April 23, 2024
The Honorable Mike Fong
California State Assembly, 49th District
1021 O Street, Suite 5230
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Assembly Bill 2631 (M. Fong) – Local agencies: ethics training – SUPPORT Dear Assembly Member Fong,
The City of San Marcos is proud to support Assembly Bill 2631, relating to the FPPC’s local agency ethics training course.
Existing law requires each local agency official to receive ethics training every two years that includes training on their ethical duties under the Political Reform Act of 1974 and on other ethics principles and laws. The Fair Political Practices Commission has voluntarily maintained an online local ethics training course that is available to all local officials free of charge. The training course is a highly beneficial resource for local agencies and is heavily relied on and used by local officials, with 88,900 users completing the course since 2010. With the passage of AB 2158 in 2022, about 2,000 additional agencies and several thousand additional agency officials will become subject to these training requirements starting in 2025, which the FPPC expects will result in increased usage of the training course.
AB 2631 would codify the FPPC’s ethics training program in statute, thereby making it a permanent program that can be relied on by local officials indefinitely. The bill will ensure that local officials continue to have free and convenient access to a resource that educates these officials on important ethics laws that impact their work and decision-making.
Thank you, Assembly Member Fong, for your collaboration on this important bill.
Sincerely,
Rebecca D. Jones
Mayor
cc: Members and Consultants, Assembly Elections Committee Catherine Hill, League of California Cities – San Diego and Imperial Counties League of California Cities
2 City Council
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