BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 2250


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          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           |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
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                                                                    AB 2250


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          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


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          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


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                          Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094  FN:  
          0002741