Political Reform Act of 1974: campaign disclosures.

(1) Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing and activities. Existing law under the act requires advertisements to include prescribed disclosure statements, and defines an advertisement for these purposes. Existing law excludes a number of communications from the definition of advertisement, including electronic media communications for which the inclusion of specified disclosures regarding the funding of the communication is impractical or incompatible with the technology used. Existing law also defines "top contributors" for these purposes to mean the persons from whom a committee paying for an advertisement has received its three highest cumulative contributions of $50,000 or more, and provides that if two or more contributors of identical amounts qualify as top contributors, the most recent contributor shall be listed in disclosures of top contributors for advertisements paid for by committees. Existing law specifies the formatting of disclosures for advertisements that are disseminated as a video, print advertisements, and electronic media advertisements. This bill would exclude additional types of communications from the definition of advertisement, including certain electronic media communications requested by the recipient, communications solicited by the recipient, or communications for which inclusion of disclosures would be impracticable or severely interfere with the committee's ability to convey the intended message, as determined by regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission. The bill would delete the exemption from the definition of advertisement for electronic media communications for which the inclusion of disclosures would be impractical or incompatible with the technology used. The bill would require that a tie in the determination of top contributors be resolved by determining the contributor who made the most recent contribution. For committee advertisements that support or oppose a candidate, the bill would exclude certain nonprofit entities and persons who have prohibited the use of their contributions to support or oppose candidates from the determination of top contributors. The bill would make specified changes to the formatting requirements for disclosures included in advertisements that are disseminated as a video, print advertisements, and electronic media advertisements. The bill would exclude email messages from the disclosure and disclosure formatting requirements applicable to electronic media, except for requirements relating to the size, placement, and color of specified disclosures. (2) Existing law defines an "expenditure" for purposes of the act to include any monetary or non-monetary payment made by specified persons that is used for communications that expressly advocate the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate or candidates, or the qualification, passage, or defeat of a clearly identified ballot measure. Existing law prohibits a candidate, candidate controlled committee, established for an elective office for the controlling candidate, or political party committee from sending a mass mailing or a mass electronic mailing unless it discloses specified information, and defines "mass electronic mailing" to mean sending more than 200 substantially similar pieces of electronic mail within a calendar month. Existing law prohibits a candidate, candidate controlled committee, or slate mailer organization from expending campaign funds to pay for certain telephone calls that are similar in nature and aggregate 500 or more in number unless specified disclosures are made to the recipient of the call. Existing law prohibits a person from making a contribution to a committee or candidate that is earmarked for a contribution to any other particular committee, ballot measure, or candidate unless the contribution is fully disclosed, as specified. This bill would prohibit the Commission from interpreting or construing these provisions, and the provisions described above relating to advertisement disclosures, as allowing the Commission to establish any threshold in quantity or amount that are not specified in those provisions. (3) Existing law under the act requires certain advertisements paid for by committees to disclose that it is paid for by the committee, by including in the advertisement the words "Paid for by," followed by the name of the committee, as specified. This bill would require those advertisements to instead use the words "Ad paid for by," but would continue to allow an advertisement that is a printed letter, Internet Web site, or email message to use the words "Paid for by." Because a violation of the act is punishable as a misdemeanor, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 84504.2 of the Government Code proposed by SB 1239 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1239 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 84504.3 of the Government Code proposed by AB 2188 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2188 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.