O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 21-49—SB 883
Government Administration and Elections Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL O N WOMEN AND GIRLS
SUMMARY: This act makes changes affecting (1) the Citizens’ Election
Program (CEP), which is the state’s voluntary public campaign financing program
open to candidates running for statewide office or the General Assembly; (2)
procedures and considerations for appointing public members to state boards and
commissions; and (3) reporting by the secretary of the state on the gender and
racial diversity of state boards and commissions.
Concerning the CEP, the act requires the State Elections Enforcement
Commission (SEEC) to amend the CEP regulations to permit child care service
expenditures. Once SEEC amends the regulations, it authorizes qualified
candidate committees (i.e., those of participating CEP candidates that SEEC has
approved for a Citizens’ Election Fund (CEF) grant) to make child care service
expenditures using CEF grants, subject to certain limits and conditions. Currently,
participating CEP candidates who have qualified for a grant may use CEF grants
for these expenditures under a 2020 Superior Court decision (see
BACKGROUND).
Concerning boards and commissions, the act requires, among other things:
1. the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) commissioner to
maintain an online system for submitting recommendations for public
member appointees to Executive Department boards or commissions;
2. appointing authorities for state boards, commissions, committees, and
councils with members appointed by the governor or legislators to ensure
that the membership is qualified and diverse according to the most recent
U.S. census population data (starting by 2026); and
3. the secretary of the state to publish a report every two years on the gender
and racial composition of certain state boards and commissions and
compare this information with the state’s gender and racial composition
according to the most recent U.S. census population data.
The act also makes technical and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021
§§ 1-4 — PERMISSIBLE EXPENDITURES FOR CHILD CARE SERVICES
State law establishes permissible expenditures that candidate committees and
exploratory committees may make to accomplish their lawful purposes (e.g., staff
compensation). The law applies broadly to candidates participating in the CEP as
well as to those who are privately funded and running in a state or municipal
election. However, the law also requires SEEC to adopt regulations on O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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permissible expenditures specifically for participating CEP candidates who
qualify for a grant (see BACKGROUND).
The act requires SEEC, on or after July 1, 2021, to amend the CEP regulations
on permissible expenditures. After the regulations are amended, the act authorizes
participating candidates who qualify for a grant to make expenditures for child
care services using CEF grants.
The act defines “child care services” as necessary services rendered to a
candidate for the care of a child younger than age 13 and for whom the candidate
is the parent or legal guardian when the services (1) are a direct result of
campaign activity and (2) would not exist but for the candidate’s campaign.
It subjects these expenditures to the following conditions and limits:
1. aggregate child care services expenditures may not exceed the amount of
qualifying contributions (QCs) required to qualify for a CEF grant (e.g., in
2020, $16,000 for candidates for state senator and $5,300 for candidates
for state representative);
2. candidates may not use CEF grants to compensate themselves or
immediate family members for child care services; and
3. any compensation for child care services must be reasonable and
customary for the services rendered.
By law, participating CEP candidates may provide their campaign with a
limited amount of personal funds (e.g., $2,000 for state senator and $1,000 for
state representative). The act exempts child care services expenditures made
directly from a candidate’s personal funds from these limits as long as the
candidate does not seek reimbursement from his or her candidate committee. The
exemption applies once SEEC amends the CEP regulations as required by the act.
Finally, the act clarifies that privately funded candidates may pay for child
care services using campaign funds, thus conforming the law to current practice.
§§ 5 & 6 — STATE BOARDS AND COM MISSIONS
Online System for Submitting Names
The act requires the DAS commissioner to create, maintain, and make
accessible on the state’s website a system through which an individual may
electronically submit a name to be considered for appointment as a public
member to an Executive Department board or commission. The system must
include information about each board or commission and specify any membership
requirements.
By law, at least one-third of the membership of most executive department
boards and commissions must be public members. A public member is a state
elector who has no substantial financial interest in, is not employed by, and is not
professionally affiliated with an industry, institution, or profession regulated by
the board or commission.
Procedures and Considerations for Appointing Authorities
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The act makes changes affecting the procedures and considerations for
appointing authorities for state boards, commissions, committees, and councils
(“boards and similar entities”) with members appointed by the governor or state
legislators.
Prior law required these appointing authorities, in cooperation with one
another, to make a good-faith effort to ensure that to the extent possible the
membership of these boards and similar entities was qualified and closely
reflected the state’s gender and racial diversity. Under the act, when appointing
authorities ensure that the membership is qualified and diverse, they must also do
so consistent with applicable law and, starting by January 1, 2026, according to
the most recent U.S. census population data.
The act also requires these appointing authorities, consistent with applicable
law, to (1) consider each recommendation for a public member appointment to
such a board or similar entity made by a community or similar organization
representing gender and racial diversity interests and (2) make a good-faith effort
to seek out appointees reflecting this diversity.
The act requires the Legislative Management Committee chairpersons and the
governor, or their designees, to coordinate public education and outreach
strategies with these organizations to increase awareness of, and recruit diverse
applicants for, these appointments.
Data Maintenance and Analysis by the Secretary of the State
Existing law generally requires the executive officer or chairperson of a state
board or similar entity with members appointed by the governor or state
legislators to submit information to the secretary of the state on the entity’s (1)
number of members and (2) composition by “race/sex.”
For this submission, the act requires appointing authorities to maintain a
record of, and make available to the secretary, data voluntarily provided to them
on newly appointed members’ gender and race at the time of the appointment. As
under existing law, the submission is due biennially between September 1 and
October 1.
Finally, the act requires the secretary of the state, by January 1, 2022, and
every two years after that, to (1) develop and publish a report, including on her
website, on the gender and racial composition of each board or similar entity with
members appointed by the governor or state legislators and (2) conduct an
analysis comparing the state’s gender and racial composition, according to the
most recent U.S. census population data, with the goal of reflecting that
composition on these boards and similar entities by January 1, 2026.
BACKGROUND
Related Declaratory Ruling
In Declaratory Ruling 2019-02, SEEC (1) ruled that under current CEP
regulations, child care services were not a permissible expense for candidates who O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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have been approved for a CEF grant and (2) indicated that a change to the law or
its regulations would be necessary to permit these expenditures.
SEEC also reaffirmed its 1976 advisory opinion concerning privately funded
candidates. In that opinion, the commission held that privately funded candidates
could generally use campaign funds to pay for child care services as long as the
payments were (1) a direct result of campaign activity which would not exist but
for the candidate’s campaign, (2) reasonable and customary for the services
rendered, and (3) properly documented by the campaign (AO 1976-23).
Related Case
In Pereira v. State Elections Enforcement Commission, the Superior Court
sustained an administrative appeal from Declaratory Ruling 2019-02. It held that
expenditures for child care services that met the three conditions outlined in AO
1976-23 were permissible under CEP regulations. Specifically, they satisfy the
requirement that all funds in a qualified candidate committee’s depository account
be used only for campaign-related expenditures that directly further the
candidate’s nomination for election or election (Not Reported, 2020 WL 5624102
(2020)).