State and Local Government Officials. Personal Liability. Initiative Statute.

Requires candidates for office, government officials, and government advisors to use personal funds to pay any damages and their own legal expenses arising from claims of unscrupulous behavior. Defines unscrupulous behavior to include negligence, ethics violations, direction to subordinates that is contrary to or expands beyond existing law, breach of contract, and unfulfilled campaign promises. Imposes penalties for unscrupulous behavior, or for improper use of public funds to defend against claims of unscrupulous behavior, including imprisonment, fines, forfeiture, punitive damages, nullification of unscrupulous acts, and ineligibility for public office. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Potential increase in state and local government costs in the range of millions of dollars annually