SACRAMENTO, Calif. — No longer will candidates running for office in California be able to rely on a high schooler’s financial wizardry.
State regulators on Thursday passed a rule prohibiting anyone under the age of 18 to be hired for a position that requires them to sign campaign financial documents under penalty of perjury. The change — made by the Fair Political Practices Commission — will mostly apply to a campaign’s treasurer, but could affect other positions that involve financial decisions.
Candidates, however, can still recruit youth for positions that involve tasks, like door knocking in local campaigns, state senate and assembly races. On Thursday, FPPC commissioners passed the new rule on consent.
If the change sounds superfluous, a local Bay Area official proved regulators wrong.
Milpitas Councilmember Anthony Phan was found this past May to have violated a number of campaign finance laws — and it was discovered he had hired his 14-year-old cousin as his treasurer during a bid for a council seat in 2016. Phan told authorities he gave the child a Nike shoebox with $43,000 — and the money was later misreported on campaign disclosures forms. He was fined $15,000 for the misdeeds.
It was the first time the FPPC had ever encountered such a thing. “Taking nothing away from some savant 13 or 14-year-old, generally speaking, they aren’t going to be trained and equipped well enough in these things,” FPPC spokesperson Jay Wierenga said in August when commissioners were first considering the rule changes.
In changing the requirements, the watchdog pointed out that it would be difficult to enforce any penalties of wrongdoing against a minor. The FPPC decided to not pursue any charges against Phan’s cousin, Jonathan Le, because of his age.
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