Political Reform Act of 1974: advertisement disclosures.

Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including requiring the reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures and imposing other reporting and recordkeeping requirements on campaign committees. The act additionally imposes various disclosure statement requirements with respect to advertisements supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot measure, including a requirement that the disclosure statements be printed clearly and legibly in no less than 10-point type and in a conspicuous manner, as specified. The act also requires that an advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate that is paid for by an independent expenditure include a statement that it was not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate. This bill would require that disclosure statements be printed in no less than 14-point bold, sans serif type font. The bill would require that an advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate that is paid for by an independent expenditure include a disclosure statement with specific content and, if the advertisement is mailed, would require that the disclosure statement be located within a quarter of an inch of the recipient's name and address and be contained within a box that meets prescribed criteria. The act also requires certain ballot measure advertisements to include a specified disclosure statement if it is paid for by a committee that pays an individual for his or her appearance in the advertisement, as specified. This bill would repeal a requirement that the disclosure statement appear in roman font. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.