(1) Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, imposes various requirements and limitations with respect to the conduct of public officials, campaign expenditures and disclosures, political advertisements, lobbying, the ballot pamphlet, and other aspects of political reform. The act defines numerous terms that govern its interpretation, including “proponent of a state ballot measure,” which it defines by reference to a definition in the Elections Code.

This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to the act by revising its definition of “proponent of a state ballot measure” to refer to the correct section in the Elections Code.

(2) The act requires the Secretary of State to charge each committee that is required to file a statement of organization a fee of $50 per year until the committee is terminated, except as specified. The act requires each committee to pay the fee within specified deadlines. The act imposes, for committees that do not timely pay the fee, a penalty of up to 3 times the amount of the fee. The act requires the Fair Political Practices Commission to enforce these requirements.

This bill would clarify that a committee that fails to timely pay the annual fee is subject to an administrative penalty of $150. This bill would transfer responsibility for enforcing these requirements to the Secretary of State.

(3) 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.