What's New

On June 17, the City Council made changes to the Oakland Campaign Reform Act (OCRA). These changes temporarily raise the amount of money people can give to candidates who agree to limit how much they spend on their campaigns. The new contributions limits are effective June 17, 2025.   

Effective June 17, 2025, contribution limits for candidate-controlled committees are as follows:  

CANDIDATES WHO DO NOT ACCEPT VOLUNTARY SPENDING LIMITS

CANDIDATES WHO ACCEPT VOLUNTARY SPENDING LIMITS

Important: The new higher limits only apply to candidates who agree to limit their spending. To do this, they must first fill out and submit OCRA Form 301 to the Public Ethics Commission. 

*Not all political action committees (PACs) are considered "broad-based." Under OCRA, to be a broad-based political committee, the committee must: 

1. In existence for more than six months, 
2. Receive contributions from 100 or more persons, and 
3. Make contributions to five or more candidates. 

Contributions to an officeholder committee are subject to the same contribution limits that apply to candidate committees of a candidate who does not accept voluntary expenditure limits. However, the contribution limits for officeholder committees are annual rather than by election cycle. Theper-contributor contribution limits were not changed by the recent amendments to OCRA. This means elected City Officials may receive contributions to their designated officeholder account as follows:

The recent amendments to OCRA increased the totalannual amount that an officeholder committee may receive in contributions as follows [OMC 3.12.150(A)]:

These increases to the annual total contribution limits to officeholder accounts went into effect for the 2025 calendar year and are permanent.

All candidates have a choice of whether to limit their total campaign spending up to certain pre-set “expenditure limits,” also known as spending limits. Accepting the voluntary spending limits allows candidates to raise individual contributions at a higher limit than those who do not. Candidates must agree to the spending limit in writing before accepting contributions at the higher amounts. Candidates agree to the spending limit by submitting OCRA Form 301 using the Commission’s online form.  

 The City of Oakland is implementing a new public financing program, Democracy Dollars, for future Oakland elections. Under this Program, participating candidates may receive public funds in form of Democracy Dollars vouchers contributed by eligible Oakland residents. The maximum amount of Democracy Dollars proceeds that a candidate may receive is based on the office a candidate runs for as listed below. There is no funding for Democracy Dollars public financing for the 2026 election in the FY25-27 budget.

 The City of Oakland is implementing a new public financing program, Democracy Dollars, for future Oakland elections. Under this Program, participating candidates may receive public funds in form of Democracy Dollars vouchers contributed by eligible Oakland residents. The maximum amount of Democracy Dollars proceeds that a candidate may receive is based on the office a candidate runs for as listed below. There is no funding for Democracy Dollars public financing for the 2026 election in the FY25-27 budget.

To participate in the Democracy Dollars public financing program, candidates must limit their use of personal funds to no more than 8 percent of the Voluntary Spending Limit for their office or $20,000, whichever is lower.

To participate in the Democracy Dollars Program, candidates cannot knowingly solicit contributions for a committee or any other person or entity that has made or will make independent expenditures to support or oppose a candidate for City office.

The Oakland Campaign Reform Act also has rules for campaign messages. Any campaign, officeholder, or legal defense communication must include a clear disclaimer. The disclaimer has to say “Paid for by” followed by the name, address, and city of the committee that paid for it. If they have a committee ID number from the California Fair Political Practices Commission, that must be included too. For audio messages, the address and city are not required.

The disclaimer also must say: “Funding details are available on the Oakland Public Ethics Commission's website.” All of this information has to be easy to see or hear so people understand who is behind the message. For full rules, check the Oakland Campaign Reform Act Section 3.12.200.

Any candidate or committee that uses social media accounts to share political communications must include the following statement on each account's home page:

This account is being used for campaign purposes by [name of candidate or committee].

If an elected City officeholder communicates about campaign activity or City business using a social media account or website that is not City sponsored, the home page for the account or site must include the following statement:

This [account or site] is not paid for, sponsored by, or hosted by the City of Oakland.

For full information about social media requirements, see the Oakland Campaign Reform Act Section 3.12.220.

The Oakland Campaign Reform Act requires that any committee or person required by state law to file a 24-hour or 10-day Late Independent Expenditure Report (FPPC Form 496) with the Public Ethics Commission also submit a Supplemental Independent Expenditure Disclosure (OCRA Form 305).

Submit the online OCRA Form 305.

The Lobbyist Registration Act requires lobbyists to pay a fee each year to register. If a lobbyist signs up between January 1 and June 30, they have to pay $500. If they sign up between July 1 and December 31, the fee is $250. The registration lasts for the rest of that calendar year. Lobbyists must register again every year in January and pay the correct fee.

The LRA allows the PEC to waive or reduce the lobbyist registration fee for lobbyists who meet certain criteria. Lobbyist registration fees will be waived for a lobbyist who:

1. is a salaried employee, officer, or director of an organization or association that is exempt from taxation under 26 U.S.C. Sections 501(c)(3) and that received less than $750,000 in gross receipts; and
2. is exclusively representing that organization.

Lobbyist registration fees will be reduced for a local governmental lobbyist who:

1. is a salaried employee, officer, or director of any corporation, organization or association that received less than $200,000 in gross receipts or gross income; and
2. is exclusively representing that corporation, organization or association.

The Public Ethics Commission may require that a lobbyist submit proof of an employer's gross receipts or gross income to receive the fee reduction or fee waiver.

Quarterly disclosure reports are now due no later than the last day of the month following the end of the quarter, rather than 30 days after the end of the quarter. This change will provide a consistent end-of-the-next-month filing deadline for all lobbyist reports. For example, lobbying disclosure reports for the fourth quarter of 2023, which ends on December 31, will now be due on January 31, instead of January 30.

If any lobbyist fails to submit any information required by the Lobbyist Registration Act after any applicable deadline, the Public Ethics Commission will impose a late filing fee of $10 per day after the deadline until the information is received by the Public Ethics Commission or the total amount of late fees reach $1,000.

To make sure lobbyists know and follow city rules, all lobbyists must complete training from the Public Ethics Commission (PEC) within 60 days of signing up. After that, lobbyists must complete additional training session as required by the PEC. The training is available as an online video. If a lobbyist doesn’t complete the training, the PEC may cancel their registration.

The Lobbyist Registration Actalso includes increased post-employment restrictions on former City officials. An officer of the City or person who has held the position of department head or budget director cannot act as a government lobbyist for a period of two years after leaving office.