COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

County Manager’s Office

 

DATE:

April 29, 2010

BOARD MEETING DATE:

May11, 2010

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

David S. Boesch, County Manager

SUBJECT:

County Manager’s Report #5

 

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a resolution in support of Proposition 15, the California Fair Elections Act.

 

BACKGROUND:

California law bans the use of public money to fund political campaigns for all state offices and most locally elected offices. State law also requires candidates and interest groups to report to the Fair Political Practices Commission the amount and source of donations and how donations are spent. The commission imposes fines for violating election laws.

 

The Secretary of State is elected statewide every four years and, as the state’s chief elections official, monitors the activities of lobbyists who pay a $25 registration fee every two years.

 

Proposition 15 (Assembly Bill 583, Chapter 735, Statutes of 2008) on the June 8, 2010 primary election, would allow candidates for Secretary of State to use public funds under certain circumstances in the 2014 and 2018 elections as a pilot project.

 

Proposition 15 would:

    § Repeal the ban on public funding of political campaigns for Secretary of State;

    § Establish public funding for candidates for the office if they agree to limitations on spending and limit fundraising to individual contributions of $5 to demonstrate support. and

    § Impose a $700 fee levied every two years on lobbyists, lobbying firms, and lobbyists’ employers.

 

The statute would expire on January 1, 2019. The State Legislature could extend the sunset by a majority vote without further vote of the public.

 

Supporters include the League of Women Voters, AFSCME, California Labor Federation, Sierra Club, National Women’s Political Caucus and hundreds of federal, state and local elected officials. Opponents include the California Chamber of Commerce, Cal-Tax, Department of Finance, and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

 

DISCUSSION:

Voters over the past 20 years have given mixed results to attempts to change campaign finance laws. In 1988, voters approved two separate competing initiatives: Propositions 68 and 73. Proposition 68 sought to create voluntary public funding for state legislative races and passed with 53 percent of the vote. Proposition 73 prohibited public funding of campaigns and set contribution limits for state and local elections, and passed with 58 percent of the vote. Although both propositions passed, the one with more votes – Proposition 73 – went into effect. None of Proposition 68 went into effect. Moreover, many of the provisions of Proposition 73 were ultimately ruled unconstitutional by the federal courts. The only provisions of Proposition 73 to survive legal challenge were contribution limits for special elections, restrictions on certain mass mailings by officeholders, and the prohibition on the use of public money for campaign purposes. In 2000, voters defeated Proposition 25 which would have provided public funding for broadcast advertising and voter information packets mailed to voters for candidates and ballot initiatives that agreed to spending limits.

 

Since 1996, voters in Maine, Massachusetts and Arizona have approved laws that provide substantial public financing to state candidates. In exchange, candidates agree not to raise any funds privately, with the exception of small contributions collected to demonstrate support. Initial studies of the Maine and Arizona programs show that public financing has resulted in a substantial increase in the number of contested races and in small donor participation.

 

The Legislative Committee has reviewed this proposal and recommends it be included in the Legislative Program.

 

Approval of this resolution contributes to the Shared Vision 2025: Collaborative Community. Proposition 15 would provide candidates for Secretary of State with the means to run a competitive, issues-based campaign on a more level playing field. The Resolution has been reviewed and approved as to form by County Counsel.

 

Performance Measure(s):

Measure

FY 2008-09
Actual

FY 2009-10
Projected

Federal/State Measures analyzed and acted on

25

35

     
 

FISCAL IMPACT:

Increased statewide revenues from $700 fee on lobbyists every two years that would generate more than $6 million every four years to finance Secretary of State campaigns in 2014 and 2018.