BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2250 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 2250 (Ridley-Thomas) As Introduced February 18, 2016 2/3 vote. Urgency ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Elections |5-1 |Weber, Gordon, Low, |Harper | | | |Mullin, Nazarian | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Appropriations |16-0 |Gonzalez, Bloom, | | | | |Bonilla, Bonta, | | | | |Calderon, Daly, | | | | |Eggman, Gallagher, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Eduardo Garcia, | | | | |Roger Hernández, | | | | |Holden, Obernolte, | | | | |Quirk, Santiago, | | | | |Weber, Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ AB 2250 Page 2 SUMMARY: Prohibits, under state law, contributions, expenditures, and independent expenditures from foreign governments and foreign principals in connection with candidate elections. Specifically, this bill: 1)Prohibits a foreign government or foreign principal, as defined, from making, directly or through any other person, a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure in connection with any election. 2)Prohibits a person or a committee from soliciting or accepting a contribution from a foreign government or a foreign principal, as defined, in connection with an election. 3)Makes corresponding and technical changes. 4)Contains an urgency clause, allowing this bill to take effect immediately upon enactment. FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, potential minor absorbable costs to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) and to local prosecutors for enforcement, offset to some extent by fine revenues. COMMENTS: According to the author, "Since 1966, federal law has prohibited foreign nationals from making contributions in connection with political campaigns in the United States. The purpose of this law is to protect the process of democratic self-governance for Americans. "[I]n 1997, California enacted Government Code Section 85320 (Section 85320) through the passage of SB 109 (Kopp), Chapter AB 2250 Page 3 67, Statutes of 1997. Section 85320 prohibits foreign governments and foreign principals from making contributions, expenditures, and independent expenditures in connection with a state or local initiative, recall, or referendum measure. Section 85320 additionally prohibits any person or committee from soliciting or accepting a contribution from a foreign government or principal in connection with a ballot measure campaign. "While it is unclear whether federal law governs contributions made by foreign nationals in connection with ballot measure elections, it clearly prohibits foreign nationals from making contributions in connection with candidate elections in California. The [Federal Elections Commission], however, which is responsible for enforcing that law, has a significant backlog and frequently deadlocks on enforcement matters. Furthermore, it is important for the FPPC to have concurrent jurisdiction over the issue of foreign contributions in elections in order to best protect the integrity of California elections." California voters passed an initiative, Proposition 9, in 1974 that created the FPPC and codified significant restrictions and prohibitions on candidates, officeholders and lobbyists. That initiative is commonly known as the Political Reform Act (PRA). Amendments to the PRA that are not submitted to the voters, such as those contained in this bill, must further the purposes of the initiative and require a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature. Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by: AB 2250 Page 4 Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN: 0002741