San Francisco voters have approved a ballot proposition prohibiting behested payments from contractors with contracts approved by the Board of Supervisors.

Proposition E also allows the city’s behested payment law to be amended if the city’s Ethics Commission and two-thirds of the Board of Supervisors approve the changes.

The new law will come into effect June 17, 2022.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has introduced a bill to restrict how public officials can solicit behested payments.

The legislation prohibits elected officials and city department heads from requesting donations to charities from lobbyists, persons seeking contracts with the city, and other interested parties.

Additionally, the San Francisco Ethics Commission is slated to discuss a ballot measure to lay out stricter guidelines on bribery, gifts, prohibited behaviors, and ethics training.

These changes come on the heels of the 2020 arrest of Public Works Director Nuru, after three Recology subsidiaries admitted to conspiring to bride Nuru in exchange for raising garbage rates.

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has announced that on October 21 the Commission will consider proposed regulations concerning behested payment reporting.

The regulation seeks to shed light on a growing problem occurring in California elections, large donations being made to candidate-controlled charities in place of trackable political contributions.

The regulation, prospectively codified as § 18424.3, would increase the reporting requirements to the behested payment report.

The regulations will require more detailed disclosures as to the name of the payor and the “single source” of the behested payment.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) met on July 15 to discuss new regulations concerning behested payments.

A campaign finance watchdog report noted in a report there has be a substantial rise in donations to charities that have a connection to a candidate or committee via behested payments.

Currently, there are no reporting requirements if a donation is given to a charity that has ties with a candidate or committee.

The pending regulations seek to shed light on who is making these donations and what candidate or committee is tied to the charity receiving the donation.

The FPPC only has the regulatory authority to make rules that require disclosure, any rules prohibiting such donations must come from the Legislature.

Formal voting and hearings over the proposed regulations are set to occur in September.

The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission backed new restrictions on political contributions from real estate developers seeking city approval for their building plans.

The proposed ban applies to those who are “substantially involved” in a proposed development project, such as real estate executives, architects, engineers, and others.

The commission also supports new restrictions on behested payments, and it endorsed the idea of banning contributions from businesses, unions, organizations, and other entities, allowing only for contributions from individuals.

The FBI is continuing its probe into corruption at City Hall.

Legislation amending San Francisco’s Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code takes effect next week. Ordinance No. 129-18 is effective June 30, though most of its provisions are not operative until January 1, 2019.

The ordinance extends the restriction period for contractor contributions from six to 12 months following contract approval. It also requires interested parties making a behested payment or payments of $10,000 or more to file a disclosure within 30 days.

Other changes include, but are not limited to, additional disclosure requirements for contributions from business entities and for bundled campaign contributions, as well as an additional pre-election statement for committees.

At its November 27 meeting, the San Francisco Ethics Commission gave final approval to recommend and transmit to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors its Anti-Corruption and Accountability Ordinance.

The ordinance would create or expand certain pay-to-play prohibitions on political contributions, institute new disclosure requirements, create local rules for reporting behested payments, and create new rules regarding conflicts of interest.

The Commission will transmit its recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, where at least eight votes will be required to adopt the proposal.

At its November 27 meeting, the San Francisco Ethics Commission gave final approval to recommend and transmit to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors its Anti-Corruption and Accountability Ordinance.

The ordinance would create or expand certain pay-to-play prohibitions on political contributions, institute new disclosure requirements, create local rules for reporting behested payments, and create new rules regarding conflicts of interest.

The Commission will transmit its recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, where at least eight votes will be required to adopt the proposal.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 867 into law, recasting various provisions of the Political Reform Act regarding the definition of the term contribution.

The law moves the behested payment reporting requirements out of the definition of contribution, and instead places those requirements in the part of the campaign disclosure sections of the act.

Additionally, the law provides specific definitions for terms related to behested payments and the reporting of such payments.  The law is effective January 1, 2018.

The San Francisco Ethics Commission has proposed to place strict limits on behested payments.

A behested payment is when a public official asks a person or group to donate to a civic or charitable cause instead of directly to the public official, and the proposal would ban these requests. The penalty for officials could be $5,000 for each violation, but there would be no penalty for the donor.

If this proposal becomes an ordinance, the city’s Board of Supervisors would have to approve it. The commission could also put the changes on a ballot, which would be decided by voters in June of 2018.