HB 335: Political Advertising Amendments - Utah

Amended 3/3/2025 14:03:702 → Substitute #1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends Utah's political advertising laws to explicitly include social media platforms in the definition of electioneering communications and political advertisements. It also clarifies definitions for various political entities and establishes enforcement mechanisms with monetary fines for violations. The bill makes technical formatting changes to align with current legislative standards.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of political advertising regulations to explicitly cover social media platforms, ensuring that digital communications are subject to the same disclosure requirements as traditional media.

DEFINITION

Added explicit language specifying that electioneering communications and political advertisements include communications disseminated on social media platforms

Updated formatting and structure of definitions section to align with current legislative standards

ENFORCEMENT

Established monetary fine penalties for violations of political advertising disclosure requirements

TECHNICAL

Made formatting changes to bill text structure and removed outdated markup annotations

Amended Excerpts 3/3/2025 14:03:702 → Amended 3/3/2025 14:03:702 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates Utah's political advertising definitions to explicitly include social media platforms and clarifies what constitutes a contribution and coordinated activity. It also establishes monetary fines for violations of political advertising rules and makes technical corrections to existing election law definitions.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of political advertising regulations to cover social media communications and clarifies the definition of corporations making political expenditures.

DEFINITION

Added explicit definition that electioneering communications and political advertisements include those disseminated on social media platforms

Modified the definition of 'Contribution' to clarify what is and is not included, including specific exclusions for volunteer services and financial institution loans

Modified the definition of 'Corporation' to clarify which business organizations are subject to political expenditure rules

ENFORCEMENT

Authorized election officers to impose monetary fines against persons who violate political advertising provisions

REQUIREMENT

Added new definitions for 'Agent of a reporting entity' and 'County political party officer' to clarify who must comply with reporting requirements

Introduced → Amended Excerpts 3/3/2025 14:03:702 · 6 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends Utah's political advertising laws to clarify definitions and strengthen disclosure requirements. Key changes include expanding the definition of political advertisements to include news stories, commentaries, and editorials on social media and other platforms, clarifying who must disclose funding sources, and establishing specific fine amounts for violations. The amendments also update reporting requirements for electioneering communications and provide exemptions for small campaign items like lawn signs and bumper stickers.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of what constitutes a political advertisement to include news stories, commentaries, and editorials, and clarifies applicability to social media platforms and various media types.

DEFINITION

Expanded the definition of 'Advertisement' to include news stories, commentaries, editorials, and marketing campaigns disseminated on media platforms.

Updated the definition of 'Electioneering communication' to include social media platforms and set the threshold at $10,000 value.

REQUIREMENT

Added specific disclosure requirements for advertisements related to ballot propositions, requiring clear statements about who paid for and authorized the advertisement.

Updated reporting requirements for electioneering communications, requiring reports within 24 hours of payment or contract for non-reporting entities.

ENFORCEMENT

Established monetary fines ($1,000 for statewide/federal/state legislative/school board violations; $500 for local violations) for disclosure and prohibition violations.

EXEMPTIONS

Clarified exemptions for small campaign items like lawn signs (4x8 feet or smaller), bumper stickers, and campaign pins where disclaimers cannot be conveniently printed.

Substitute #1 → Substitute #2 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill substitutes a revised version of HB 335 that amends Utah's political advertising and campaign finance laws. The changes include updating formatting and organization of definitions, clarifying what constitutes an advertisement and electioneering communication to include social media platforms, and maintaining the existing fine structure for violations while ensuring the bill is properly formatted for legislative consideration.

Scope change

No substantive change to the bill's scope or applicability; the changes are primarily formatting and organizational updates to the definitions section.

TECHNICAL

Updated formatting and organization of the bill text, including renumbering sections and adjusting spacing and indentation for clarity.

Removed the Senate Sponsor name field which was left blank in the original version.

Adjusted the effective date from May 7, 2025 to February 12, 2025 (substitute version date) and updated chapter references in the Utah Code Sections Affected section.

DEFINITION

Clarified that advertisements and electioneering communications include those disseminated on social media platforms.

Political Advertising Amendments

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