BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 488
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 17, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   SB 488 (Correa) - As Amended:  August 15, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:6-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill amends the Political Reform Act (PRA) to place 
          notification requirements on slate mailer organizations for 
          mailings that could be understood to represent the position of a 
          governmental agency or a public-safety related non-governmental 
          organization. Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires a slate mailer organization to obtain express written 
            consent-from a governmental agency or a nongovernmental 
            organization representing law enforcement, firefighting, 
            emergency medical, or other public safety personnel-prior to 
            using a logo, insignia, emblem or trademark or substantially 
            similar logo, insignia, emblem, or trademark of one of these 
            entities in a slate mailer if such use would reasonably be 
            understood to imply the participation or endorsement of one of 
            these entities.

          2)Requires a slate mailer organization that sends a slate mailer 
            identifying itself or its source material as representing a 
            nongovernmental organization with a name that includes terms, 
            such as "peace officer," which would reasonably be understood 
            to imply that the organization is composed of, or affiliated 
            with, law enforcement, firefighting, emergency medical, or 
            other public safety personnel, to disclose on each piece of 
            mail, as specified, the total number of members in that 
            organization.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Minor absorbable costs to the Fair Political Practices 
            Commission (FPPC) for enforcement related to violations of the 
            bill's requirements, offset to some extent by fine revenues.








                                                                  SB 488
                                                                  Page  2


          2)Potential minor absorbable costs to the Attorney General and 
            potential nonreimbursable costs to local prosecutors for 
            enforcement, offset to some extent by fine revenues.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . According to the author, "Existing law requires most 
            slate mailers to disclose three things:

             a)   Who sent it.
             b)   Who paid to appear on it.
             c)   And a statement that it doesn't reflect official party 
               positions.

            "However, slate mailers can claim to represent just about any 
            group or cause under the sun. SB 488 Ýsponsored by the 
            California Professional Firefighters] is an attempt to shed 
            some light on slate mailers that claim to represent law 
            enforcement, firefighting, and other public safety personnel."

           1)Constitutional Issues  . According to the analysis of this bill 
            by the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting, this 
            measure could be interpreted as a violation of the United 
            States and California Constitutions' rights to free speech.  
            While the right to freedom of speech is not absolute, when a 
            law burdens core political speech, the restrictions on speech 
            generally must be "narrowly tailored to serve an overriding 
            state interest," McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995), 
            514 US 334.

            In light of this and other decisions, the provisions of this 
            bill may be susceptible to challenge on the grounds that the 
            bill's requirements impermissibly burden the First Amendment 
            rights of slate mailer organizations and of those candidates 
            and other individuals who use slate mailers to communicate 
            with voters.  In particular, the provisions requiring certain 
            slate mailers to include a disclosure of the number of members 
            of the organization sending the mailer on the mailer itself 
            could be viewed as compelled political speech that must be 
            narrowly tailored to serve an overriding state interest.

           2)Opposition  . The American Association of Political Consultants 
            opposes the bill on constitutional grounds as discussed above.









                                                                  SB 488
                                                                  Page  3

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081