BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1322|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1322
Author: Huffman (D)
Amended: 8/17/09 in Senate
Vote: 27
SENATE ELEC., REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COMMITTEE : 3-2, 7/7/09
AYES: Hancock, DeSaulnier, Liu
NOES: Walters, Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/11/09 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Political Reform Act of 1974: campaign
disclosures
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill amends the Political Reform Act to
require, when an advertisement supporting or opposing a
candidate and paid for by an independent expenditure is
required to contain a statement that the independent
expenditure was not authorized by a candidate or committee
controlled by a candidate, that the statement identify the
name of the independent expenditure committee that
purchased the advertisement. For a mass mailing
advertisement other than a radio broadcast, be in a
specified format. This bill additionally requires that the
disclosure statement identify an Internet website address
CONTINUED
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where the committee's donors are listed. Committees that
are required to list the Secretary of State's Internet
website address on their disclosure statements, and a
committee that is not required to register electronically
is required to include a Uniform Resource Locator for an
Internet website 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 authorizes 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 also to include a
statement describing the types of campaign contributions,
applicable contributions limits, and the role of
independent expenditures.
ANALYSIS : Existing law 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.
Comments
According to the author's office, "This bill expands upon
existing disclosure requirements to better inform voters
through the disclosure statements on campaign
communications about who is funding the campaign
advertisement. It is needed in light of the growing use of
independent expenditures and the common, though erroneous,
belief that independent expenditures are approved by the
candidate. It is particularly troublesome when independent
expenditures promote a candidate by ascribing to that
candidate views actually at variance with his/her beliefs;
or create the false impression that negative ads were
approved by a particular candidate. Full disclosure allows
voters to make informed decisions before casting their
ballots."
According to the Center for Governmental Studies,
California voters rely heavily, if not exclusively, on paid
campaign advertisements for ballot information. These paid
ads, crafted to influence voter opinion, are often
misleading or deceptive. Voters are not always aware of
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who supports or opposes a campaign message. By mandating
prominent disclosure with clearer messages for campaign
ads, voters can be better informed about the interest
behind the advertisement.
According the June 2008 Fair Political Practice Commission
report on Independent Expenditures, there is a growing
trend toward concealing the identity of contributors to
independent expenditures (IE) committees from the public.
IE committees make it easier to hide the true source of
contributions. For the average voter, it involves far too
much detective work to figure out who is really behind a
particular IE committee or effort.
Prior legislation
AB 404 (Ruskin)/Chapter 495 of 2007 , requires an
advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate that is
paid for by an independent expenditure to include a
statement that the expenditure was not authorized by a
candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/09)
Fair Political Practice Commission
League of Women Voters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
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Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Duvall, Yamada
DLW:do 8/19/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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