Government Code section 84224
(a)
A behested payment described in subdivision (b) shall be reported within 30 days following the date on which the payment or payments equal or exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) in the aggregate from the same source in the same calendar year in which they are made. The report shall be filed by the behesting officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission with the officer’s or member’s agency and is a public record subject to inspection and copying pursuant to Section 81008. The report shall contain all of the following information: name of payor; address of payor; amount of the payment or payments; date or dates the payment or payments were made; the name and address of the payee; a brief description of the goods or services provided or purchased, if any; and a description of the specific purpose or event for which the payment or payments were made. Once the five-thousand-dollar ($5,000) aggregate threshold from a single source has been reached for a calendar year, all payments for the calendar year made by that source shall be disclosed within 30 days after the date the threshold was reached or the payment was made, whichever occurs later. Within 30 days after receipt of the report, state agencies, including the Public Utilities Commission, shall forward a copy of these reports to the Fair Political Practices Commission, and local agencies shall forward a copy of these reports to the officer with whom elected officers of that agency file their campaign reports.(b)
The reporting requirement imposed by this section applies to a behested payment that satisfies each of the following:(1)
The payment is made at the behest of an elected officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission.(2)
The behesting elected officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission does not provide full and adequate consideration in exchange for the payment.(3)
The payment is made principally for a legislative, governmental, or charitable purpose.(4)
If made principally for a legislative or governmental purpose, the payment is made by a person other than a state, local, or federal governmental agency.(c)
(1)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a report is not required if the payment results from an officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission making a public appeal for payment by any of the following means:(A)
Television.(B)
Radio.(C)
Billboard.(D)
A public message on an online platform.(E)
A public speech, unless the speech is given at an event that the officer or member knows is being held for the purpose of raising funds for the recipient organization and any of the following apply:(i)
The officer or member consents in advance to be a speaker.(ii)
The officer or member consents to be featured in a solicitation.(2)
Paragraph (1) does not apply if either of the following conditions is satisfied:(A)
The payee organization is not a governmental agency and the elected officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission knows that they, or a member of their immediate family, campaign staff, or officeholder staff, holds a position, including any of the following, with that payee organization:(i)
Any position with decisionmaking capacity within the organization, such as a board member or executive officer position.(ii)
Salaried employment at the organization.(iv)
A position on an honorary or advisory board of the organization.(B)
The behesting officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission knows, within two years of the payment, that a specific payment was made in response to the officer or member’s public appeal.(3)
If an officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission does not know at the time that a payment was made in response to their public appeal, the deadline described in subdivision (a) shall commence on the date that the officer or member first learns that the payment was made in response to that public appeal.
Source:
Section 84224, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV§ionNum=84224. (updated Jan. 1, 2026; accessed Dec. 15, 2025).
