Assemblymember Suzette Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, announced that Assembly Bill 319, (AB 319) has passed the Senate and is heading to the governor’s desk.
If signed into law, AB 319, Valladares’s first bill to pass the Legislature unanimously would help California guard against foreign interference in state and local elections by prohibiting foreign campaign contributions, according to officials.
“Recent elections have made clear the need to protect California’s elections from interference,” Valladares said. “One way bad actors from foreign countries try to influence our elections is through campaign contributions and expenditures.”
AB 319 has been introduced because the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which enforces rules against foreign campaign donations, has been unable to enforce those laws efficiently, according to the bill text.
“Despite federal law prohibiting these contributions, the FEC has largely been unable, unwilling or unnecessarily slow to prosecute these violations,” read the bill. “In part because of its six-member structure, the FEC often finds itself deadlocked on significant decisions.”
Additionally, the FEC has over 400 cases that have not yet been reviewed, according to Valladares.
AB 319 would allow the Fair Political Practices Commission to take on the role of enforcer of laws against foreign contributions to elections, both state and local.
The bill does this by adding the federal law against the donation or receipt of foregn campaign contributions in state and local elections as amendments to California’s Political Reform Act of 1974.
“The FEC’s inability to enforce existing federal laws has left all elections in the United States, including those in California, vulnerable to interference by foreign entities,” read the bill. “Because of this, the Legislature must take action to ensure that future violations of existing prohibitions on foreign contributions do not go unnoticed nor unpunished.”
While foreign campaign donations are already illegal, the Federal Elections Commission has such a large backlog of investigations that the ban on donations to state and local candidates often goes unenforced.
“Protecting the integrity of our elections is vital to our democracy, and I’m proud that this is my first bill to pass the Legislature with no opposition,” Valladares said.
The bill is now headed to Governor’s Gavin Newsom’s desk.
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