Political Reform Act of 1974: committee accounts and campaign funds.

(1) The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including requiring the reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures and imposing other reporting and recordkeeping requirements on campaign committees. The act prohibits the use of campaign funds for certain purposes, including expenditures that confer a substantial personal benefit that is not directly related to a political, legislative, or governmental purpose. The act makes any person who makes or receives an honorarium, gift, or expenditure in violation of the provisions relating to campaign funds liable in a civil action brought by the Fair Political Practices Commission for an amount of up to 3 times the amount of the unlawful honorarium, gift, or expenditure. This bill would make a person who uses campaign funds in a manner that violates these provisions and results in an egregious personal benefit liable in an administrative or civil action brought by the commission for an amount of up to 2 times the amount of the unlawful expenditure. The bill would define "egregious personal benefit" to mean a direct personal benefit with a total value of $10,000 or more to a candidate, elected officer, or any individual or individuals with authority to approve the expenditure of campaign funds held by a committee. (2) A violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 is punishable as a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of a 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. (3) 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 of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.