BILL NUMBER: AB 1363 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jones
FEBRUARY 22, 2005
An act to amend Sections 87206 and 87207 of, and to add
Section 87200.5 to, the Government Code, relating to public
officials. 1850 and 2620 of the Probate Code, relating
to conservatorships and guardianships.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1363, as amended, Jones Public officials: financial
duties . Conservatorships and
guardianships .
Existing law provides for the periodic review by the court of a
conservatorship not less frequently than biennially. Existing law
also requires a guardian or conservator to present the accounting of
the assets of the estate of the ward or conservatee to the court not
less frequently than biennially.
This bill would require those actions to be taken not less
frequently than annually.
Existing provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974 require
that certain public officers and employees, including the Governor,
Lieutenant Governor, Controller, Treasurer, Secretary of State,
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Attorney General, and Insurance
Commissioner, file reports disclosing, among other matters, their
investments, their interests in real property, and their sources of
income of greater than a certain value, with specified content. These
reports are required to include which of specified ranges of fair
market value includes the actual value of each of these investments
and interests.
This bill would narrow these ranges of fair market value, and
would add additional ranges that include higher market valuations. It
would also require each of the statewide elected officials listed
above, before taking office, to place all of his or her investments
and all of his or her interests in real property in a blind trust.
With regard to these blind trusts, the bill would require the
disclosure specified above, except that with regard to any assets in
the blind trust not known to the elected official, the disclosure
would include the amount of income received from the trust, divided
into categories of dividends, rents, interest, and capital gains, and
the overall market value of the trust, as specified by the trustee.
Existing law makes a violation of the act subject to
administrative, civil, and criminal penalties.
This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by exposing
most persons required to report their investments and interests under
the act to potential criminal penalties for failing to properly make
the more detailed disclosures of fair market value specified above,
and by requiring specified officials to place certain assets into a
blind trust or face these penalties.
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
with a 2/3 vote of each house and compliance with specified
procedural requirements.
This bill, which would declare that it furthers the purposes of
the act, would therefore require a 2/3 vote.
Vote: 2/3 majority . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes no .
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1850 of the Probate
Code is amended to read:
1850. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), each
conservatorship initiated pursuant to this part shall be reviewed by
the court one year after the appointment of the conservator and
biennially annually thereafter.
(b) This chapter does not apply to either of the following:
(1) A conservatorship for an absentee as defined in Section 1403.
(2) A conservatorship of the estate for a nonresident of this
state where the conservatee is not present in this state.
SEC. 2 Section 2620 of the Probate Code
is amended to read:
2620. (a) At the expiration of one year from the time of
appointment and thereafter not less frequently than
biennially annually , unless otherwise ordered
by the court, the guardian or conservator shall present the
accounting of the assets of the estate of the ward or conservatee to
the court for settlement and allowance in the manner provided in
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1060) of Part 1 of Division 3.
(b) The final court accounting of the guardian or conservator
following the death of the ward or conservatee shall include a court
accounting for the period that ended on the date of death and a
separate accounting for the period subsequent to the date of death.
(c) Along with each court accounting, the guardian or conservator
shall file all original account statements from any institution, as
defined in Section 2890, or any financial institution, as defined in
Section 2892, in which money or other assets of the estate are held
or deposited, showing the balance as of the close of the accounting
period of the court accounting. If the court accounting is the first
court accounting of the guardianship or conservatorship, the guardian
or conservator shall provide to the court the account statement for
the account balance immediately preceding the date the conservator or
guardian was appointed and the account statement or statements for
the account through the closing date of the first court accounting.
This subdivision shall not apply to the public guardian if the money
belonging to the estate is pooled with money belonging to other
estates pursuant to Section 2940 and Article 3 (commencing with
Section 7640) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 7. Nothing in this
section shall affect any other duty or responsibility of the public
guardian with regard to managing money belonging to the estate or
filing accountings with the court.
(d) If any document to be filed with the court under this section
contains the ward or conservatee's social security number or any
other personal information regarding the ward or conservatee that
would not ordinarily be disclosed in a court accounting, an inventory
and appraisal, or other nonconfidential pleadings filed in the
action, the account statement shall be attached to a separate
affidavit describing the character of the document in proper form for
filing, captioned "CONFIDENTIAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT" in capital
letters. Except as otherwise ordered by the court, the clerk of the
court shall keep the document confidential except to the court and
subject to disclosure only upon an order of the court.
SECTION 1. Section 87200.5 is added to the
Government Code, to read:
87200.5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Controller, Treasurer, Secretary of
State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Attorney General, and
Insurance Commissioner shall each, before taking office, place all of
his or her investments, and all of his or her interests in real
property, that would be reportable under Sections 87206 and 87207 in
a qualified blind trust as defined in paragraph (3) of subsection (f)
of Section 102 of the Appendices to Title 5 of the United States
Code. Investments so held shall be subject to disclosure under
Article 2 (commencing with Section 87200) of Chapter 7 of Title 9 if
known to the public official, and with regard to those assets in the
blind trust not known to the official, that disclosure shall include
the amount of income received by the official from this trust,
divided into categories of dividends, rents, interest, and capital
gains, and the overall market value of the trust, as specified by the
trustee.
SEC. 2. Section 87206 of the Government Code is
amended to read:
87206. If an investment or an interest in real property is
required to be disclosed under this article, the statement shall
contain:
(a) A statement of the nature of the investment or the interest.
(b) The name of the business entity in which each investment is
held, and a general description of the business activity in which the
business entity is engaged.
(c) The address or other precise location of the real property.
(d) A statement whether the fair market value of the investment or
the interest in real property equals or exceeds two thousand dollars
($2,000) but does not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), whether
it exceeds ten thousand dollars ($10,000) but does not exceed fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000), whether it exceeds fifty thousand dollars
($50,000) but does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000), whether it exceeds one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000) but does not exceed five hundred thousand dollars
($500,000), whether it exceeds five hundred thousand dollars
($500,000) but does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
whether it exceeds one million dollars ($1,000,000) but does not
exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000), whether it exceeds five
million dollars ($5,000,000) but does not exceed ten million dollars
($10,000,000), or whether it exceeds ten million dollars
($10,000,000).
(e) In the case of a statement filed under Sections 87203 or
87204, if the investment or interest in real property was partially
or wholly acquired or disposed of during the period covered by the
statement, the date of acquisition or disposal.
(f) For purposes of disclosure under this article, "interest in
real property" does not include the principal residence of the filer
or any other property which the filer utilizes exclusively as the
personal residence of the filer.
SEC. 3. Section 87207 of the Government Code is
amended to read:
87207. (a) When income is required to be reported under this
article, the statement shall contain, except as provided in
subdivision (b):
(1) The name and address of each source of income aggregating five
hundred dollars ($500) or more in value, or fifty dollars ($50) or
more in value if the income was a gift, and a general description of
the business activity, if any, of each source.
(2) A statement whether the aggregate value of income from each
source, or in the case of a loan, the highest amount owed to each
source, was at least five hundred dollars ($500) but did not exceed
one thousand dollars ($1,000), whether it was in excess of one
thousand dollars ($1,000) but was not greater than ten thousand
dollars ($10,000), whether it was greater than ten thousand dollars
($10,000) but not greater than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000),
whether it was greater than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) but was
not greater than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), whether it
was greater than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) but not
greater than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), whether it was
greater than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) but not
greater than one million dollars ($1,000,000), whether it was greater
than one million dollars ($1,000,000) but was not greater than five
million dollars ($5,000,000), whether it was greater than five
million dollars ($5,000,000) but was not greater than ten million
dollars ($10,000,000), or whether it was greater than ten million
dollars ($10,000,000).
(3) A description of the consideration, if any, for which the
income was received.
(4) In the case of a gift, the amount and the date on which the
gift was received.
(5) In the case of a loan, the annual interest rate, the security,
if any, given for the loan, and the term of the loan.
(b) When the filer's pro rata share of income to a business
entity, including income to a sole proprietorship, is required to be
reported under this article, the statement shall contain:
(1) The name, address, and a general description of the business
activity of the business entity.
(2) The name of every person from whom the business entity
received payments if the filer's pro rata share of gross receipts
from that person was equal to or greater than ten thousand dollars
($10,000) during a calendar year.
(c) When a payment, including an advance or reimbursement, for
travel is required to be reported pursuant to this section, it may be
reported on a separate travel reimbursement schedule which shall be
included in the filer's statement of economic interest. A filer who
chooses not to use the travel schedule shall disclose payments for
travel as a gift, unless it is clear from all surrounding
circumstances that the services provided were equal to or greater in
value than the payments for the travel, in which case the travel may
be reported as income.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.
SEC. 5. The Legislature finds and declares that
the provisions of this act further the purposes of the Political
Reform Act of 1974 within the meaning of subdivision (a) of Section
81012 of the Government Code.