BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS Senator Norma J. Torres, Chair BILL NO: SB 1104 HEARING DATE: 4/22/14 AUTHOR: PADILLA ANALYSIS BY: Darren Chesin AMENDED: AS INTRODUCED FISCAL: YES SUBJECT Political Reform Act: campaign communication disclosure DESCRIPTION Existing law , pursuant to the Political Reform Act (PRA), regulates certain campaign communications, including mass mailings, slate mailers, print advertisements, and broadcast advertisements, by requiring those items to include specified information and disclosures. Existing law , for purposes of the PRA, defines "advertisement" as any general or public advertisement which is 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. "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 Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). Existing law , for purposes of the PRA, defines "mass mailing" as over two hundred substantially similar pieces of mail. "Slate mailer" means a mass mailing which supports or opposes a total of four or more candidates or ballot measures. This bill would require candidates for elective state office, slate mailer organizations, and committees that authorize expenditures for campaign communications, as defined, to file an electronic copy of their campaign communications with the Secretary of State (SOS) as follows: A campaign communication that is distributed during the period from 90 days prior to the election at which the candidate or measure that is the subject of the campaign communication will appear on the ballot to the day of the election, inclusive, must be filed not later than 24 hours after the first distribution of the campaign communication. A campaign communication that is distributed at any time must be filed not later than five business days after the first distribution of the campaign communication. This bill would require the SOS to maintain an archive of the filed campaign communications and to make the campaign communications available for public inspection. This bill would provide, for purposes of its requirements, that the following terms have the following meanings: "Campaign communication" means an advertisement, that advocates support for or opposition to a candidate for elective state office or a statewide ballot measure; a mass mailing that advocates support for or opposition to a candidate for elective state office or a statewide ballot measure; or a slate mailer. "Elective state office" means the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Insurance Commissioner, Controller, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Member of the Legislature, and member of the State Board of Equalization. BACKGROUND Blast from the Past . The PRA, as originally enacted via Proposition 9 of 1974, required that "?a copy of every mass mailing in support of or in opposition to a state candidate or state measure shall be sent to the commission (FPPC). Such copies sent to the commission shall be public records." According to Robert Stern, one of the architects of Proposition 9 and former General Counsel to the FPPC, this provision was inserted in the PRA because "it was hoped that it would reduce negative mailings since a copy would be on file with the FPPC." The FPPC sponsored the repeal of this requirement in the late 1970s because, according to Stern, "very few people were coming to the office to look at the mailings and the boxes were piling SB 1104 (PADILLA) Page 2 high in our storage room." Local Jurisdictions and Other States . Marin County along with the cities of Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Palmdale, San Jose, and Berkeley require disclosure of campaign communications during their municipal elections. Other states that have a similar requirement include New York, New Jersey, Montana and Oklahoma. COMMENTS 1.According to the Author : The Secretary of State serves as a general repository of historical state documents. The initial PRA required candidates to submit "a copy of every mass mailing in support of or in opposition to a state candidate or state measure?Such copies sent to the commission shall be public records." (Gov. § 84305). Since then, technology has advanced to facilitate electronic communications between the public and those running for office. Reinstating this requirement will serve to inform and engage voters, thus helping to restore public trust in elected officials. Electronic disclosure of communications is consistent with the increasing acceptance of digital filings for public disclosure reports. The public is served in that any interested individual will be able to access these documents on the Secretary of State's website. Providing the public with swift and easy access to candidate filings would promote the goal of an informed electorate. It would also serve another important public policy purpose by allowing candidates and others subject to disclosure to monitor online their own submissions to the Secretary of State to confirm compliance with the law. SB 1104 would uphold the intent of the PRA by engaging and informing the electorate in the democratic political process. This very same requirement was a part of the original PRA because our predecessors valued the importance of transparency and disclosure to the constituents of the state. While this requirement was repealed from the PRA due to a lack of accessibility, the progress of technology no longer makes this an issue. Digital materials are acceptable in the public disclosure of financial contributions and should welcome the SB 1104 (PADILLA) Page 3 inclusion of political campaign communications. 2.Short on Details . This bill requires candidates for elective state office, slate mailer organizations, and committees that authorize expenditures for campaign communications to file an electronic copy of their campaign communications with the SOS within specified time periods and requires the SOS to maintain an archive of these campaign communications available for public inspection. This bill does not however specify the manner in which these communications must be electronically filed (i.e., via the SOS website, via email, etc.) nor does it specify the manner in which these archived communications shall be made available for public inspection. The manner in which these communications are filed will have a significant effect on the costs and relative difficulty associated with compliance. The manner in which they are made available for public inspection will similarly have a significant impact on costs borne by the state. Absent further statutory guidance, clarification of these details would arguably fall on the SOS to address via the regulatory process. Is this the author's intent? POSITIONS Sponsor: Author Support: None received Oppose: None received SB 1104 (PADILLA) Page 4