AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 2, 2025

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 17, 2025

AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 22, 2025

AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

93

CHAPTER 551

Statutes of 2025

[ Approved by Governor October 10, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 10, 2025. ]

Introduced by Senator Allen

(Coauthor: Senator Blakespear)

February 21, 2025

An act to amend Section 84224 of the Government Code, relating to the Political Reform Act of 1974.

Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: no   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including imposing reporting requirements on elected officials and campaign committees. Under the act, a behested payment is a payment that is made at the behest of a committee, an elected officer, or a member of the Public Utilities Commission, under specified circumstances, that is made principally for personal, charitable, legislative, or governmental purposes. The act requires officers and members of the Public Utilities Commission to report behested payments within 30 days of the payment or payments exceeding $5,000 in the aggregate from the same source in the same calendar year in which they are made.

This bill would exempt a behesting officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission from these reporting obligations if they make a public appeal for payment unless the officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission, or a member of their immediate family, campaign staff, or officeholder staff, holds a position with the payee organization, other than a governmental organization, as specified.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 84224 of the Government Code proposed by AB 808, to be operative only if this bill and AB 808 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

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 ⅔ vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements.

This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 84224 of the Government Code is amended to read:

84224.

(a) A behested payment described in subdivision (b) shall be reported within 30 days following the date on which the payment or payments equal or exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) in the aggregate from the same source in the same calendar year in which they are made. The report shall be filed by the behesting officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission with the officer’s or member’s agency and is a public record subject to inspection and copying pursuant to Section 81008. The report shall contain all of the following information: name of payor; address of payor; amount of the payment or payments; date or dates the payment or payments were made; the name and address of the payee; a brief description of the goods or services provided or purchased, if any; and a description of the specific purpose or event for which the payment or payments were made. Once the five-thousand-dollar ($5,000) aggregate threshold from a single source has been reached for a calendar year, all payments for the calendar year made by that source shall be disclosed within 30 days after the date the threshold was reached or the payment was made, whichever occurs later. Within 30 days after receipt of the report, state agencies, including the Public Utilities Commission, shall forward a copy of these reports to the Fair Political Practices Commission, and local agencies shall forward a copy of these reports to the officer with whom elected officers of that agency file their campaign statements.

(b) The reporting requirement imposed by this section applies to a behested payment that satisfies each of the following:

(1) The payment is made at the behest of an elected officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission.

(2) The behesting elected officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission does not provide full and adequate consideration in exchange for the payment.

(3) The payment is made principally for a legislative, governmental, or charitable purpose.

(4) If made principally for a legislative or governmental purpose, the payment is made by a person other than a state, local, or federal governmental agency.

(c) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a report is not required if the payment results from an officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission making a public appeal for payment by any of the following means:

(A) Television.

(B) Radio.

(C) Billboard.

(D) A public message on an online platform.

(E) A public speech, unless the speech is given at an event that the officer or member knows is being held for the purpose of raising funds for the recipient organization and any of the following apply:

(i) The officer or member consents in advance to be a speaker.

(ii) The officer or member consents to be featured in a solicitation.

(iii) The officer or member publicly solicits contributions to the recipient organization.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply if either of the following conditions is satisfied:

(A) The payee organization is not a governmental agency and the elected officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission knows that they, or a member of their immediate family, campaign staff, or officeholder staff, holds a position, including any of the following, with that payee organization:

(i) Any position with decisionmaking capacity within the organization, such as a board member or executive officer position.

(ii) Salaried employment at the organization.

(iii) Status as a founding member of the organization.

(iv) A position on an honorary or advisory board of the organization.

(B) The behesting officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission knows, within two years of the payment, that a specific payment was made in response to the officer or member’s public appeal.

(3) If an officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission does not know at the time that a payment was made in response to their public appeal, the deadline described in subdivision (a) shall commence on the date that the officer or member first learns that the payment was made in response to that public appeal.

SEC. 1.5.

Section 84224 of the Government Code is amended to read:

84224.

(a) A behested payment described in subdivision (b) shall be reported within 30 days following the date on which the payment or payments equal or exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) in the aggregate from the same source in the same calendar year in which they are made. The report shall be filed by the behesting officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission with the officer’s or member’s agency and is a public record subject to inspection and copying pursuant to Section 81008. The report shall contain all of the following information: name of payor; address of payor; amount of the payment or payments; date or dates the payment or payments were made; the name and address of the payee; a brief description of the goods or services provided or purchased, if any; and a description of the specific purpose or event for which the payment or payments were made. Once the five-thousand-dollar ($5,000) aggregate threshold from a single source has been reached for a calendar year, all payments for the calendar year made by that source shall be disclosed within 30 days after the date the threshold was reached or the payment was made, whichever occurs later. Within 30 days after receipt of the report, state agencies, including the Public Utilities Commission, shall forward a copy of these reports to the Fair Political Practices Commission, and local agencies shall forward a copy of these reports to the officer with whom elected officers of that agency file their campaign reports.

(b) The reporting requirement imposed by this section applies to a behested payment that satisfies each of the following:

(1) The payment is made at the behest of an elected officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission.

(2) The behesting elected officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission does not provide full and adequate consideration in exchange for the payment.

(3) The payment is made principally for a legislative, governmental, or charitable purpose.

(4) If made principally for a legislative or governmental purpose, the payment is made by a person other than a state, local, or federal governmental agency.

(c) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a report is not required if the payment results from an officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission making a public appeal for payment by any of the following means:

(A) Television.

(B) Radio.

(C) Billboard.

(D) A public message on an online platform.

(E) A public speech, unless the speech is given at an event that the officer or member knows is being held for the purpose of raising funds for the recipient organization and any of the following apply:

(i) The officer or member consents in advance to be a speaker.

(ii) The officer or member consents to be featured in a solicitation.

(iii) The officer or member publicly solicits contributions to the recipient organization.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply if either of the following conditions is satisfied:

(A) The payee organization is not a governmental agency and the elected officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission knows that they, or a member of their immediate family, campaign staff, or officeholder staff, holds a position, including any of the following, with that payee organization:

(i) Any position with decisionmaking capacity within the organization, such as a board member or executive officer position.

(ii) Salaried employment at the organization.

(iii) Status as a founding member of the organization.

(iv) A position on an honorary or advisory board of the organization.

(B) The behesting officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission knows, within two years of the payment, that a specific payment was made in response to the officer or member’s public appeal.

(3) If an officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission does not know at the time that a payment was made in response to their public appeal, the deadline described in subdivision (a) shall commence on the date that the officer or member first learns that the payment was made in response to that public appeal.

SEC. 2.

Section 1.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to Section 84224 of the Government Code proposed by both this bill and AB 808. That section of this bill shall only become operative if (1) both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2026, but this bill becomes operative first, (2) each bill amends Section 84224 of the Government Code, and (3) this bill is enacted after AB 808, in which case Section 84224 of the Government Code, as amended by Section 1 of this bill, shall remain operative only until the operative date of AB 808, at which time Section 1.5 of this bill shall become operative.

SEC. 3.

The Legislature finds and declares that this bill furthers the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974 within the meaning of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the Government Code.