The Orange County Council has voted to raise the campaign contribution limit from $2,500 to $2,700 per election cycle. The Orange County Campaign Reform Ordinance requires the board to adjust the campaign contribution limitation in February of every odd year. The Orange County Council adjusts the contribution limit according to changes in the Consumer Price Index and rounds to the nearest $100. The new campaign contribution limit becomes effective April 10, 2025.

The Anaheim City Council recently passed Ordinance 6603, which raises the city’s campaign contribution limit for the 2025-2026 two-year election cycle. The limit will increase from $2,500 to $2,700 for corporations, PACs, individuals, and labor unions who give to local candidates and their controlled committees. The increase reflects the 7% rise in the consumer price index for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim urban area, as required by Anaheim Municipal Code. The ordinance is effective retroactively beginning on January 1.

Q: I am an investment advisor registered as a lobbyist in the state of California because I qualified as a placement agent on the state level. I also want to solicit municipal public investment and retirement systems such as San Francisco City and County Employees’ Retirement System and San Jose Federated City Employees’ Retirement System. Do I need to do anything else, or does my state registration cover me?

A: You need to consider the local laws. Your California state registration does not cover your activities on the local level.

Not all California municipalities have lobbying laws. The local jurisdictions that do have lobbying laws also do not always require registration for investment advisor activity. You must look closely at each jurisdiction’s laws where you are active to determine if registration or reporting is needed.

In San Francisco, local lobbyist registration requirements cover placement agents lobbying public investment and retirement systems (including the San Francisco City and County Employees’ Retirement System). Monthly lobbyist reports are also required after registration.

San Jose also has local lobbying laws that apply to placement agents. Registration is due annually and activity reports must be filed weekly for each calendar week a lobbyist has engaged in lobbying activity.

It is a good idea to always check the applicable laws on our website prior to any government outreach.

More information can be found in the Lobbying Compliance section of the State and Federal Communications website.

City Council passed a resolution calling for a special election to fill the vacancy in District 2 and the vacancy for mayor created by the most recent recall election.

Mayor Shen Thao previously represented the city as mayor but left following his recall in last year’s election.

Former city council member Nikki Fortunato Bas was elected to the county board of supervisors leaving District 2 vacant.

The special election to fill these vacancies will be held April 15.

City Council passed a resolution calling for a special election to fill the vacancy in District 5.

Mayor Larry Agran previously represented District 5 but left following his election as mayor.

The special election will be held April 15.

The city council passed a resolution calling for a special election to fill the vacancy left by Councilmember Luis Chavez.

Chavez will be leaving the position following his election to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.

A few candidates have already declared their intentions of running for the vacant council seat, including Chavez’s wife, Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, who is a current Fresno Unified Trustee.

The special primary election will be held March 18, 2025.

Gov. Gavin Newsom released a proclamation declaring that a special election will be held next year for Senate District 36 and Assembly District 32.

The seat for Assembly District 32 was vacated by Republican Vince Fong after winning a seat for congress and replacing former speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy.

The seat for Senate District 36 had been vacated after Republican Janet Nguyen was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

The special primary election for these seats will be held on February 25, 2025.

The special general election will be held on April 29, 2025.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) recently drafted amended regulations to increase gift and contribution limits for the years 2025-2026.

The gift limit will increase from $590 to $630 per calendar year.

The contribution limit from individuals, corporations, and PACs made to candidates for the Legislature will increase from $5,500 to $5,900 per election.

The limit to candidates for statewide office, other than governor, will increase from $9,100 to $9,800 per election and the limits for the governor’s office will increase from $36,400 to $39,200.

The amended regulations will be considered at an FPPC meeting on or after January 14, 2025.

Ballot Measure TC passed on November 5, 2024, and amends the City Charter to require lobbyists to register with the Office of City Clerk, pay registration fees, and make disclosures about their lobbying activities.

The measure also makes it unlawful for a lobbyist to deliver any gift to any elected city official, city candidate, city officer, city official, city employee, or a member of a city board, commission, or committee.

Campaign contributions to city candidates are now required to be disclosed in accordance with the California Political Reform Act.

This ballot measure becomes effective once it has been accepted and filed with the Secretary of State.

However, the regulations which pertain to lobbying will be implemented by adoption of an ordinance by City Council at a later date.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has called upon lawmakers to convene for a special session.

The session is a direct response to the reelection of Donald Trump and will focus on promoting safeguards for the state’s policies on climate changes, reproductive rights, and immigration laws.

The special session will take place on December 2, 2024.

Representative Adam Schiff defeated his opponent Republican Steve Garvey, a former Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player.

Rep. Schiff won the Senate seat formerly held by the late Diane Feinstein who passed away last September.

The seat is currently being held by Sen. Laphonza Butler.

Schiff secured victory after gaining 57% of the vote.

Federal Judge John A. Mendes of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California has blocked the implementation of Assembly Bill 2839.

The bill targets election misinformation and attempts to regulate a broad spectrum of election-related content which is materially deceptive and uses AI technology.

The court found the law does not use the least restrictive means available for advancing the state’s interest.

Bills regulating the use of AI in election-related communications continue to be a big part of legislative agendas with over half of the states passing or considering AI legislation.

Gov. Newsom signed bills into law this week dealing with pay-to-play provisions contained in the Levine act.

Senate Bill 1181 and 1243 increase the permissible campaign contribution threshold from $250 to $500 regarding contributions to state and local agency officials from certain entities such as corporations and individuals with business before the agency.

The bills also expand the definition of participant and license, permit, or other entitlement for use to exempt certain types of proceedings from being subject to the requirements of the Levine Act.

Other changes include an increase in the period an official may cure a violation from 14 to 30 days.

A section of the bill also clarifies a contribution of an agent will not be aggregated with contributions from a party or participant when determining whether a contribution has exceeded $500.

The bills become effective January 1, 2025.

Gov. Newsom signed a bill with disclosure requirements for political committees creating, originally publishing, or originally distributing a qualified political advertisement.

A qualified political advertisement is an advertisement containing any image, audio, or video generated or substantially altered using artificial intelligence.

Assembly Bill 2355 requires the disclosure of a qualified political advertisement to be appear at the top of the disclosure area and to be separated from the other required disclosures by a blank line.

The bill becomes effective January 1, 2025.