TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: Supervisor Haschak
MEETING DATE: September 24, 2024
DEPARTMENT CONTACT:
Supervisor Haschak
PHONE:
707-463-4441
ITEM TYPE: Regular Agenda
TIME ALLOCATED FOR ITEM: 30 Minutes
AGENDA TITLE:
title
Discussion and Possible Action Including Formation of an Ad Hoc Committee to Work with County Counsel to Draft an Ordinance Limiting Campaign Contributions to County Elected Campaigns to $1,000 from an Individual and $2,000 from a Committee, as Well as Overall Spending Limits per Campaign Cycle
(Sponsor: Supervisor Haschak)
End
RECOMMENDED ACTION/MOTION:
recommendation
Form an Ad Hoc Committee to work with County Counsel to draft an ordinance limiting campaign contributions to County Elected Campaigns to $1,000 from an individual and $2,000 from a Committee, as well as overall spending limit per campaign cycle.
End
PREVIOUS BOARD/BOARD COMMITTEE ACTIONS:
None.
SUMMARY OF REQUEST:
AB 571 which amended various Elections and Government Code provisions pertaining to campaign contribution limits allows a county to limit campaign contributions in county elections. Government may regulate campaign financing to avoid corruption in the political process in order to prevent quid pro quo for financial contributions. The State of California currently limits contributions to $5,500 for an individual. Counties throughout California have adopted ordinances limiting this amount. For example, Sonoma County has a limit of $3500, Humboldt Co. $1,500, Santa Cruz Co. $500, Santa Clara Co. $1,500, Sacramento Co. $1,000. Another limitation is Santa Barbara has an overall spending limit of $1 per resident in the electoral jurisdiction (Supervisorial districts would be limited to $18,000 while county wide campaigns would be limited to $91,000 more or less). Some counties have put in place exceptions in cases of independent expenditure campaigns spending over a certain amount. In some counties, the limit is doubled to counterbalance the ...
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