Political Reform Act of 1974.

Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, places limits on the amount of campaign contributions that a person may make to a candidate for elective state office. This bill would prohibit any campaign contribution to a Member of the Legislature during the following periods of time: (1) in each year, a specified period before the enactment of the Budget Bill, (2) in each odd-numbered year, during the 30 days preceding the adjournment of the legislative session, and (3) in each even-numbered year, the period from August 1 to August 31, inclusive. This bill would exempt from these provisions a contribution made to, or solicited or accepted by, a Member of the Legislature for purposes of that Member's candidacy for an elective state office that is to be voted upon at a special election. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating additional crimes. 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 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.