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
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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
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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
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