Political Reform Act of 1974: travel.

The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing and related matters, including the reporting of gifts, as defined. The act prohibits specified officers from receiving gifts in excess of $440 in value from a single source in a calendar year. The act permits gift payments for the actual costs of specified types of travel that are reasonably related to a legislative or governmental purpose, or to an issue of state, national, or international public policy, and it exempts these payments from the annual limit on the value of gifts from a single source. The act also requires a nonprofit organization that regularly organizes and hosts travel for elected officials, as specified, and that pays for these types of travel for an elected state officer or local elected officeholder to disclose the names of donors who, in the preceding year, both donated to the nonprofit organization and accompanied an elected officer or officeholder for any portion of the travel, as specified. This bill would prohibit a nonprofit organization, as defined, from providing to a Member of the Legislature, and a Member of the Legislature from accepting, any payments, advances, or reimbursements for travel, as defined. 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.