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Gov. Code, § 85316 · Article 3. Contribution Limitations

Gov. Code, § 85316

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a contribution for an election may be accepted by a candidate for elective state, county, or city office after the date of the election only to the extent that the contribution does not exceed net debts outstanding from the election, and the contribution does not otherwise exceed the applicable contribution limit for that election.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), an elected state officer may accept contributions after the date of the election for the purpose of paying expenses associated with holding the office provided that the contributions are not expended for any contribution to any state or local committee. Contributions received pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited into a bank account established solely for the purposes specified in this subdivision.

(1) A person shall not make, and an elected state officer shall not receive from a person, a contribution pursuant to this subdivision totaling more than the following amounts per calendar year:

(A) Three thousand dollars ($3,000) in the case of an elected state officer of the Assembly or Senate.

(B) Five thousand dollars ($5,000) in the case of a statewide elected state officer other than the Governor.

(C) Twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) in the case of the Governor.

(2) An elected state officer shall not receive contributions pursuant to paragraph (1) that, in the aggregate, total more than the following amounts per calendar year:

(A) Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in the case of an elected state officer of the Assembly or Senate.

(B) One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in the case of a statewide elected state officer other than the Governor.

(C) Two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) in the case of the Governor.

(3) Any contribution received pursuant to this subdivision shall be deemed to be a contribution to that candidate for election to any state office that the candidate may seek during the term of office to which the candidate is currently elected, including, but not limited to, reelection to the office the candidate currently holds, and shall be subject to any applicable contribution limit provided in this title. If a contribution received pursuant to this subdivision exceeds the allowable contribution limit for the office sought, the candidate shall return the amount exceeding the limit to the contributor on a basis to be determined by the Commission. The expenditures made by elected state officers pursuant to this subdivision shall not be subject to the voluntary expenditure limitations in Section 85400.

(4) The Commission shall adjust the calendar year contribution limitations and aggregate contribution limitations set forth in this subdivision in January of every odd-numbered year to reflect any increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index. Those adjustments shall be rounded to the nearest one hundred dollars ($100).

(c) This section does not apply in a jurisdiction in which the county or city imposes a limit on contributions pursuant to Section 85702.5.

(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2021.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Repealed (in Sec. 13) and added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 556, Sec. 14. (AB 571) Effective January 1, 2020. Section operative January 1, 2021, by its own provisions.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&sectionNum=85316.
Text hash
sha256 35a386df98a09b53383d8b0579fa285d6d36b2685bd2b94992015b6989971823
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compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

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