AB 2421

Introduced by Assembly Member Valencia
 An act to amend Section 82013 of, and to add Section 84214.5 to, the Government Code, relating to the Political Reform Act of 1974.
the Political Reform Act of 1974
Political Reform Act of 1974: committee termination.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including requiring the filing of reports of contributions and expenditures. The act requires committees and candidates to terminate their filing obligation, as provided by the Fair Political Practices Commission by regulation, ensuring that the committee or candidate will have no activity that must be disclosed subsequent to the termination.
This bill would provide that if the Secretary of State determines that either of 2 conditions is present, the Secretary of State must provide notice to committees that receive contributions totaling $2,000 or more per year that the committee may be terminated 180 days after the notice is sent. Those
			 conditions are: 1) The committee failed to submit a campaign report for at least the preceding 12 months and either had an ending cash balance of $3,000 or less on its last campaign statement or had an ending cash balance of $5,000 or less on its last campaign statement and owes $2,000 or more to the controlling candidate; 2) The committee filed a statement of organization in error. The bill would specify that if an objection to the termination notice is not filed by the committee or the commission with the Secretary of State within 180 days after the notice is sent, the Secretary of State may terminate the committee.
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.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 82013 of the
Government Code
 is amended to read:
82013.
“Committee” means any person or combination of persons who directly or indirectly does any of the following:
(a) Receives contributions totaling two thousand dollars ($2,000) or more in a calendar year.
(b) Makes independent expenditures totaling one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more in a calendar year; or
(c) Makes contributions totaling ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more in a calendar year to or at the behest of candidates or committees.
A person or combination of persons that becomes a committee shall retain its status as a committee until such time as that status is terminated pursuant to Section
						84214 or 84214.5.
SEC. 2.
Section 84214.5 is added to the
Government Code
, to read:
84214.5.
(a) (1) If the Secretary of State determines that a committee, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 82013, meets either of the conditions of termination described in paragraph (2), the Secretary of State shall provide a written notice to the committee’s treasurer and the commission that the committee may be terminated 180 days after the date the notice is sent.
(2) (A) The committee failed to submit a campaign report for at least the preceding 12 months and either of the following conditions is present:
(i) The committee had an ending cash balance of three thousand dollars ($3,000) or less on its last campaign statement.
(ii) The committee had an ending cash balance of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or less on its last campaign statement and owes two thousand dollars ($2,000) or more to the controlling candidate.
(B) The committee filed a statement of organization in error.
(b) (1) If the committee or its representative, or the commission, does not file a written objection to termination with the Secretary of State within 180 days after the date the notice is sent pursuant to subdivision (a), the Secretary of State may terminate the committee.
(2) Within 30 days of terminating the committee, the Secretary of State shall provide notice of the termination to the filing officer with whom the committee was required to file its last campaign
						statement.
SEC. 3.
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.