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BEST BEST & KRIEGER � <br />ATTORNEYS AT LAW <br />CITE' <br />Memorandum <br />To: PUBLIC AGENCY CLIENTS <br />From: BEST BEST & KRIEGER <br />Date: MAY 27. 2015 <br />Re: AMENDMENTS TO THE FPPC'S PUBLIC GENERALLY REGULATIONS <br />INTRODUCTION <br />Under the Political Reform Act, a public official has a disqualifying conflict <br />of interest in any decision which materially affects the official's financial interest, unless <br />the effect is indistinguishable from the effect on the public generally. (Gov. Code § <br />87103.) This is commonly referred to as the "public generally exception." The Fair <br />Political Practices Commission ("FPPC") recently amended its regulations regarding the <br />public generally exception.' This memorandum discusses the changes and how the <br />changes affect whether a public official will have a conflict of interest. <br />THE NEW RULE <br />The new rule requires the following two-step analysis to determine <br />whether the public generally exception applies: <br />STEP 1: Is a "significant segment" of the public affected by the <br />governmental decision? If yes, go on to step two. <br />STEP 2: Is the effect on the public official "not unique" compared to <br />the effect on the rest of the significant segment? If yes, then <br />the public generally exception applies. <br />Determining the significant segment is fairly straightforward. The decision <br />only affects a significant segment if it affects at least 25% of any of the following: all <br />businesses or nonprofit entities, all real properties, residential properties or commercial <br />properties, or all individuals within the jurisdiction of the agency. <br />Determining whether the decision has a "unique effect" is a little trickier. <br />The general idea is that the decision cannot disproportionately impact the public <br />official's economic interest in comparison to effect on the significant segment of the <br />' The new regulation is contained at 2 Cal. Code Regs. § 18703 and is available here: htip://tppc.ca.gov/legal/New- <br />rms/18703.pdf. All regulations discussed herein are available at nL w fppaca.gov. <br />This product is provided under the Public Policy & Ethics Group Program <br />