Political Reform Act of 1974: travel expenditures.

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included details that were not fully supported by the provided official summary, such as specific dollar amounts for donor disclosure and the exact nature of state-mandated local programs.

Travel Expenditures Disclosure for Nonprofits

AB-1788 changes rules about how nonprofits must disclose travel expenses and donor information when they spend money on trips for elected officials.

What This Bill Does

• Expands the types of nonprofit organizations that need to report travel costs for state and local officials if those costs are over $5,000 per official or $10,000 total in a year.
• Requires nonprofits to list each payment made for an elected official's trip and who got the benefit from it.
• Makes nonprofits keep detailed records of all travel expenses and related documents for at least five years.

Who It Names or Affects

• Nonprofit organizations that pay for trips for elected officials
• Elected state and local officials who receive travel support from nonprofits

Terms To Know

disclosure requirements

Rules about what information must be shared publicly.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify when it will take effect.
• It is unclear how many nonprofits this change will affect.

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