Elections: disclosure of contributors.

Existing law requires political advertisements to include specified disclosure statements that identify the name of the campaign committee paying for the advertisement and the top contributors, as defined, to that committee. Existing law requires a campaign committee that pays for the circulation of a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition to disclose its top contributors, as prescribed. Existing law establishes other requirements regarding the form, content, and presentation of initiative, referendum, and recall petitions. This bill would require an initiative, referendum, or recall petition to instruct voters to sign the petition only after viewing certain disclosures regarding the top contributors to the initiative, referendum, or recall, as specified. This bill would make additional changes to requirements regarding the form, content, and presentation of initiative, referendum, and recall petitions. This bill would revise the minimum contribution thresholds above which a contributor to a committee may be considered a top contributor, and would require certain political advertisements to identify the top contributors to the campaign committee paying for the advertisement without regard to any minimum contribution threshold. This bill would make additional changes to the disclosure requirements for political advertisements, including changes to the required form, content, and presentation of the disclosures depending on the medium in which the advertisement appears. Because political advertisements are regulated under the Political Reform Act of 1974, and 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. 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.