Sacramento, CA – Today the California State Senate unanimously passed Assemblyman Steinorth’s legislation, AB 2558, permanently authorizing San Bernardino County’s contract with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to enforce the County’s local campaign finance ordinance.
“The FPPC provides strong and trustworthy enforcement of our local campaign finance laws,” said Steinorth. “Our ability to maintain this contract is critical to upholding a transparent and ethical government, a top priority of both our voters and elected officials.”
San Bernardino County established a campaign finance ordinance in 2012 featuring contribution limits and election rules in order to conduct local elections with greater integrity. However, appointing an ethics commission to enforce the ordinance could have created financial and conflict-of-interest challenges to the County. Instead, AB 2146 (Cook, 2012) allowed the County to contract with the FPPC for enforcement of the local ordinance.
In March, the FPPC released a report detailing the positive state of the partnership thus far, also emphasizing the significant cost-savings effect it has had for San Bernardino County. In the FPPC’s letter of support to the Legislature, FPPC Chair Jodi Remke stated, “this bill will help protect the integrity of campaigns in San Bernardino County, and the relationship has been beneficial for both parties.”
AB 2558 now moves to the Governor’s desk for final consideration before becoming law.
Assemblyman Steinorth represents the 40th Assembly District which includes Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino, Highland, Loma Linda, and Redlands.
