BILL NUMBER: AB 1322 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Huffman
( Principal coauthor: Senator
Ashburn )
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to add Section 9084.1 to the Elections Code, and
to amend Section 84506.5 of the Government Code, relating
84207 to the Government Code, relating to the Political
Reform Act of 1974 , and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1322, as amended, Huffman. Political Reform Act of 1974:
campaign contributions: disclosures.
Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974 (the PRA), requires
that an advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate that is
paid for by an independent expenditure committee contain a statement
that the advertisement was not authorized by the candidate. Under
existing law, a knowing or willful violation of the PRA is a
misdemeanor.
This bill would require that the advertisement identify the name
of the independent expenditure committee that purchased it and would,
for specified advertisements, additionally require that the
disclosure statement identify an Internet Web site address where the
committee's donors are listed. Committees that are required to file
electronically with the Secretary of State would be required to list
the Secretary of State's Internet Web site address on their
disclosure statements, and a committee that is not required to
register electronically would be required to include a Uniform
Resource Locator for an Internet Web site address that identifies the
committee's principal officer and lists the information on donors
who have contributed $100 or more to the committee, as specified. The
bill would authorize the Secretary of State to include information
on how voters can determine who is funding campaigns and
campaign-related communications on the ballot pamphlet, as long as it
can be included without increasing the number of pages and to
include a statement describing the types of campaign contributions,
applicable contribution limits, and the role of independent
expenditures.
Because the bill by adding requirements to the PRA, the violation
of which is a crime, would expand the definition of a crime, it would
impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, requires reporting
of contributions made to a candidate for elective state office.
Certain contributions are required to be reported to the Secretary of
State within 24 hours.
This bill would require the Governor or a Member of the
Legislature during a specified state budget time period or a
specified period before or after the end of the first year or 2nd
year of a legislative session to file online a report disclosing a
separate contribution exceeding $1,000 within 24 hours of the time
the contribution is received. The bill would require the Fair
Political Practices Commission to issue a reporting calendar by
January 15 of each year which delineates the new reporting periods.
Existing law makes a violation of the act subject to
administrative, civil, and criminal penalties.
By subjecting persons who violate these provisions to criminal
penalties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides
that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes
upon a 2/3 vote of each house and compliance with specified
procedural requirements.
This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 84207 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
84207. (a) Beginning January 1, 2011, in addition to any other
report required by this title, the Governor and any Member of the
Legislature who receives a contribution or contributions from a
person as specified in subdivision (b) shall file online or
electronically with the Secretary of State a report disclosing
receipt of each separate contribution of more than one thousand
dollars ($1,000). The report shall disclose the same information
required by subdivision (a) of Section 84203 and shall be filed
within 24 hours of receipt of the contribution.
(b) Subdivision (a) applies to contributions made as follows:
(1) A contribution made to the Governor or a Member of the
Legislature during the time period between the date in May that the
Director of Finance, pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 13308, or
a successor statute, provides to the Legislature a revised estimate
of the General Fund revenues for the current fiscal year and the
ensuing fiscal year, any proposals to reduce expenditures based on
that estimate, and any proposed adjustments to the Governor's Budget,
and the date of the enactment of the Budget Bill for the fiscal year
commencing the following July 1.
(2) A contribution made to the Governor or a Member of the
Legislature during the 15-day period before the date scheduled for
the Legislature to adjourn in joint recess to reconvene in the second
calendar year of the biennium of the legislative session or during
the 15-day period before September 1 of the second calendar year of
the biennium of the legislative session.
(3) A contribution made to the Governor during the 30-day period
following the date the Legislature adjourns in joint recess to
reconvene in the second calendar year of the biennium of the
legislative session or during the 30-day period following September 1
of the second calendar year of the biennium of the legislative
session.
(c) The commission shall issue a reporting calendar no later than
January 15 of each year which delineates the reporting periods
required by this section.
(d) A contribution that is required to be reported within 24 hours
of the receiving of that contribution pursuant to any other
provision of law, is not required to be reported again pursuant to
this section.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that
this bill furthers the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974
within the meaning of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the
Government Code.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order for state agencies to meet critical deadlines established
by this legislation, it is necessary that this act take effect
immediately.
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares
all of the following:
(a) An independent expenditure is a political activity intended to
assist or oppose a specific candidate for office which is made
without his or her cooperation, approval, or direct knowledge; most
commonly, independent expenditures take the form of advertising.
(b) The amount of money expended on independent expenditures
communications supporting and opposing candidates for elective office
has increased exponentially over the past decade.
(c) In making decisions on which candidates to vote for or against
in an election, the voters rely substantially on information such as
who is supporting or opposing these candidates.
(d) It is vitally important to the integrity of the electoral
process that the voters are informed about the identity of the
persons and interests who operate committees making independent
expenditures.
SEC. 2. Section 9084.1 is added to the
Elections Code, to read:
9084.1. The Secretary of State may include information in the
ballot pamphlet advising voters how to identify who is funding
campaigns and campaign-related communications if doing so will not
increase the number of pages in the ballot pamphlet. The Secretary of
State may include a statement describing the types of campaign
contributions, applicable contribution limits, and the role of
independent expenditures.
SEC. 3. Section 84506.5 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
84506.5. (a) An advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate
that is paid for by an independent expenditure must include a
statement that it was not authorized by a candidate or a committee
controlled by a candidate and identify the name of the committee that
purchased the advertisement. For a mass mailing advertisement or a
broadcast advertisement, other than a radio broadcast, the statement
shall be in substantially the following form:
"NOTICE OF INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE: This communication is neither
approved nor authorized by any candidate or candidate-controlled
committee. It is paid for by COMMITTEE NAME, a committee making
independent expenditures. The donors to this committee are listed at
www.____."
(b) For a committee filing electronically with the Secretary of
State, the disclosure statement described in subdivision (a) shall
list "www.sos.ca.gov" in the Internet Web site blank. For a committee
that is not required to file electronically with the Secretary of
State, the statement shall include in the Internet Web site blank, a
Uniform Resource Locator for an Internet Web site address that lists
the committee's principal officer and the following information about
all of the donors who have contributed a cumulative amount of one
hundred dollars ($100) or more to the committee making the
independent expenditure: name of contributor, payment type, city and
state, contribution amount, transaction date, and filing date. The
Internet Web site shall be updated to reflect filing updates. If the
local agency with which the committee files does not maintain an
Internet Web site with the donor information, the committee shall
create one.
SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that
this bill furthers the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974
within the meaning of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the
Government Code.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.