Behested payments: public appeal for payment.

Senator Allen, working with Senator Blakespear and Assembly Member Solache, frames a reconfiguration of behested-payment disclosures around a public-appeal exemption that applies unless specific relationships or knowledge-related conditions are present. The core idea is to permit nonreporting when a payment results from a public appeal through defined channels, while preserving reporting obligations in cases where conflicts of interest or certain connections exist, and maintaining the existing threshold and timeliness requirements for disclosures.

Under the proposal, the standard reporting framework would still apply when a behested payment reaches or exceeds a five-thousand-dollar aggregate from a single source in a calendar year, with reports due within 30 days and containing details such as payor and payee information, the amount and dates of payments, and the purpose of the payment. If the threshold is met, all payments from that source for the year must be disclosed within 30 days after the threshold is reached or the payment is made, whichever occurs later, and copies must be forwarded to the FPPC or the local officer responsible for campaign statements. The bill enumerates four conditions that must be satisfied for the reporting obligation to apply: the payment is at the behest of an elected officer or PUC member; the behesting official does not provide full and adequate consideration; the payment is principally for a legislative, governmental, or charitable purpose; and if the principal purpose is legislative or governmental, the payer is not a governmental agency.

The public-appeal exemption outlines channels through which a payment may be prompted without triggering a report—television, radio, billboard, a public online message, or a public speech—subject to exceptions. Notably, the exemption does not apply if the payee is not a governmental entity and the officer or staff member knows that they or their immediate family hold a position with the payee organization, includes specified roles such as board or executive positions, salaried employment, founding membership, or honorary or advisory roles; or if the officer or PUC member knows within two years that a payment was made in response to the appeal. If the payer’s knowledge arises after the fact, the reporting deadline begins when that knowledge first becomes known.

The bill introduces a conditional, cross-bill operative framework that ties to AB 808, specifying that amendments to the reporting regime would become operative only if both measures are enacted and effective by a shared deadline, with SB 760 taking effect first and the combined framework potentially adjusting to AB 808’s provisions at a later date. The package relies on the existing enforcement structure for campaign finance disclosure, with public records access and FPPC oversight, and carries no new appropriation. The legislative history shows rapid progression through the 2025–2026 session, culminating in enrollment after Senate and Assembly passage, signaling a coordinated approach to refining public-behested-payment transparency within the Political Reform Act’s framework.