High-Speed Rail Authority: conflicts of interest: disqualification.

Existing provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974 prohibit a public official at any level of state or local government from making, participating in making, or attempting to use his or her official position to influence a governmental decision in which he or she knows or has reason to know that he or she has a financial interest, as defined. Existing law also requires specified elected and appointed officers at the state and local levels of government to disclose specified financial interests by filing periodic statements of economic interests. Existing law further requires public officials who hold specified offices and who have a financial interest in a decision within the meaning of the Political Reform Act of 1974 to publicly identify the financial interest giving rise to the conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest, recuse themselves from discussing and voting on the matter, and leave the room until after the discussion, vote, and other disposition of the matter is concluded, except as specified. This bill would add members of the High-Speed Rail Authority to those specified officers who must publicly identify a financial interest giving rise to a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest, and recuse themselves accordingly. Existing law requires each state agency to adopt a conflict-of-interest code and to designate those employees of the agency who are subject to the provisions of the conflict-of-interest code. Existing law requires that each agency's conflict-of-interest code contain specified provisions, including requirements that each designated employee file periodic statements of economic interests and provisions setting forth circumstances under which a designated employee must disqualify himself or herself from participating in a governmental decision. Existing law further imposes various other restrictions on individuals who are designated employees, including postgovernment employment restrictions and restrictions regarding the acceptance of gifts and honoraria. This bill would provide that each individual who is selected by the authority to serve in a peer review capacity to the authority shall be deemed to be a designated employee of the authority, thereby making those persons subject to the provisions of the authority's conflict-of-interest code and to the various other restrictions that apply to the designated employees of a state agency. Existing law makes a violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 subject to administrative, civil, and criminal penalties. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by exposing these members and designated employees to potential criminal penalties for failing to make the disclosures and recuse themselves where required by this bill. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 87200 of the Government Code proposed by AB 2609, that would become operative only if AB 2609 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2013, and this bill is chaptered last. 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 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.