Political Reform Act of 1974: disclosures.

(1) The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing and activities by the Fair Political Practices Commission. The act prohibits a candidate or committee from sending a mass mailing unless the name, street address, and city of the candidate or committee are shown on the outside of each piece of mail in the mass mailing, as specified. Candidates and committees are also prohibited from sending mass electronic mailings unless the name of the candidate or committee is shown in the electronic mailing, as specified. Mailings that are paid for by independent expenditures are exempt from these requirements. This bill would exempt from the definition of "mass electronic mailing" communications that were solicited by recipients. (2) The act requires advertisements, as defined, to include prescribed disclosure statements. The act exempts from the definition of "advertisement" an electronic media communication addressed to recipients, such as email or text messages, from an organization to persons who have opted in or asked to receive messages from that organization. This bill would make that exemption not applicable to a customer who has opted in to receive communications from a provider of goods or services, unless the customer has provided express approval to receive political messages from that provider of goods or services. The bill would make other changes to the disclosure requirements for advertisements, including changes clarifying the applicability of certain disclosures, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 84502 of the Government Code proposed by AB 201 to be operative only if this bill and AB 201 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (3) Because a violation of the act is punishable as a misdemeanor, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. 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. (4) 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 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.