Political Reform Act of 1974: behested payments.

The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing and related matters, including campaign contributions, as defined. Under existing law, a payment made at the behest of a candidate for elective office is considered a contribution unless the payment is made for purposes unrelated to the candidate's candidacy. Under the act, a payment made by a government agency or an exempt nonprofit organization is presumed to be unrelated to a candidate's candidacy. Likewise, a payment made principally for legislative, governmental, or charitable purposes is presumed to be unrelated to a candidate's candidacy, and such payments are required to be reported by a candidate who is an elected officer if they total $5,000 or more in the aggregate from a single source in a calendar year. For purposes of the act, an elected officer retains his or her status as a candidate for that office until the officer has terminated all of his or her committees and no longer holds the office, as specified. This bill would provide that the provision relating to payments made by a government agency exclusively governs a payment by a governmental agency that is made principally for legislative or governmental purposes at the behest of a candidate who is an elected officer, and consequently the payment would not be subject to the reporting requirement that applies generally to payments made for legislative, governmental, or charitable purposes. This bill would incorporate changes to Section 82015 of the Government Code proposed by both this bill and AB 10, which would become operative only if both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2016, and this bill is chaptered last. 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.