BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 700 (Gomez) - Political Reform Act of 1974: campaign
disclosures
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|Version: June 30, 2016 |Policy Vote: E. & C.A. 4 - 1 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Robert Ingenito |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 700 would change the content and format of
disclosure statements required on specified campaign
advertisements.
Fiscal
Impact: The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) indicates
that it would incur annual costs of $350,000 (General Fund) to
implement the provisions of the bill.
Background: Under the Political Reform Act (PRA), committees must put "paid
for by" disclaimers on campaign advertising, including campaign
mailers, radio and television ads, telephone robocalls, and
electronic media ads. FPPC instructional literature indicates
the following disclaimer requirements for committees that
AB 700 (Gomez) Page 1 of
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purchase advertisements or circulate material supporting or
opposing a state or local candidate or ballot measure in
California:
Mass mailings, including blast campaign emails, must
include identification of the sender.
Paid telephone calls must identify the candidate or
committee who paid for or authorized the call.
Radio and television ads must include a "paid for by"
disclaimer under Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
law.
Ballot measure ads and independent expenditure ads must
include "paid for by committee name" and such ads by
primarily formed committees must also list top two donors
of $50,000 or more. This applies to television, radio, and
electronic media advertisements, robocalls, mass mailings,
and print ads such as newspaper ads, billboards and yard
signs.
Proposed Law:
This bill would, among other things, do the following:
Provide that if a contributor appears to qualify as a
top contributor, as defined, but received earmarked funds
(as specified) to make the contribution, the person or
committee that earmarked the funds shall be disclosed as
the top contributor instead. Requires a person or
committee that is transferring earmarked funds, as
specified, to disclose the true source of the funds at the
time of the transfer.
Impose the following requirements on the disclosure
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statements required by this bill:
o In the case of an advertisement disseminated
by radio or telephone, the statement must be at the
beginning or end of the advertisement, read in a
clearly spoken manner and in a pitch and tone
substantially similar to the rest of the
advertisement, and last no less than three seconds.
Provides that radio and prerecorded telephonic
advertisements are only required to disclose the
single top contributor of $50,000 or more.
o In the case of a television or video
advertisement, the statement must comply with the
following:
§ Appear at the beginning or end of
the advertisement for a minimum of five seconds
in the case of an advertisement lasting 30
seconds or less, or for a minimum of 10 seconds
in the case of an advertisement lasting longer
than 30 seconds;
§ Appear on a solid black background
on the entire bottom one-third of the screen;
and,
§ Include a link to the FPPC's
Internet Web site containing a list of the top
donors to the committee paying for the
advertisement, in the case of advertisements that
are paid for by committees that are required to
file a list of their top 10 contributors with the
FPPC pursuant to existing law.
o In the case of a print advertisement, the
statement must appear in a printed or drawn box with a
solid white background on the bottom of at least one
AB 700 (Gomez) Page 3 of
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page, and must include a link to the FPPC's Internet
Web site containing a list of the top donors to the
committee paying for the advertisement, when
applicable per existing law. Newspaper, magazine, or
other public print advertisements that are 20 square
inches or less are only required to disclose the
single top contributor of $50,000 or more.
o In the case of an electronic media
advertisement, the statement must comply with the
following:
§ Be visible for a period of at least
four seconds in a type size and font that is
clear and conspicuous and contrasts with the
background so as to be easily readable by the
average person, unless impractical or would
severely interfere with the committee's ability
to convey the intended message because of the
nature of the technology used to make the
communication. The FPPC may prescribe by
regulation minimal disclaimer requirements if
inclusion of the full disclaimer is deemed
impractical.
§ Include a hyperlink to an Internet
Web site containing the text of the disclosure
statement. The Internet Web site is required to
remain online for at least 30 days after the
election where the candidate or ballot measure
was voted upon.
§ If made by a form of electronic
media that is audio only, comply with the
requirements for radio advertisements.
§ If made by a form of electronic
media that allows users to engage in discourse
and post content, or any other social media, the
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statement is only required to be included on the
home page, landing page, or similar location.
§ The statement is not required on
advertisements made via social media where the
only expense or cost of the communication is
compensated staff time unless the social media
account where the content is posted was created
only for the purpose of advertisements governed
by the PRA.
Specify requirements for the font type, size, color, and
placement of the text of disclosure statements required by
this bill.
Provide that the disclosure of a top contributor under
this bill does not need to include legal terms such as
"incorporated," "committee," "political action committee,"
or "corporation" or their abbreviations, unless the term is
part of the contributor's name in common usage.
Require disclosure statements to be updated to reflect
any changes in the order of top contributors, as specified.
Repeal existing, conflicting requirements governing
disclaimers and disclosure statements that must appear on
specified campaign advertisements.
Provide that candidate and committee mass mailing sender
identification requirements also apply to candidate
controlled committees and political party committees.
Provides for these requirements that the "sender" is the
candidate or committee who pays for the largest portion of
expenditures attributable to the designing, printing, and
posting of the mailing which are reportable under existing
law.
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Provide that the existing campaign telephone call
disclosure requirements also apply to candidate controlled
committees and political party committees.
Provide that a person shall not make any contribution to
any committee or candidate that is earmarked, as specified,
for a contribution to any other committee or candidate that
is earmarked for a contribution to any other committee or
candidate unless the contribution is fully disclosed
pursuant to section 84302.
Related
Legislation: SB 52 (Leno, 2013) similarly proposed to change the
content and format of disclosure statements on specified
campaign advertisements to make those statements more prominent,
among other provisions. The bill died on the Assembly's
Inactive file.
Staff
Comments: As noted above, FPPC would incur General Fund costs of
$350,000 for three positions to promulgate regulations, update
educational materials, process increased requests for advice,
provide additional enforcement, and for potential litigation
over the bill's provisions or the resulting regulations.
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