BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 990
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
990 (Bonilla)
As Amended August 20, 2015
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 14, 2015) |SENATE: |32-8 |(September 2, |
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(vote not relevant)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: | 4-1 | (September 9, |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
|(E. & R.) | |2015) | | |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
AB 990
Page 2
SUMMARY: Increases the size and prominence of disclosure
statements that are required to appear on certain campaign
advertisements.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Require an advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate
that is paid for by an independent expenditure (IE) to comply
with the following:
a) That the following specific phrasing be used for the
disclosure statement that is required to appear on the
advertisement pursuant to existing law:
"This advertisement was not authorized or paid for by a
candidate for this office or a committee controlled by a
candidate for this office."
b) If the advertisement is mailed, that the statement
comply with all of the following:
i) Be located within one-quarter of an inch of the
recipient's name and address as printed on the
advertisement;
ii) Be contained in a box that has an outline with a
line weight of at least 3.25 points, and the outline is
in a contrasting color to the background color of the
advertisement and of the background color of the box;
iii) The background color of the box contrasts with the
background color of the advertisement; and,
AB 990
Page 3
iv) The text of the statement is in a contrasting color
to the background color of the box.
2)Increase the minimum size of disclosure statements that are
required to be printed on specified campaign advertisements
from 10-point to 14-point, and require the statements to be
printed in bold, sans serif type font.
3)Make corresponding changes.
4)Add an urgency clause, allowing this bill to take effect
immediately upon enactment.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "The Political Reform Act
requires all campaign mailers [that are paid for by independent
expenditures] to include a disclosure statement that it was not
authorized by the candidate? When voters do not notice the
disclosure statement, it becomes unclear which advertisements
are from the candidate and which ones are from independent
expenditures. It is vitally important that voters easily
identify which advertisements come from the candidates
themselves?. AB 990 fixes this problem by making it simple for
voters to notice and read the disclosure statement."
Existing law requires specified campaign advertisements to
contain certain disclosure statements. Those disclosure
statements, when required on a non-electronic printed
advertisement, generally must be printed in at least 10-point
type (disclosure statements on advertisements on over size print
media, such as yard signs and billboards, generally must appear
in larger type). For other types of advertisements, including
video, audio, and electronic text or graphic advertising, the
AB 990
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disclosure statement must be presented in a "clear and
conspicuous manner," as specified pursuant to regulations
adopted by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
This bill increases the minimum size of the disclosure
statements, when those statements appear on a non-electronic
printed advertisement, from a minimum of 10-point type to a
minimum of 14-point type. Additionally, this bill requires such
disclosure statements to be printed in bold, sans serif type
font. Although the author's statement above focuses on IEs,
these requirements also apply to disclosure statements on
advertisements that are not paid for by IEs.
Additionally, for the purposes of the existing requirement that
an advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate that is paid
for by an IE include a statement that the advertisement was not
authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a
candidate, this bill requires the following exact language to be
used for the disclosure statement: "This advertisement was not
authorized or paid for by a candidate for this office or a
committee controlled by a candidate for this office." For those
IEs, if delivered through the mail, the disclosure statement
would also be required to be located within one-quarter of an
inch of the recipient's name and address and be contained in a
box that has an outline with a line weight of at least 3.25
points.
California voters passed an initiative, Proposition 9, in 1974
that created the FPPC and codified significant restrictions and
prohibitions on candidates, officeholders and lobbyists. That
initiative is commonly known as the Political Reform Act (PRA).
Amendments to the PRA that are not submitted to the voters, such
as those contained in this bill, must further the purposes of
the initiative and require a two-thirds vote of both houses of
the Legislature.
This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the
Assembly-approved provisions of this bill were deleted. As a
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result, this bill was re-referred to the Assembly Elections and
Redistricting Committee pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2, and the
committee subsequently recommended that the Assembly concur in
the Senate amendments to this bill.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN:
0002321