Political Reform Act of 1974: lobbyist employers: fictitious appearances.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific information on enforcement costs or exceptions to the prohibition for lobbyist employers.

Political Reform Act: Lobbyist Employers and Fictitious Appearances

AB-1736 extends the Political Reform Act of 1974 to prohibit lobbyist employers from attempting to create a false impression about public support or opposition for legislative actions.

What This Bill Does

• Expands existing rules that stop lobbyists and lobbying firms from making fake appearances of public opinion on laws or sending messages in someone else's name without their permission.
• Adds these same restrictions to people who hire lobbyists, called 'lobbyist employers'.
• States that this new rule helps the goals of the Political Reform Act of 1974.
• Makes breaking this new rule a crime punishable by law.

Who It Names or Affects

• Lobbyists and lobbying firms
• People who hire lobbyists, called 'lobbyist employers'

Terms To Know

Fictitious appearance

Creating a false impression or fake image about public opinion on something.

Lobbyist employer

A person who hires one or more lobbyists to work for them.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much it will cost to enforce these new rules.
• It is unclear if there are any exceptions to the prohibition on lobbyist employers creating fictitious appearances.
• The bill has passed both chambers of the California Legislature but its final status and implementation details are still pending.

Official Summary Text

AB 1736, as introduced, Pellerin.
Political Reform Act of 1974: lobbyist employers: fictitious appearances.
(1) Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, prohibits a lobbyist or lobbying firm from attempting to create a fictitious appearance of public favor or disfavor of any proposed legislative or administrative action or to cause any communication to be sent to any elected state officer, legislative official, agency official, or state candidate in the name of any fictitious person or in the name of any real person, except with the consent of the real person.
The act defines “lobbyist employer” as any person, other than a lobbying firm, who employs one or more lobbyists or contracts for the services of a lobbying firm, as specified.
This bill would extend the above prohibition to lobbyist employers.
(2) 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
2
/
3
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.
(3) A violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 is punishable as a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of a prohibition under the act, the bill would expand the scope of an existing crime and therefore create 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.

Current Bill Text

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