Political Reform Act of 1974: travel expenditures.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text does not provide specific details on enforcement costs or penalties other than criminal charges.

Travel Expenditures for Elected Officials

The bill changes rules about how nonprofit organizations must report travel expenses and donations related to trips for elected state and local officials.

What This Bill Does

• Expands the types of nonprofits that need to report travel costs for elected officials over $10,000 per year or $5,000 for a single official.
• Requires these nonprofits to list each payment made for an official's trip and who it was for.
• Needs nonprofits to keep detailed records about the trips for at least 5 years.

Who It Names or Affects

• Nonprofit organizations that pay for travel for elected officials
• Elected state and local officials

Terms To Know

disclosure requirements

Rules about what information must be shared publicly.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify the exact duration for which nonprofits need to retain records.
• It is unclear if there are any penalties besides criminal charges for nonprofits that do not comply with the reporting requirements.

Official Summary Text

AB 1788, as amended, Boerner.
Political Reform Act of 1974: travel expenditures.
Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, requires a nonprofit organization that regularly organizes and hosts travel for elected officials and that makes payments, advances, or reimbursements for their travel that total more than $10,000 per year, or more than $5,000 per year for a single official, to disclose the names of donors to the organization who donated at least $1,000 and accompanied the official on their travel during the preceding year.
This bill would instead apply these disclosure requirements to any nonprofit organization that makes expenditures for travel by elected state and local officials in the amounts specified above. The bill would additionally require the organization to disclose each payment for travel by the elected state or local official and the name of the person for whom the payment for travel was made. The
bill would require the nonprofit organization to maintain detailed accounts, records, bills, and receipts necessary to prepare the disclosures, and to retain these items for
__
at least 5
years.
A violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 is a misdemeanor. By expanding the category of nonprofit organizations subject to the act, and by expanding their disclosure requirements, this bill would expand the scope of a 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.
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.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF