The Fair Political Practices Commission has announced cancellation of the October 18, 2012 meeting. Regulations previously scheduled for review included a requirement for political committees to report expenses associated with online communications such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. Biennial adjustment reviews of campaign contribution limits, voluntary expenditure ceilings, and gift limits have also been postponed.

These and other potential regulation changes are tentatively scheduled to be considered during the December 13, 2012 commission meeting at 10:00 a.m. The meeting will be held in Board Chambers Room 310, County Administration Center, 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego, California 92101.

Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill allowing the state Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to enforce new campaign finance rules in the county. This is the first time the FPPC has been authorized by statute to contract with a county to enforce its campaign contribution limits.

County Supervisor Janice Rutherford originally proposed contracting with the FPPC to enforce a proposed county campaign law in lieu of creating a county ethics commission. Now with statutory permission in place, the county may proceed to craft a campaign finance law and negotiate contractual terms with the FPPC. Rutherford plans to bring her previous proposal to limit campaign contributions to $3,900 back before the board on August 21, 2012 for consideration.

Seal of San Bernardino County by Jetijones on Wikipedia.

Federal: “How to Beat Citizens United” by E.J. Dionne, Jr. in The Washington Post.

Arkansas: “Arkansas attorney general certifies ballot wording for item on lobbying, campaign finance” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

California: “State political watchdog chair wants bloggers to reveal payments” by Brian Joseph in the Orange County Register.

California: “California ethics czar urges disclosure of payments to Web pundits” by Patrick McGreevey in the Los Angeles Times.

California: “California looks to crack down on political bloggers paid by campaigns” by Jim Sanders in The Sacramento Bee.

Virginia: “New Electronic Campaign Filing Lauded in Virginia” by The Associated Press in Governing.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission has approved changes to the gift regulations which will take effect on January 1, 2012.

Changes to the regulations include the ability for public officials to accept gifts from lobbyists without disclosure if a dating relationship exists.

Additionally, officials will be able to accept tickets to sporting events if the officials are attending the event to perform a ceremonial duty.

In such circumstances, the gifts are to be reported by the agency and not the official.

The Sacramento Bee reported last week that California’s Fair Political Practices Commission has opted for a $30,000 fine against lobbyist Frank Molina, instead of the higher $5o,000 fine it had considered.

You can read the whole story here: “FPPC sticks with $30,000 fine for lobbyist Frank Molina,” by Laurel Rosenhall and Torey Van Oot.

Seal of the State of California by Zscout370 on Wikipedia.

The Fair Political Practices Commission has issued notice of proposed amendments to the California Code of Regulations to be considered at a public hearing on December 8, 2011. The proposed regulations codify commission guidance instructing filers to treat an in-kind contribution of the services of salaried personnel to a committee and the expenditure by the person making the salary payment as a contribution made on the payroll date of the salaried personnel.

The commission will also consider regulations which differentiate a contribution from a donation. Under the proposed regulation, a contribution is a payment made for a political purpose and includes payments to a multi-purpose organization. By contrast, a payment to a multi-purpose organization that is not made or used for a political purpose is to be treated as a donation and not a contribution for the purposes of identifying reportable contributions.

Lastly, the commission will consider amendments to the provisions pertaining to primarily formed and general purpose committees to assist filers in determining which label fits the purpose and structure of their committee.

The regulations define a general purpose committee as an ongoing committee which supports multiple candidates and measures in successive elections. General purpose committees include associations, political action committees, political party committees, major donors, as well as entities and individuals making independent expenditures.

The regulation proposes a standard for determining whether a committee is a state, county, or city general purpose committee. A committee will be considered a city or county committee if more than 70 percent of their activity is at the city or county level. Classification as a state committee will be the default.

Pursuant to the proposed regulation, a primarily formed committee is a committee formed or existing to support a single candidate or measure in a specific election. A committee will be considered primarily formed if more than 70 percent of the committee’s contributions and expenditures are for specific candidates or measures during the 24 months preceding the date where the candidate or measure is on the ballot.

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The Fair Political Practices Commission will hold an interested persons’ meeting on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. to discuss the proposed text message contribution regulation.  The commission has also issued a notice to adopt the text message regulation at a public hearing to be held on or after October 13, 2011.

The proposed regulation permits candidates and committees to raise funds through low-dollar text message contributions. For the purposes of the regulation, contributions are deemed to be received on the date that a mobile fundraising vendor, acting as an agent of the candidate or committee, obtains possession and control of the funds. Once received by the mobile fundraising vendor, contributions must be promptly reported to the candidate or committee’s treasurer or a designated agent thereof no later than the closing date of any campaign statement the candidate or committee is required to file.

For text message contributions of less than $25, candidates and committees will be required to maintain the dates and daily totals of contributions. For contributions exceeding $25 but less than $100, the proposed regulation requires that candidates and committees record the full name and street address of the contributor, the cumulative amount received from each contribution, and any information regarding an intermediary where applicable. When a contribution exceeding $100 is received, the regulation requires that the candidate or committee maintain a record of the contributor’s name and address, occupation, employer, the cumulative amount received from the contributor, and any information regarding an intermediary where applicable.

Under the proposed regulation, a contribution made by text message will be attributed to the person who is subscribed to the cell phone number from which the contribution is received.

The Fair Political Practices Commission has issued a notice to adopt two new regulations. The commission has also announced it will hold a public hearing on September 22, 2011 to consider the proposed regulations. The regulations to be considered have previously been made available for public comment and have since been revised.

The first proposed regulation to be considered modifies the reporting requirement for payments made at the behest of an elected officer which is made principally for a legislative, governmental, or charitable purpose in the aggregate amount of $5,000 or more. The regulation requires that a behested payment report be filed within 30 days of the date the payment is made. The Commission is considering whether a communication made on behalf of a charity which results in a donation is a behested payment.

The second proposed regulation would allow committees that have terminated to accept refunds from governmental entities and unexpected refunds from any other entities totaling $10,000 or less after termination of the committee. It would also permit terminated committees to transfer refunds to other committees without having to reopen the terminated committee. Refunds that are transferred to a new committee would be reported as if they had been received prior to termination and attributed accordingly when transferred to the new committee.

Original image of the Seal of the State of California by Zscout370 on Wikipedia.

California may become the first state to allow political contributions on the state and local levels to be made by text message on your smartphone. The  California Fair Political Practices Commission is behind a plan that would allow such contributions by the 2012 elections. Approval is expected by October.

The hope is that this will allow for small donations and widen the number of people who are engaged in the political process. Last December, the Federal Election Commission rejected a similar plan for federal campaigns.

Here is a Capital Public Radio recording of Commission Chair Ann Ravel talking about the idea and what regulations would need to accompany it.

Today’s San Francisco Chronicle offers “Calif. poised to OK political donations via text,” by Carla Marinucci.

The Commission will discuss “behested payments” and examine the scenario where a public official’s name is listed on the letterhead of a fundraising letter for a nonprofit organization, but neither the official nor any person on his or her staff acts as an agent to solicit donations on behalf of the official.

The commission will also discuss a proposed regulation regarding the use of text messages to raise funds through low dollar contributions.

Lastly, the commission will be discussing a proposed regulation that would allow terminated committees to receive a refund and legally transfer the refund to a new committee without having to reopen the terminated committee so long as both committees report the transaction.

Ms. Ravel is the commission’s first chairwoman and has an established career in public service. She has served as counsel for Santa Clara County and most recently with the U.S. Justice Department.

Ravel has indicated she may reverse the recently enacted policy of publishing allegations on the FPPC’s website before investigations are concluded out of consideration for politicians and others who may be wrongfully accused of an infraction and later cleared.

Ms. Ravel replaces Dan Schnur, a Schwarzenegger appointee, atop the commission.

Photo of Ann Ravel courtesy of the Santa Clara County website.

The Fair Political Practices Commission passed rules late last week to regulate electronic communications and internet advertisements in the same manner as traditional media. Campaigns and those making independent expenditures will be required to place disclaimers and disclosures in text messages, e-mail, and other electronic advertisements to the extent it is practical.

If size or character-limit constraints make the full disclosure unrealistic, the ad must at least include the candidate or committee’s FPPC number and, if possible, a link containing the full campaign finance information. These new rules include exceptions for uncompensated and other grassroots internet activity in the interest of keeping the internet a prime forum for political activity and discussion among citizens.

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The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has promulgated a rule requiring groups paying for political advertisements expressly advocating for the election or defeat of a candidate or ballot measure to disclose who paid for the message, even in when the messages do not contain so-called magic words such as “vote for,” or “elect”. Those words have previously been the legal threshold for disclosure.

This rule will apply to messages appearing in the final 60 days before an election. The regulations will not take effect until after the November general election.

“The commission has adopted what is likely the first statewide rule of its type in the nation,” said FPPC Chair Dan Schnur. “By forcing the disclosure of those who truly attempt to influence the outcome of an election, we have put an end to the most egregious of campaign tactics.”

Here is the original press release: “FPPC Shines Light on “Thinly Veiled” Campaign Speech”

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