Political Reform Act of 1974: candidate controlled committees: campaign statements.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on expanded criminal penalties or consequences of failing to report the required information.

Campaign Statement Rules for Candidate Committees

The bill requires candidate-controlled committees to report additional information on their campaign statements if the candidate will not appear on the ballot and the committee spends more than $20,000 with a single person.

What This Bill Does

• Requires candidate controlled committees to include extra details in their campaign reports when certain conditions are met.
• Includes full name, address, amount spent, and any benefits received by individuals who receive over $20,000 from the committee.

Who It Names or Affects

• Candidate-controlled committees that spend money on campaigns.
• Individuals receiving more than $20,000 from candidate-controlled committees.

Terms To Know

Campaign Statement

A report filed by candidates and political groups detailing their financial activities during an election period.

Candidate-Controlled Committee

A group organized to support a specific candidate's campaign.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if the committee fails to report the required information.
• It is unclear how this will affect local agencies and school districts financially.

Official Summary Text

AB 2255, as amended, Pellerin.
Political Reform Act of 1974: candidate controlled committees: campaign statements.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including requiring elected officials, candidates for elective office, and committees to file periodic campaign statements. The act requires that these campaign statements contain prescribed information related to campaign contributions and expenditures of the filing entities.
This bill would require a candidate controlled committee established for an elective office for the controlling candidate to report additional information on its campaign statement if (1) the candidate will not appear on the ballot at the next election and (2) The committee makes expenditures to a single person exceeding
an unspecified amount
$20,000
in the aggregate during the reporting period. If the candidate controlled committee is required to report this information, its campaign statement must include the full name and street address of the person to whom the expenditures were made, the amount of each expenditure, and a description of any consideration for which each expenditure was made.
Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. By requiring certain candidate controlled committees to report additional information on their campaign statements, the bill would expand the scope of a crime and impose 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.
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.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF