Amended in Senate May 7, 2013

Amended in Senate April 24, 2013

Amended in Senate April 1, 2013

Senate Bill No. 52

Introduced by Senators Leno and Hill

begin insert

(Principal coauthor: Senator Correa)

end insert begin insert

(Coauthor: Senator Block)

end insert

December 20, 2012

An act to amend Sections 84505 and 85310 of, to add Sections 84506.1, 84506.2, 84506.3, and 84506.4 to, to repeal Sections 84502, 84503, and 84504 of, and to repeal and add Sections 84501, 84506, 84506.5, 84507, 84508, and 84509 of, the Government Code, relating to the Political Reform Act of 1974.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 52, as amended, Leno. Political Reform Act of 1974: campaign 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. Existing law additionally imposes disclosure statement requirements with respect to advertisements supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot measure paid for by donors making contributions of specified amounts or by independent expenditures and defines several terms and phrases for these purposes. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties.

This bill would repeal and recast several definitions. The bill would repeal a committee identification requirement and the disclosure statement requirements relating to advertisements for or against any ballot measure paid for by any person whose cumulative contributions are $50,000 and advertisements paid for by an independent expenditure. The bill would impose new disclosure statement requirements for political advertisements that are radio advertisements, prerecorded telephonic messages, television or video advertisements, or mass mailing or print advertisements that would require the identification of identifiable contributors, ballot measures, and other funding details, as specified. The bill would also require a committee, in prescribed circumstances, to establish and maintain a disclosure Internet Web site for the purpose of making a contribution disclosure statement. By introducing new disclosure requirements, the violation of which would be a misdemeanor, the bill would create a new crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.

Existing law requires a person who makes a payment or promise of payment totaling $50,000 or more for a communication that identifies, but does not advocate the election or defeat of, a candidate for elective state office, and that is disseminated within 45 days of an election, to file a disclosure report with the Secretary of State.

This bill would reduce the payment threshold to $10,000 and change the communication dissemination period to the period beginning 120 days before the primary or special election and ending on the date of the general or runoff election.

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 2⁄3 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements.

This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

This act shall be known as the California Disclose
Act.

SEC. 2.  

Section 84501 of the Government Code is repealed.

SEC. 3.  

Section 84501 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

84501.  

For purposes of this article, the following terms have
the following meanings:

(a) (1) “Advertisement” means a general or public
advertisement that is any of the following:

(A) Authorized and paid for by a person or committee for the
purpose of supporting or opposing a candidate for elective office
or a ballot measure or ballot measures.

(B) An electioneering communication.

(C) An issue advocacy advertisement.

(2) “Advertisement” does not include a communication from
an organization other than a political party to its members, a
campaign button smaller than 10 inches in diameter, a bumper
sticker smaller than 60 square inches, or other advertisement as
determined by regulations of the Commission.

(b) “Cumulative contributions” means the cumulative amount
of contributions received by a committee beginning 18 months
prior to the date the committee made its first expenditure for a
political advertisement or for the purpose of qualifying, supporting,
or opposing a candidate for elective office or a ballot measure.

(c) “Disclosure Internet Web site” means a committee’s Internet
Web site for a specific campaign that discloses the top identifiable
contributors to that committee for that campaign, as described in
Section 84506.3.

(d) “Disclosure threshold” means ten thousand dollars ($10,000)
in the case of a campaign regarding a statewide ballot measure or
a state candidate or in the case of a statewide issue advocacy
advertisement, or two thousand dollars ($2,000) in the case of a
campaign regarding a local ballot measure or a local candidate or
in the case of a local issue advocacy advertisement.

(e) “Electioneering communication” means a communication
described in subdivision (a) of Section 85310.

(f) “Identifiable contributor” means a person that is the original
source of contributions received by a committee that cumulatively
meet or exceed the disclosure threshold, notwithstanding the fact
that the contributions were transferred, in whole or in part, through
one or more other committees or persons.

(g) “Issue advocacy advertisement” means an advertisement
that clearly refers to and reflects a view on the subject matter,
description, or name of a pending legislative action, administrative
action, or one or more ballot measures and does any of the
following:

(1) Can only be reasonably interpreted as an appeal for the
recipient of the advertisement to take action by contacting an
employee or elected official of the state government or any local
government or encouraging others to contact those persons.

(2) Refers to a pending legislative action and is disseminated,
broadcast, or otherwise communicated within 60 days of the end
of the legislative session.

(3) Refers to one or more ballot measures and is disseminated,
broadcast, or otherwise communicated within 120 days of the
election concerning that measure or measures.

(h) “Political advertisement” means an advertisement, unless it
is paid for by a candidate-controlled committee and is an
advertisement relating to the candidate’s own election and not for
any other campaign.

SEC. 4.  

Section 84502 of the Government Code is repealed.

SEC. 5.  

Section 84503 of the Government Code is repealed.

SEC. 6.  

Section 84504 of the Government Code is repealed.

SEC. 7.  

Section 84505 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

84505.  

In addition to the requirements of Sections begin delete 84504, end delete
84506, 84506.1, 84506.2, 84506.3, begin delete and end delete 84506.4, begin insert and 84506.5, end insert the
committee placing the advertisement or persons acting in concert
with that committee shall be prohibited from creating or using a
noncandidate-controlled committee or a nonsponsored committee
to avoid, or that results in the avoidance of, the disclosure of any
individual, industry, business entity, controlled committee, or
sponsored committee as a major funding source.

SEC. 8.  

Section 84506 of the Government Code is repealed.

SEC. 9.  

Section 84506 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

84506.  

(a) A political advertisement that is a radio
advertisement or prerecorded telephonic message shall include a
disclosure at the end of the advertisement read in a clearly spoken
manner and in a pitch and tone substantially similar to the rest of
the advertisement that reads as follows: “Top funders of this ad
are [state names in descending order of identifiable contributors
who have made the three largest cumulative contributions]. Paid
for by [name of the committee that paid for the advertisement].”

(b) If there are fewer than three identifiable contributors, the
disclosure required by subdivision (a) shall be adjusted accordingly
to disclose the qualifying identifiable contributors, if any.

begin insert

(c) If there is only one identifiable contributor or the
advertisement lasts 15 seconds or less, the disclosure required by
subdivision (a) shall be adjusted to read as follows: “Top funder
of this ad is [state name of identifiable contributor who made the
largest cumulative contributions]. Paid for by [name of the
committee that paid for the advertisement].”

end insert begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  If there are no identifiable contributors or the committee
that paid for the advertisement is the only identifiable contributor,
it may replace the disclosure required by subdivision (a) with the
following: “Paid for by [name of the committee that paid for the
advertisement].”

begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  If the advertisement names each of the begin delete three largest end delete
identifiable contributors begin insert required to be named pursuant to
subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, end insert and identifies the speaker as
speaking on behalf of them, it may replace the disclosure required
by subdivision (a) with the following: “Paid for by [name of the
committee that paid for the advertisement].”

begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  The disclosures specified in subdivision (a) shall not be
required if the committee paying for the political advertisement
does not have cumulative contributions that meet or exceed the
disclosure threshold.

SEC. 10.  

Section 84506.1 is added to the Government Code,
to read:

84506.1.  

(a) A political advertisement that is a television or
video advertisement shall include a disclosure area with a solid
black background on the entire bottom one-third of the television
or video display screen begin insert at the beginning of the advertisement end insert for
a minimum of begin delete six seconds at the beginning of the advertisement
that includes end delete begin insert five seconds in the case of an advertisement that lasts
30 seconds or less or a minimum of 10 seconds in the case of an
advertisement that lasts longer than 30 seconds. The disclosure
area shall include end insert all of the following:

(1) The text “Top Funders of This Ad.” The text shall be located
at the top of the disclosure area and centered horizontally, shall
be yellow in color in Arial equivalent font, and the font size shall
be at least 4 percent of the height of the television or video display
screen.

(2) Immediately below the text described in paragraph (1), the
names of the identifiable contributors who have made the three
largest cumulative contributions. The identifiable contributors
shall each be disclosed on a separate horizontal line, in descending
order, beginning with the identifiable contributor who made the
largest cumulative contributions on the first line. The name of each
of the identifiable contributors shall be centered horizontally. The
text shall be white in color in Arial Narrow equivalent font and
the font size shall be at least 4 percent of the height of the television
or video display screen.

(3) The text “Funding Details At [insert Internet Web site
address of the disclosure Internet Web site].” The text shall be
yellow in color in Arial Narrow equivalent font and the font size
shall be equivalent to 2.5 percent of the height of the television or
video display screen. The text shall be left-aligned and located in
a position that is 2.5 percent of the height of the television or video
display screen away from the bottom left of the television or video
display screen.

(4) The text “Paid for by [name of the committee that paid for
the advertisement].” The text shall be yellow in color in Arial
Narrow equivalent font and the font size shall be equivalent to 2.5
percent of the height of the television or video display screen. The
text shall be right-aligned and located in a position that is vertically
2.5 percent of the height of the television or video display screen
away from the bottom right of the television or video display
screen.

(5) If there are fewer than three identifiable contributors, the
disclosure required by this subdivision shall be adjusted
accordingly to disclose only those that qualify as identifiable
contributors, if any. If the committee does not have any identifiable
contributors, the disclosure shall be adjusted to include the name
of the committee in place of the names of identifiable contributors.

(b) The disclosures described in subdivision (a) shall not be
required if the committee paying for the political advertisement
does not have cumulative contributions that meet or exceed the
disclosure threshold.

SEC. 11.  

Section 84506.2 is added to the Government Code,
to read:

84506.2.  

(a) Except for slate mailers, a political advertisement
that is a mass mailing or a print advertisement and that is 12 square
inches or more in size shall include a disclosure area on the largest
page of the mass mailing or print advertisement that satisfies all
of the following:

(1) The disclosure area shall have a solid white background so
as to be easily legible, and shall be in a printed or drawn box on
the bottom of the page that is set apart from any other printed
matter. All text in the disclosure area shall be black in color.

(2) The text “Top Funders of This Ad” shall be located at the
top of the disclosure area and centered horizontally in the disclosure
area. The text shall be in an Arial equivalent font with a font size
of at least 12-point for advertisements smaller than 93 square inches
and at least 14-point for advertisements that are equal to, or larger
than, 93 square inches.

(3) Immediately below the text described in paragraph (2) shall
be the names of the identifiable contributors who have made the
three largest cumulative contributions. The identifiable contributors
shall each be disclosed on a separate horizontal line, in descending
order, beginning with the identifiable contributor who made the
largest cumulative contributions on the first line. The name of each
of the identifiable contributors shall be centered horizontally in
the disclosure area. The text shall identify each identifiable
contributor in an Arial Narrow equivalent font with a font size of
at least 10-point for advertisements smaller than 93 square inches
and at least 12-point for advertisements that are equal to, or larger
than, 93 square inches.

(A) If the advertisement is 4 inches tall or less, it need only
show the names of the identifiable contributors who have made
the two largest cumulative contributions.

(B) If the advertisement is 3 inches tall or less, it need only
show the name of the identifiable contributor who made the largest
cumulative contribution, and the text required by paragraph (2)
may say “Top Funder of This Ad.”

(4) Immediately below the text described in paragraph (3), the
text “Funding Details At [insert Internet Web site address of the
disclosure Internet Web site].” The text shall be in an Arial Narrow
equivalent font with at least 10-point font size for advertisements
smaller than 93 square inches and at least 12-point font size for
advertisements that are equal to, or larger than, 93 square inches.
This text shall not be required if the advertisement is 5 inches tall
or less.

(5) The text “Paid for by [name of the committee that paid for
the advertisement].” The text shall be located at the bottom of the
disclosure area and shall be in an Arial Narrow equivalent font
with at least 8-point font size for pages smaller than 8.5 inches
and at least 10-point font size for pages that are equal to, or larger
than, 8.5 inches by 11 inches.

(6) If there are fewer than three identifiable contributors, the
disclosure shall be adjusted accordingly to disclose the qualifying
identifiable contributors, if any. If the committee does not have
any identifiable contributors, the disclosure shall be adjusted to
include the name of the committee in place of the names of
identifiable contributors.

(b) The disclosures described in subdivision (a) shall not be
required if the committee paying for the political advertisement
does not have cumulative contributions that meet or exceed the
disclosure threshold.

SEC. 12.  

Section 84506.3 is added to the Government Code,
to read:

84506.3.  

A committee that has paid for political advertisements
and that has received cumulative contributions that meet or exceed
the disclosure threshold shall establish and maintain a disclosure
Internet Web site. If the committee has an Internet Web site, that
Internet Web site may also serve as the disclosure Internet Web
site. The homepage of the disclosure Internet Web site and any
landing pages that visitors are directed to on the disclosure Internet
Web site and any other Internet Web sites maintained by the
committee shall include a disclosure area that satisfies all of the
following:

(a) The disclosure area shall be at least 250 pixels wide and
visible upon landing on the Internet Web site’s homepage. The
disclosure area shall have a white background and a border that is
dark in color.

(b) The disclosure area shall include the text “Top Funders of
This Committee” located at the top of the disclosure area and
centered horizontally in the disclosure area. The text shall be black
in color in an Arial equivalent font and shall be at least 10-point
font size.

(c) Immediately below the text described in subdivision (b), the
disclosure area shall include a list of the identifiable contributors
who have made the 10 largest cumulative contributions to the
committee. Each identifiable contributor shall be disclosed on a
separate horizontal line, in descending order, beginning with the
identifiable contributor who made the largest cumulative
contributions on the first line. The text shall be black in color in
an Arial Narrow equivalent font and shall be at least 9-point font
size.

(d) (1) The disclosure area shall include a hyperlink to another
page on the disclosure Internet Web site that lists all of the
committee’s identifiable contributors. The hyperlink shall be
labeled “More funding info” and shall be a standard hyperlink
centered at the bottom of the disclosure area that is displayed as
blue underlined text in Arial-equivalent font in at least 9-point font
size.

(2) The hyperlinked page on the disclosure Internet Web site
shall have a title that reads “Large Funders of this Committee.”
The linked page shall disclose each identifiable contributor of the
committee on a separate horizontal line, in descending order,
beginning with the identifiable contributor that had the largest
cumulative contribution on the first line. Each line shall show the
name of the identifiable contributor and the amount of its
cumulative contributions, current within three business days. These
disclosures shall be clear and shall be the only content on the page
other than the disclosure Internet Web site’s standard navigation
features.

(e) If there are fewer than 10 identifiable contributors, the
disclosure area shall be adjusted accordingly to disclose the
qualifying identifiable contributors, if any. If the committee does
not have any identifiable contributors, the disclosure area shall be
adjusted to include the name of the committee in place of the names
of identifiable contributors.

(f) Every page of an Internet Web site maintained by a
committee that has paid for political advertisements and that has
cumulative contributions that meet or exceed the disclosure
threshold shall include the statement “Paid for by [name of the
committee that paid for the advertisement]” and any other
identifying information specified by the Commission. The text
shall have a solid white background so as to be easily legible, and
shall be in a printed or drawn box on the bottom of the page that
is set apart from any other printed matter. The text shall be black
in color in an Arial Narrow equivalent font and shall be at least
8-point font size.

SEC. 13.  

Section 84506.4 is added to the Government Code,
to read:

84506.4.  

The Commission shall promulgate regulations to
require disclosures on all forms of political advertisements not
covered by this article, including, but not limited to, electronic
media advertisements and billboards. If feasible, the regulations
shall require the listing of the name of the committee and as many
of the three identifiable contributors that made the largest
cumulative contributions as possible in a conspicuous manner.
This disclosure area shall occupy no more than 10 percent of the
advertisement. If the advertisement medium allows, the disclosure
area shall contain a hyperlink to the disclosure Internet Web site.

SEC. 14.  

Section 84506.5 of the Government Code is repealed.

SEC. 14.5.  

Section 84506.5 is added to the Government Code,
to read:

84506.5.  

The Commission shall promulgate regulations to
require disclosure of the name of the committee, if feasible, on all
advertisements that are paid for by a candidate-controlled
committee and that are advertisements relating to the candidate’s
own election and not for any other campaign.

SEC. 15.  

Section 84507 of the Government Code is repealed.

SEC. 16.  

Section 84507 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

84507.  

For purposes of a disclosure required by this article,
the following shall also apply in the event that an identifiable
contributor is a person who is an individual:

(a) If the committee receiving the cumulative contributions is
supporting or opposing a candidate, the disclosure shall include
the occupation and employer of the identifiable contributor in
addition to the contributor’s name. If the identifiable contributor
is not employed, no occupation or employer shall be listed.

(b) If the committee receiving the cumulative contributions is
supporting or opposing a ballot measure, and the passage or defeat
of the ballot measure directly benefits the employer of the
identifiable contributor, the disclosure shall include the occupation
and employer of the identifiable contributor in addition to the
contributor’s name.

(c) If the employer of an identifiable contributor is also an
identifiable contributor of that committee, the cumulative
contributions of its employees shall be deemed to be cumulative
contributions by the employer for purposes of determining which
identifiable contributors shall be disclosed on an advertisement
pursuant to this article. This subdivision does not apply to an
employee whose cumulative contributions amount to more than
75 percent of the cumulative contributions of the employer.

SEC. 17.  

Section 84508 of the Government Code is repealed.

SEC. 18.  

Section 84508 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

84508.  

(a) The disclosure of the name of an identifiable
contributor required by this article need not include such legal
terms as “incorporated,” “committee,” “political action committee,”
or “corporation,” or their abbreviations, unless the term is part of
the contributor’s name in common usage or parlance. This section
does not prevent a contributor from being disclosed by a name
used in common usage or parlance, including, but not limited to,
an abbreviation or acronym.

(b) If this article requires the disclosure of the name of an
identifiable contributor that is a sponsored committee, begin insert only end insert the
name of the committee’s sponsoring organization shall be
disclosed.

(c) For a disclosure made pursuant to Sections 84506 to 84506.3,
inclusive, the committee name listed need not include its economic
or other special interests, nor the names of any major donors.

SEC. 19.  

Section 84509 of the Government Code is repealed.

SEC. 20.  

Section 84509 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

84509.  

If the order of the identifiable contributors required to
be displayed in an advertisement pursuant to this article changes,
the disclosure in the advertisement shall be updated as follows:

(a) A television, radio, or other electronic media political
advertisement shall be updated to reflect the new ordering of
identifiable contributors within seven business days, or five
business days if the change in the order of identifiable contributors
occurs within 30 days of an election.

(b) A print media advertisement, including nonelectronic
billboards, shall be updated to reflect the new ordering of
identifiable contributors prior to placing a new or modified order
for additional printing of the advertisement.

SEC. 21.  

Section 85310 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

85310.  

(a) A person who makes a payment or a promise of
payment totaling ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more for a
communication that clearly identifies a candidate for elective
office, but does not expressly advocate the election or defeat of
the candidate, and that is disseminated, broadcast, or otherwise
published during the period beginning 120 days before the primary
or special election and ending on the date of the general or runoff
election, shall file online or electronically with the Secretary of
State a report disclosing the name of the person, address,
occupation, and employer, and amount of the payment. The report
shall be filed within 48 hours of making the payment or the promise
to make the payment.

(b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), if a person has
received a payment or a promise of a payment from other persons
totaling five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more for the purpose of
making a communication described in subdivision (a), the person
receiving the payments shall disclose on the report the name,
address, occupation and employer, and date and amount received
from the person.

(2) A person who receives or is promised a payment that is
otherwise reportable under paragraph (1) is not required to report
the payment if the person is in the business of providing goods or
services and receives or is promised the payment for the purpose
of providing those goods or services.

(c) A payment received by a person who makes a
communication described in subdivision (a) is subject to the limits
specified in subdivision (b) of Section 85303 if the communication
is made at the behest of the clearly identified candidate.

SEC. 22.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.

SEC. 23.  

The Legislature finds and declares that this bill
furthers the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974 within
the meaning of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the Government
Code.