Political Reform Act of 1974: candidate trainings.

Removed the exemption in subdivision (d)(2) for a candidate who indicates on their statement of intention that they do not intend to qualify as a committee under Section 82013(a). Previously, such candidates were exempt unless they later qualified as a committee, at which point they had 30 days to complete training. This exemption no longer exists in the enrolled version.

The trigger for candidate training requirements changed from filing a statement of intention to be a candidate to the registration of a candidate controlled committee pursuant to Section 84101. All deadline calculations (30-day windows, February 28, 2029 cutoff) now key off the committee registration date rather than the statement of intention filing date.

The covered population narrowed from 'a candidate for elective office, or an individual who intends to be a candidate for elective office with a candidate controlled committee' to simply 'a candidate for elective office with a candidate controlled committee registered pursuant to Section 84101.' This removes the category of individuals who intend to be candidates but have not yet formally become candidates.

Standard legislative formatting changes: removal of amendment history dates, addition of passage dates (Assembly August 24, 2026; Senate August 20, 2026), addition of Governor approval block, and page number renumbering from 95 to 94.

All amendments to Government Code Sections 84211 and 84219 were deleted. These provisions would have raised the threshold for reporting individual contributions, expenditures, and disbursements from $100 to $200 in campaign financial reports. The bill no longer touches campaign reporting requirements at all.

The training requirement is now limited to candidates 'with a candidate controlled committee registered pursuant to Section 84101' rather than applying broadly to any individual who files a statement of intention to be a candidate. This narrows the population subject to the mandate.

The exemption for statewide office candidates and their committee treasurers was deleted. Statewide candidates are now subject to the same training requirement as local office candidates.

A new subdivision (e) defines 'candidate controlled committee' as 'the candidate controlled committee established for the elective office of the controlling candidate,' providing a clear term for the narrowed scope.

Language was added stating training courses 'may be completed at the convenience of the individual, subject to the deadlines provided in this section,' emphasizing flexibility in when and how candidates complete the course.

The provision that delayed operative effect of the reporting sections until the Secretary of State certified an online filing and disclosure system was removed, as those sections no longer exist.

Removed new Elections Code Section 8905, which would have prohibited printing the name of a candidate on the ballot if they had not completed the required training course under Government Code Section 85201.5.

The bill's scope narrowed from amending both the Elections Code and the Government Code to amending only the Government Code. The short title no longer references adding Part 6 to Division 8 of the Elections Code.

Removed the bill's amendment to Section 84101 of the Government Code (statements of organization), which had been described as a nonsubstantive change. The short title and digest no longer reference this provision.

Added a new consequence for candidates who fail to complete the required training: any committee they control is prohibited from receiving contributions until the candidate completes the training. This goes beyond the existing ballot-access penalty (name not printed on ballot) and directly restricts campaign fundraising.

Added a new exemption from the training requirement for candidates who indicate on their statement of intention that they do not intend to qualify as a committee that receives campaign contributions in excess of $2,000. This effectively exempts very small campaigns from the training mandate.

Cleaned up amendment markup throughout Section 84211 so the $100-to-$200 reporting threshold change appears as clean text rather than strikethrough-and-insertion notation. The substantive threshold change (raising the reporting trigger from $100 to $200) is unchanged between versions.

Updated fiscal notes: vote requirement language simplified from 'majority 2/3' to '2/3', and fiscal committee and state-mandated local program answers cleaned up from 'no yes' to 'yes'. Section numbering was reorganized following the removal of the statements of organization section.

New Section 85201.5 requires candidates for non-statewide elective office to complete a Political Reform Act training course within 30 days of filing a statement of intention (or 88 days before the election, whichever is earlier), starting January 1, 2029. Treasurers of candidate controlled committees must also complete training within 30 days of registering their committee.

The dollar threshold for reporting individual contributions, expenditures, and loans in campaign statements (Section 84211) and slate mailer organization reports (Section 84219) is doubled from $100 to $200. This means smaller transactions below $200 will no longer require itemized disclosure.

New Section 8905 of the Elections Code prohibits printing the name of a candidate on the ballot if they have not completed the required training course. A committee whose treasurer has not completed training is prohibited from accepting any contributions until the training is done, which creates a new crime.

The bill now applies to non-statewide candidates and their committee treasurers. Statewide candidates and treasurers of committees controlled by statewide candidates are explicitly exempt from the training requirements.

An exemption is provided for individuals who have already completed a similar training required by a local government ethics agency, with the Fair Political Practices Commission having discretion to determine whether another training is 'similar.'

Sections 3 and 5 (slate mailer report amendments) will not become operative until the Secretary of State certifies an online filing and disclosure system under Section 84602(b)(7) of the Government Code. The training requirements commence January 1, 2029.

The vote requirement changed from simple majority to two-thirds of each house (required because the bill amends the Political Reform Act, an initiative measure). Fiscal committee review and state-mandated local program designation were both changed from 'no' to 'yes.'