SECTIONS 54964 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 54964

54964. (a) An officer, employee, or consultant of a local agency
may not expend or authorize the expenditure of any of the funds of
the local agency to support or oppose the approval or rejection of a
ballot measure, or the election or defeat of a candidate, by the
voters.
(b) As used in this section the following terms have the following
meanings:
(1) "Ballot measure" means an initiative, referendum, or recall
measure certified to appear on a regular or special election ballot
of the local agency, or other measure submitted to the voters by the
governing body at a regular or special election of the local agency.
(2) "Candidate" means an individual who has qualified to have his
or her name listed on the ballot, or who has qualified to have
write-in votes on his or her behalf counted by elections officials,
for nomination or election to an elective office at any regular or
special primary or general election of the local agency, and includes
any officeholder who is the subject of a recall election.
(3) "Expenditure" means a payment of local agency funds that is
used for communications that expressly advocate the approval or
rejection of a clearly identified ballot measure, or the election or
defeat of a clearly identified candidate, by the voters. "Expenditure"
shall not include membership dues paid by the local agency to a
professional association.
(4) "Local agency" has the same meaning as defined in Section
54951, but does not include a county superintendent of schools, an
elementary, high, or unified school district, or a community college
district.
(c) This section does not prohibit the expenditure of local agency
funds to provide information to the public about the possible
effects of a ballot measure on the activities, operations, or
policies of the local agency, if both of the following conditions are
met:
(1) The informational activities are not otherwise prohibited by
the Constitution or laws of this state.
(2) The information provided constitutes an accurate, fair, and
impartial presentation of relevant facts to aid the voters in
reaching an informed judgment regarding the ballot measure.
(d) This section does not apply to the political activities of
school officers and employees of a county superintendent of schools,
an elementary, high, or unified school district, or a community
college district that are regulated by Article 2 (commencing with
Section 7050) of Chapter 1 of Part 5 of the Education Code.