Campaign contributions: school district and community college district administrators.

The Political Reform Act of 1974 establishes certain limits on the amount of contributions that a person or group can make to a candidate for elective state office, or to a committee. This bill would prohibit an administrator of a school district or community college district, as defined, from knowingly soliciting, accepting, or receiving a contribution for the campaign of an elected official of the district employing the administrator, or any candidate for an office of the school district or community college district employing the administrator. The bill would clarify that this prohibition does not apply to an administrator who is soliciting, accepting, or receiving a contribution for his or her own campaign for an office of a school district or community college district. The bill would also prohibit an elected official of a school district or community college district, or a candidate for an office of a school district or community college district, from requesting an administrator of the school district or community college district to solicit, accept, or receive a contribution for the campaign of that elected official or candidate. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. 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 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.