FEBRUARY 9, 2023

FRESNO COUNTY STATEMENT ON CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION

ORDINANCE IN RESPONSE TO AB 571

FRESNO, CA - In 2019, the State passed AB 571 which went into effect in
January 2021. The law applied a contribution limit to city and county
candidates which had not previously been applied under state law. The
default limit for contributions to city and county candidates subject to AB 571
is set at $4,900 per election. AB 571 allowed cities and counties to set different
campaign contribution limits so long as those limits were in place prior to
January 1, 2021.

On August 4, 2020, the County of Fresno adopted an ordinance creating a

contribution limit of $30,000 for County elected officials. This limit applies to
individuals and all types of entities. The broad definition of “Person” in the
County’s ordinance would bar contributions in excess of the limit from other
campaign committees.

The ordinance also prohibits any “person” from contributing more than $30,000
per election. [1] Based on this language, another politician wanting to
contribute from his or her campaign fund to a candidate for County elective
office would be limited by the $30,000 contribution cap per election.

[1]
The $30,000 limit applies separately to primary elections and general elections in the same year.
Cities and Counties that have adopted their own campaign limits pursuant to
AB 571 are expressly excluded from California Fair Political Practices
Commission regulations that allow candidates to transfer funds from a prior
campaign committee belonging to the candidate to a new campaign
committee.

It should be noted that the Fresno City Council has a similar ordinance as the
County, but with a much lower limit of $4,900 per election. In other words, any
county politician who wants to run for a Fresno city councilmember position
cannot use in excess of $4,900 accumulated for his or her prior county
campaign.

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Subsection B of Section 2.62.040 reads: “Person as used in this section shall

mean an individual, proprietorship, firm, partnership, joint venture, syndicate,
business trust, company, corporation, limited liability company, association,
committee, labor union or organization, and any other organization or group
of persons acting in concert.”