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SB-248 Political Reform Act of 1974: disclosures: candidate experience.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 08/28/2023 11:56 PM
SB248:v95#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  August 28, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  June 13, 2023
Amended  IN  Senate  May 18, 2023
Amended  IN  Senate  April 10, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 248

Introduced by Senator Newman
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Bryan)

January 26, 2023

An act to amend Section 85200 of, and to add Section 85200.5 to, the Government Code, relating to the Political Reform Act of 1974.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 248, as amended, Newman. Political Reform Act of 1974: disclosures: candidate experience.
(1) Existing law requires candidates to submit specified filings to declare their intent to run for elective office. Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, additionally requires candidates for elective office to make various disclosures relating to a campaign for elective office.
This bill would require, beginning on the January 1 after the Secretary of State certifies a CAL-ACCESS Replacement, a candidate for elective office to file, when the candidate files a declaration of candidacy, a form to disclose the candidate’s prior education and work history, and history of military service, if any. The filing would contain a statement, signed under penalty of perjury, that the information contained in the form is accurate to the best of the candidate’s knowledge.
The bill would require the Fair Political Practices Commission to create a form for this purpose. The bill would require the Secretary of State to post on its internet website a copy of completed forms submitted by candidates, making such forms available to the public for 4 years from the date of the election associated with the filing.
The bill would establish penalties and enforcement procedures for these requirements, as specified. The bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature that a violation of these provisions be considered grounds for disqualification from elective office, and that a governing body with the power to remove an elected officer from an office may consider violation of this chapter as grounds for such removal.
(2) The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
(3) A violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 is punishable as a misdemeanor, and reports and statements filed under the act are required to be signed under the penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of existing crimes, 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.
(4) 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.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 85200 of the Government Code, as amended by Section 29 of Chapter 662 of the Statutes of 2018, is amended to read:

85200.
 (a) (1) Before the solicitation or receipt of any contribution or loan, an individual who intends to be a candidate for an elective state office, as that term is defined by Section 82024, shall file online or electronically with the Secretary of State an original statement, signed under penalty of perjury, of intention to be a candidate for a specific office.
(2) An individual who intends to be a candidate for any other elective office shall file the statement of intention with the same filing officer and in the same location as the individual would file an original campaign statement pursuant to subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of Section 84215.
(b) A statement of intention filed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include the candidate experience disclosure described in Section 85200.5. The Commission, at its discretion, may require the candidate experience disclosure to be included as part of the statement of intention or as an attachment to that statement.
For purposes of this section, “contribution” and “loan” do not include any payments from the candidate’s personal funds for a candidate filing fee or a candidate statement of qualifications fee.

SEC. 2.

 Section 85200.5 is added to the Government Code, to read:

85200.5.
 (a) On or before the January 1 following the certification of an online filing and disclosure system pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 84602 of the Government Code, the Commission shall create a candidate experience disclosure form for candidates for elective office to disclose their entire prior education and work history, and history of military service, if any.
(b) (1) Commencing the January 1 following the certification of an online filing and disclosure system pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 84602 of the Government Code, a candidate for elective office shall file the candidate experience disclosure with the Secretary of State before the candidate solicits or receives any contribution or loan.
(2) A candidate for elective office also shall file a statement, signed under the penalty of perjury, that the information contained in the candidate experience disclosure is accurate to the best of the candidate’s knowledge.
(c) (1) The Secretary of State shall post on their internet website a copy of the completed candidate experience disclosure submitted by a candidate.
(2) A completed candidate experience disclosure posted in accordance with this section shall be made available to the public for four years from the date of the election associated with the filing.
(d) (1) Any candidate who states as true any matter in the candidate experience disclosure that the candidate knows to be false is guilty of a violation of this title. misdemeanor. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Chapter 11, the Attorney General is responsible for investigating and enforcing criminal violations of this paragraph by a candidate for statewide elective office, and the district attorney of the jurisdiction in which the candidate resides is responsible for investigating and enforcing criminal violations of this paragraph by a candidate for any other elective office.
(2) The failure to timely file the forms required by this section shall be a separate violation of this title. The exclusive penalty for a A candidate who files within 30 days after the deadline shall be subject to the late filing fee provided in Section 91013. 91013 as the exclusive penalty for a late filing. A candidate who fails to file any candidate experience disclosure within 30 days after the deadline shall be subject to any applicable penalty under this title.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that violation of this section be considered grounds for disqualification from elective office. In addition to enforcement by the Attorney General, the governing body authorized to remove an elective officer from an elective office may investigate violations of this section and, having determined that the officer failed to file the candidate experience disclosure or made a false statement on the candidate experience disclosure as a candidate, may consider that violation as grounds for the officer’s removal.

SEC. 3.

 The Legislature finds and declares that the integrity of candidates for elective office is a matter of statewide concern and is not a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, Sections 1 and 2 of this act amending Section 85200 of, and adding Section 85200.5 to, the Government Code apply to all cities, including charter cities.

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.

 Section 1 of this act shall not become operative until the date that the Secretary of State certifies an online filing and disclosure system pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 84602 of the Government Code.

SEC. 6.

 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.