BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 7|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 7
Author: Krekorian (D)
Amended: 8/17/09 in Senate
Vote: 27
SENATE ELECTIONS, REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COMM : 3-2, 7/7/09
AYES: Hancock, DeSaulnier, Liu
NOES: Walters, Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 61-15, 06/02/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Political Reform Act of 1974
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires, with specified exceptions, a
broadcast or mass mailing advertisement supporting or
opposing a candidate or ballot measure that is paid for by
an independent expenditure to include a statement or phrase
that clearly identifies the economic or other special
interest of the major donors of $50,000 or more, listing
the economic or other special interest in descending order
based on the amount of contributions made by the respective
donor to the committee, except for a general interest
committee. This bill also requires a committee that files
electronically with the Secretary of State to list the
Secretary of State's Internet Web site in its disclosure
statement. A committee not required to file electronically
CONTINUED
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would be required to disclose the Uniform Resource Locator
for its Internet Web site and to list the committee's
principal officer and specified information regarding each
donor to the committee who contributed at least $100.
(This would not apply to radio advertisements.)
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Requires a committee that supports or opposes one or more
ballot measures to name itself using a name or phrase
that identifies the economic or other special interest of
its major donors of $50,000 or more. Provides that if the
major donors of $50,000 or more share a common employer,
the identity of the employer must also be disclosed.
2.Requires a broadcast or mass mailing advertisement
supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot measure that
is paid for by an IE to include a disclosure statement
identifying the name of the committee making the
expenditure and the names of the persons from whom the
committee making the IE received its two highest
cumulative contributions of $50,000 or more during the
12-month period prior to the expenditure.
Comments
Existing law generally requires IEs and ads supporting or
opposing ballot measures to include a disclosure statement
identifying the top two donors of $50,000 or more to the
committee paying for the ad. Additionally, existing law
requires any committee that supports or opposes one or more
ballot measures to name itself using a name or phrase that
clearly identifies the economic or other special interest
of its major donors of $50,000 or more. Since the name of
the committee paying for an advertisement is required to be
included in the advertisement, any ad in support of or in
opposition to a ballot measure will include an
identification of the economic or other special interest of
the major donors to the committee funding the ad.
This bill places a similar requirement on ads that are paid
for by IEs. However, rather than requiring the committee
name to include the economic or other special interest of
the major donors of $50,000 or more to the committee, this
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bill instead requires that the economic or other special
interest of the donors of $50,000 or more to the committee
funding the ad be included in the ad. Additionally, to
ensure that IEs contain a full disclosure of the interests
that are funding an ad, this bill provides that if one of
the major donors of $50,000 or more to the committee
funding the ad is another committee, the ad must also
include the economic or special interest of the major
donors to the committee that made the donation.
Related Legislation
AB 1322 (Huffman), pending on the Assembly floor, specifies
the text and format in which a disclosure must appear when
such disclosures are required on certain IEs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/09)
California Common Cause
New America Foundation
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"Given the volume of cash contributed to ballot measure
committees and IE committees with the goal of influencing
California's political process, AB 7 has a simple premise:
the voters, and those affected by the political influence
of such committees, have a right to know who is trying to
move their votes. AB 7 approaches this problem by
expanding the disclosures required on broadcasts and
mailers by ? independent expenditure campaigns."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero,
Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng,
Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gilmore,
Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Monning, Nava, Niello, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
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Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Duvall, Fletcher, Fuller,
Gaines, Hagman, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nielsen, Silva,
Smyth, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block, Garrick, Harkey, Nestande
DLW:nl 8/19/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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