An excerpt of Dentons’ Political Law Playbook.
CA State Court Upholds the Constitutionality of SB 1439’s Expanded Pay-to-Play Provisions – A California Superior Court recently upheld the constitutionality of the state’s controversial new pay-to-play laws, which went into effect at the beginning of this year. The law at issue, S.B. 1439, was initially challenged in February 2023 on grounds that it violated free speech as protected by both the federal and California constitutions. In his ruling, Judge Richard Sueyoshi found that California had not violated the plaintiff’s free speech and petition rights because the state had acted upon a compelling government interest in passing a law designed to prevent corruption or the appearance of corruption in local government operations in the same manner that it was already addressing such issues at the state level. The law – which is covered in detail in a previous post on Dentons’ Pay-to-Play Blog – expanded California’s long-standing state pay-to-play provisions to cover elected officials of local agencies and extended the contribution prohibition period for “covered parties” from three months to twelve months following a final decision in a relevant proceeding.
About the Political Law Playbook
Dentons’ Political Law Playbook is a monthly update on the most important developments in the areas of political law, government ethics, campaign finance, lobbying and election law. Each edition of Political Law Playbook will cast a spotlight on the unique issues at the intersection of law, policy and politics and give you a window into how the Dentons Political Law, Ethics and Disclosure team can help you navigate the compliance challenges you face.
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