.
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
This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
(a)This section shall apply only to a nonprofit corporation, as defined in Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, that satisfies both of the following:
(1)The nonprofit corporation makes, in this state, contributions, expenditures, or independent expenditures, as defined in Sections 82015, 82025, and 82031, respectively, in support of or opposition to a candidate, political party, or ballot measure, or any combination thereof.
(2)The aggregate contributions, expenditures, or independent expenditures described in paragraph (1) total, in any combination, fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more
during a calendar year.
(b)The Commission shall develop a Nonprofit and Multipurpose Organization Disclosure Statement form that provides for the disclosure of all of the following information relative to the contributions, expenditures, and independent expenditures made by a nonprofit corporation in support of or opposition to a candidate, political party, or ballot measure:
(1)The aggregate combined dollar amount of contributions, expenditures, and independent expenditures that are made during the reporting period.
(2)The amount of expenses attributable to contributions, expenditures, and independent expenditures as a percentage of the nonprofit corporation’s total expenses that are made during the reporting period.
(3)For purposes of a nonprofit corporation for which the combined amounts of contributions, expenditures, and independent expenditures made during the reporting period exceed 10 percent of the nonprofit corporation’s total expenses, each of the following with respect to contributions, expenditures, and independent expenditures made during that period:
(A)The amount of any funds, or the fair market value of any services or assets, that are provided in relation to a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure.
(B)The amount or fair market value of any liabilities incurred in relation to a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure.
(C)The date that the funds, services, or assets were provided or the liabilities were incurred.
(D)The name and address of the recipient of the contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure.
(E)A description of the contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure and its purpose, including whether the contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure was made in support of or opposition to a candidate, political party, or ballot measure.
(F)Information related to each donor who made donations
in an aggregate amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more to the nonprofit corporation during the reporting period, including each of the following:
(i)The name and address of the donor.
(ii)The name of the employer of the donor, if available.
(iii)The date and amount of each donation from that donor during the reporting period.
(c)(1)Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, a nonprofit corporation described in subdivision (a) shall file, at a time to be determined by the Commission, a Nonprofit and Multipurpose Organization Disclosure Statement with the Commission for any year in which the nonprofit corporation
meets the fifty thousand dollar ($50,000) threshold described in subdivision (a). Except as provided in subdivision (d), the Commission shall make the filed Nonprofit and Multipurpose Organization Disclosure Statement available to the public, as required by Section 81008.
(2)A nonprofit
corporation shall not be required to file a Nonprofit and Multipurpose Organization Disclosure Statement for any period when the nonprofit corporation is filing reports either as a committee under Section 82013 or as a sponsor of a committee, and the information described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b) is disclosed on the committee’s reports in a manner prescribed by the Commission.
(3)If a nonprofit corporation required to file a Nonprofit and Multipurpose Organization Disclosure Statement pursuant to this section maintains one or more segregated bank accounts for the purpose of making election-related contributions, expenditures, or independent expenditures described in subdivision (a), and those accounts represent the exclusive source of the nonprofit corporation’s election-related contributions, expenditures, and independent
expenditures in this state, the nonprofit corporation is only required to report information described in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) with respect to donations deposited into the segregated election-related accounts.
(d)A nonprofit corporation or a donor to a nonprofit corporation
that is subject to the reporting requirements of this section may petition the Commission, no later than 45 days prior to the date on which the Nonprofit and Multipurpose Organization Disclosure Statement must be filed, to maintain the confidentiality of donor information that is disclosed on the statement. If a petitioner demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that the public disclosure of donor information reported on the Nonprofit and Multipurpose Organization Disclosure Statement will cause undue harm, threats, harassment, or reprisals to the donor or that the donor did not know or have reason to know that his or her donation would be used to make a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure described in subdivision (a) in this state, the Commission shall, notwithstanding Section 81008, treat the donor and donation information as confidential and shall redact the
donor and donation information from any documents that are made available to the public. The Commission shall inform the petitioner, in writing, whether the petition to maintain the confidentiality of donor and donation information has been granted or denied. The Commission’s grant or denial determination shall include a statement of findings and conclusions, and the reasons or basis for the determination.
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.
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.