Bill Text: CA AB1648 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Political Reform Act of 1974: advertisements: disclosure.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 47-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-08-21 - In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. [AB1648 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB1648-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1648 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 16, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 17, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Brownley
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Fong and Gatto)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Buchanan, Butler, Campos, Carter,
Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Galgiani, Gordon,
Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mitchell, Monning, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino,
Skinner, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, and Yamada)
(Coauthors: Senators Hancock, Leno, Lieu, Pavley, and Yee)
FEBRUARY 13, 2012
An act to amend Sections 84305.5, 84504, and 84505 of, to add
Sections 84506.1, 84506.2, and 84506.3 to, to repeal Sections 84502,
84503, and 84506.5 of, and to repeal and add Sections 84501, 84506,
84507, and 84508 of, the Government Code, relating to the Political
Reform Act of 1974, and declaring the urgency thereof
calling a special election to be consolidated with the
November 4, 2014, statewide general election , to take effect
immediately as an act calling an election .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1648, as amended, Brownley. Political Reform Act of 1974:
advertisements: disclosure.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 regulates mass mailings, known as
slate mailers, that support or oppose multiple candidates or ballot
measures for an election. The act requires that each slate mailer
identify the slate mailer organization or committee primarily formed
to support or oppose one or more ballot measures that is sending the
slate mailer, and to contain other specified information in specified
formatting. The act requires that each candidate and each ballot
measure that has paid to appear in the slate mailer be designated by
an asterisk.
This bill would instead require that a candidate or ballot measure
appearing in the slate mailer be designated by an asterisk if the
slate mailer organization or committee primarily formed to support or
oppose one or more ballot measures that is sending the slate mailer
has received payment to include the candidate or ballot measure in
the slate mailer. The bill would also recast the language of the
prescribed notice to voters that must be included on a slate mailer.
The act also regulates advertisements, which are defined as any
general or public advertisement that is authorized and paid for by a
person or committee for the purpose supporting or opposing a
candidate for elective office or a ballot measure or ballot measures.
The act places certain disclosure requirements on advertisements for
or against any ballot measure, including that the advertisement
disclose any person who has made cumulative contributions of $50,000
or more, as prescribed. The act places more specific disclosure
requirements on broadcast or mass mailing advertisements that are
paid for by independent expenditures that support or oppose a
candidate or ballot measure.
This bill would repeal provisions relating to disclosures for
advertisements paid for by an independent expenditure and required
disclosures of persons who have made cumulative contributions of
$50,000 or more. This bill would, instead, impose specified
disclosure requirements on radio, television, and video
advertisements, and certain mass mailing and print advertisements
that support or oppose a candidate or ballot measure or solicit
contributions in support of those purposes. The bill would require
radio, television, and video advertisements that are authorized by a
candidate or agent of the candidate to include a statement in which
the candidate identifies himself or herself and states that he or she
approves the message, as specified. The bill would require radio,
television, video, and certain mass mailings and print advertisements
that are not authorized by a candidate or an agent of the candidate
to disclose, in a prescribed format, the 3 largest identifiable
contributors, as defined, of the committee that paid for the
advertisement. The bill would require mass mailings or print
advertisements that are paid for by certain persons who are not
committees to disclose the name of that person as the funder of the
mass mailing or print advertisement. The bill would also require that
certain committees establish and maintain a committee disclosure
Internet Web site, as defined, which discloses the top 10
identifiable contributors and provides a link to either the Internet
Web site maintained by the Secretary of State for campaign finance
disclosures of the committee, or a page on the committee disclosure
Internet Web site that discloses all identifiable contributors to
that committee, as specified. The bill would require these
advertisements to identify the address for the committee disclosure
Internet Web site.
Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political
Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal
penalties.
This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating
additional crimes.
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.
The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides
that the act may be amended by a statute that becomes effective upon
approval of the voters.
This measure would call a special statewide election to be
consolidated with the statewide general election scheduled for
November 4, 2014. It would provide for the submission to the voters
of the provisions of this bill amending the Political Reform Act of
1974, as summarized above, at that election.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an act calling an election.
Vote: 2/3 majority . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 84305.5 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
84305.5. (a) A slate mailer organization or committee primarily
formed to support or oppose one or more ballot measures shall not
send a slate mailer unless the slate mailer complies with all of the
following:
(1) The name, street address, and city of the slate mailer
organization or committee primarily formed to support or oppose one
or more ballot measures are shown on the outside of each piece of
slate mail and on at least one of the inserts included with each
piece of slate mail in no less than 8-point roman type, which shall
be in a color or print that contrasts with the background so as to be
easily legible. A post office box may be stated in lieu of a street
address if the street address of the slate mailer organization or the
committee primarily formed to support or oppose one or more ballot
measures is a matter of public record with the Secretary of State's
Political Reform Division.
(2) At the top or bottom of the front side or surface of at least
one insert, or at the top or bottom of one side or surface of a
postcard or other self-mailer, there is a notice in at least 8-point
roman boldface type, which shall be in a color or print that
contrasts with the background so as to be easily legible, and in a
printed or drawn box and set apart from any other printed matter. The
notice shall consist of the following statement:
-------------------------------------------------
| NOTICE TO VOTERS |
| |
| |
|THIS DOCUMENT WAS PREPARED BY (name of slate |
|mailer organization or committee primarily |
|formed to support or oppose one or more ballot |
|measures), NOT AN OFFICIAL POLITICAL PARTY |
|ORGANIZATION. Appearance in this mailer does not |
|necessarily imply endorsement of others |
|appearing in this mailer, nor does it imply |
|endorsement of, or opposition to, any |
|issues set forth in this mailer. Appearance by
|
|each candidate and ballot measure that is |
|designated by an * has been paid for. |
-------------------------------------------------
(3) (A) Each candidate and each ballot measure for which the
slate mailer organization or committee primarily formed to support or
oppose one or more ballot measures has received payment to include
the candidate or ballot measure in the slate mailer is designated by
an *. A candidate or ballot measure for which the slate mailer
organization or committee primarily formed to support or oppose one
or more ballot measures has not received payment to include the
candidate or ballot measure in the slate mailer shall not be
designated by an *.
(B) The * required by this paragraph shall be of the same type
size, type style, color or contrast, and legibility as is used for
the name of the candidate, or the ballot measure name or number and
position advocated, to which the * designation applies, except that
in no case shall the * be required to be larger than 10-point
boldface type. The designation shall immediately follow the name of
the candidate, or the name or number and position advocated on the
ballot measure, where the designation appears in the slate of
candidates and measures. If there is no slate listing, the
designation shall appear at least once in at least 8-point boldface
type, immediately following the name of the candidate, or the name or
number and position advocated on the ballot measure.
(4) The name of a candidate appearing in the slate mailer who is
a member of a political party differing from the political party that
the mailer appears by representation or indicia to represent is
accompanied, immediately below the name, by the party designation of
the candidate, in no less than 9-point roman type, which shall be in
a color or print that contrasts with the background so as to be
easily legible. The designation shall not be required in the case of
candidates for nonpartisan office.
(b) The name, street address, and city of the slate mailer
organization or committee primarily formed to support or oppose one
or more ballot measures, as required by paragraph (1) of subdivision
(a), and the notice required by paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) may
appear on the same side or surface of an insert in the slate mailer.
SEC. 2. Section 84501 of the Government Code is repealed.
SEC. 3. Section 84501 is added to the Government Code, to read:
84501. For purposes of this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) (1) "Advertisement" means any general or public advertisement
which is authorized and paid for by a person or committee for the
purpose of supporting or opposing a candidate for elective office or
a ballot measure or ballot measures.
(2) "Advertisement" does not include a communication from an
organization other than a political party to its members, a campaign
button smaller than 10 inches in diameter, a bumper sticker smaller
than 60 square inches, or other advertisement as determined by
regulations of the Commission.
(b) "Committee disclosure Internet Web site" means the Internet
Web site for a committee identifying the top identifiable
contributors to that committee, as described in Section 84506.3.
(c) "Cumulative contributions" means the cumulative amount of
contributions received by a committee beginning 18 months prior to
the date the committee made its first expenditure to qualify,
support, or oppose a candidate for elective office or a ballot
measure or ballot measures and ending seven days before the
advertisement is sent to the printer or broadcast station or uploaded
to the Internet.
(d) "Identifiable contributor" means a person or committee that
has made cumulative contributions of at least ten thousand dollars
($10,000) to a committee.
SEC. 4. Section 84502 of the Government Code is repealed.
SEC. 5. Section 84503 of the Government Code is repealed.
SEC. 6. Section 84504 of the Government Code is amended to read:
84504. (a) Any committee that supports or opposes one or more
ballot measures shall name and identify itself using a name or phrase
that clearly identifies the economic or other special interest of
its major donors of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more in any
reference to the committee required by law, including, but not
limited, to its statement of organization filed pursuant to Section
84101.
(b) If the major donors of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or
more share a common employer, the identity of the employer shall also
be disclosed.
(c) Any committee which supports or opposes a ballot measure shall
print or broadcast its name as provided in this section as part of
any advertisement or other paid public statement, unless the
advertisement is required to include a disclosure pursuant to any
other section of this article.
(d) If candidates or their controlled committees, as a group or
individually, meet the contribution thresholds for a person, they
shall be identified by the controlling candidate's name.
SEC. 7. Section 84505 of the Government Code is amended to read:
84505. In addition to the requirements of Sections 84504, 84506,
84506.1, 84506.2, and 84506.3, the committee placing the
advertisement or persons acting in concert with that committee shall
be prohibited from creating or using a noncandidate-controlled
committee or a nonsponsored committee to avoid, or that results in
the avoidance of, the disclosure of any individual, industry,
business entity, controlled committee, or sponsored committee as a
major funding source.
SEC. 8. Section 84506 of the Government Code is repealed.
SEC. 9. Section 84506 is added to the Government Code, to read:
84506. (a) A radio advertisement that supports or opposes a
candidate or ballot measure or solicits contributions in support of
that purpose shall, if the advertisement is authorized by a candidate
or an agent of the candidate, include an audio statement in which
the candidate identifies himself or herself and states that the
candidate has approved the message.
(b) A radio advertisement that supports or opposes a candidate or
ballot measure or solicits contributions in support of that purpose
shall, if the advertisement is not authorized by a candidate or an
agent of the candidate, include at the end of the advertisement a
disclosure read in a clearly spoken manner in a pitch and tone
substantially similar to the rest of the advertisement that reads as
follows: "Top funders of this ad are state names in descending order
of identifiable contributors who made the three largest cumulative
contributions to the committee that paid for the advertisement]. Full
funding details at state Internet Web site address of the committee
disclosure Internet Web site]."
(c) If there are fewer than three identifiable contributors, the
disclosure shall be adjusted accordingly to disclose the qualifying
identifiable contributors, if any. If the committee does not have any
identifiable contributors, but the committee has received cumulative
contributions totaling at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000), the
disclosure shall be adjusted to include the name of the committee in
the place of the names of identifiable contributors.
SEC. 10. Section 84506.1 is added to the Government Code, to read:
84506.1. (a) A television or video advertisement that supports or
opposes a candidate or ballot measure or solicits contributions in
support of that purpose shall, if the advertisement is authorized by
a candidate or an agent of the candidate, include a statement in
which the candidate identifies himself or herself and states that the
candidate has approved the message. The candidate statement shall be
made using an unobscured, full-screen video of the candidate making
the statement, or by using an unobscured, full-screen, and clearly
identifiable photographic image of the candidate that is displayed
during an audio voiceover of the candidate reading the statement.
(b) A television or video advertisement that supports or opposes a
candidate or ballot measure or solicits contributions in support of
that purpose shall, if the advertisement is not authorized by a
candidate or an agent of the candidate, include all of the following
at the end of the advertisement:
(1) A full-screen without audio on a black background for a
minimum of three seconds that is dedicated to the disclosure
described in this subdivision.
(2) The text "Top Funders for This Ad" located at the top of the
television or video display screen and centered horizontally. The
text shall be white in color and the font size shall be at least 5
percent of the height of the television or video display screen.
(3) Immediately below the text described in paragraph (2), the
logos, if any, as they appear on the Internet Web site homepage of
the identifiable contributor, for the identifiable contributors who
made the three largest cumulative contributions to the committee that
paid for the advertisement. Each logo shall occupy at least 15
percent of the width or height of the television or video display
screen and the logos shall be displayed from left to right in
descending order beginning with the largest identifiable contributor.
(4) Immediately below the logos, if any, described in paragraph
(3), or beneath the text described in paragraph (2) if no
identifiable contributor has a logo, the identifiable contributors
who have made the three largest cumulative contributions to the
committee that paid for the advertisement. The three identifiable
contributors shall each be disclosed on a separate vertical line, in
descending order, beginning with the identifiable contributor who
made the largest cumulative contribution on the first line. The name
of each of the three identifiable contributors shall be centered
horizontally. The text shall be white in color and the font size
shall be at least 5 percent of the height of the television or video
display screen.
(5) The text "Full Funding Details At insert Internet Web site
address of the committee disclosure Internet Web site]." The text
shall be white in color and the font size shall be equivalent to 4
percent of the height of the television or video display screen. The
text shall be located in a position that is vertically 4 percent
above the bottom of the television or video display screen.
(6) If there are fewer than three identifiable contributors, the
disclosure shall be adjusted accordingly to disclose only those that
qualify as identifiable contributors, if any. If the committee does
not have any identifiable contributors, but the committee has
received cumulative contributions totaling at least ten thousand
dollars ($10,000), the disclosure shall be adjusted to include the
name of the committee in the place of the names of identifiable
contributors.
SEC. 11. Section 84506.2 is added to the Government Code, to read:
84506.2. Except for slate mailers or advertisements that are
authorized by a candidate or an agent of the candidate, any mass
mailing or print advertisement that supports or opposes a candidate
or ballot measure or solicits contributions in support of that
purpose and that is paid for by a committee, or by any person who is
not a committee and who spends more than one thousand dollars
($1,000) on mass mailing or print advertising cumulatively in the
period beginning 18 months prior to the date the person made his or
her first expenditure to qualify, support, or oppose the candidate
for elective office or the ballot measure and ending seven days
before the mass mailing or print advertisement is sent to the
printer, shall include a disclosure area on the largest page of the
mass mailing or print advertisement that meets all of the following
criteria:
(a) The disclosure area shall be set apart from the rest of the
page on which it is located by a line framing the disclosure area in
the shape of a square or rectangle and the line shall be a color that
is darker than the background color of the remainder of the
disclosure area. The disclosure area within the border line shall
have a solid background color that establishes a contrast to the
color of the disclosure text that is equivalent to or greater than
the text and background color contrast in the other areas of the mass
mailing or print advertisement.
(b) For purposes of a mass mailing or print advertisement paid for
by a committee, the disclosure shall include the following:
(1) The text "Top Funders of This Ad" shall be located at the top
of the disclosure area and centered horizontally in the disclosure
area. The text shall be in a font size of at least 14-point for pages
smaller than 8.5 inches by 11 inches and at least 16-point for pages
that are equal to, or larger than, 8.5 inches by 11 inches.
(2) Immediately below the text described in paragraph (1) shall be
printed the logos, if any, as they appear on the Internet Web site
homepage of the identifiable contributor, for the identifiable
contributors who made the three largest cumulative contributions to
the committee. Each logo shall occupy at least 8 percent of the width
or height of the page on which the disclosure area is located and
the logos shall be displayed from left to right in descending order
beginning with the largest identifiable contributor.
(3) Immediately below the logos, if any, described in paragraph
(2), or beneath the text described in paragraph (1) if no
identifiable contributor has a logo, shall be identified by name the
identifiable contributors who have made the three largest cumulative
contributions to the committee that paid for the mass mailing or
print advertisement. The three identifiable contributors shall each
be disclosed on a separate vertical line, in descending order,
beginning with the identifiable contributor who made the largest
cumulative contribution on the first line. The name of each of the
three identifiable contributors shall be centered horizontally. The
text shall identify the identifiable contributor in a font size of at
least 10-point for pages smaller than 8.5 inches by 11 inches and at
least 12-point for pages that are equal to, or larger than, 8.5
inches by 11 inches.
(4) The text "Full Funding Details At insert Internet Web site
address of the committee disclosure Internet Web site]." The text
shall be located at the bottom of the disclosure area and shall be in
10-point font size for pages smaller than 8.5 inches by 11 inches
and at least 12-point font size for pages that are equal to, or
larger than, 8.5 inches by 11 inches.
(5) If there are fewer than three identifiable contributors, the
disclosure shall be adjusted accordingly to disclose the qualifying
identifiable contributors, if any. If the committee does not have any
identifiable contributors, but the committee has received cumulative
contributions totaling at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000), the
disclosure shall be adjusted to include the name of the committee in
the place of the names of identifiable contributors.
(c) For purposes of a mass mailing or print advertisement paid for
by a person who is not a committee and who spends more than one
thousand dollars ($1,000) on mass mailings or print advertisements,
as described in this section, the disclosure shall include the text
"This advertisement funded by insert name of the person who paid for
the mass mailing or print advertisement]." The text shall be centered
within the disclosure area and shall be in a font size of at least
14-point for pages smaller than 8.5 inches by 11 inches and at least
16-point for pages that are equal to, or larger than, 8.5 inches by
11 inches. The person shall not be required to create or maintain a
disclosure Internet Web site described in Section 85406.3.
SEC. 12. Section 84506.3 is added to the Government Code, to read:
84506.3. Except for a committee that is controlled by a
candidate, a committee that pays for an advertisement described in
this article shall establish and maintain a committee disclosure
Internet Web site. If the committee has an Internet Web site
homepage, that Internet Web site may also serve as the committee
disclosure Internet Web site. The homepage of the committee
disclosure Internet Web site and any other Internet Web sites
maintained by the committee shall include a disclosure statement area
for the purpose of making a contribution disclosure statement that
includes all of the following:
(a) The disclosure statement area shall be at least 250 pixels
wide. The disclosure statement area shall have a white background and
a border that is dark in color.
(b) A title that reads "Top Funders of This Committee." The text
shall be black in color and shall be at least 10-point font size.
(c) Immediately below the text described in subdivision (b), a
list of the identifiable contributors who have made the 10 largest
cumulative contributions to the committee. Each of the 10
identifiable contributors shall be disclosed on a separate vertical
line, in descending order, beginning with the identifiable
contributor who made the largest cumulative contribution on the first
line. The text shall be black in color and shall be at least 9-point
font size.
(d) Immediately below the text described in subdivision (c), the
logos, if any, as they appear on the Internet Web site homepage of
the identifiable contributor, for the identifiable contributors who
made the 10 largest cumulative contributions to the committee. Each
logo shall occupy at least 75 horizontal or vertical pixels and shall
be displayed from left to right in descending order beginning with
the largest identifiable contributor.
(e) Either of the following:
(1) A link to the Internet Web site maintained by the Secretary of
State that contains campaign finance disclosures made by the
committee pursuant to this title for the current election cycle. The
link shall be labeled "Full funding info at Secretary of State's
Internet Web site." The link shall be a standard hyperlink that is
displayed as blue underlined text in Arial equivalent font in at
least 9-point font size.
(2) (A) A link to another page on the committee disclosure
Internet Web site that lists all of the committee's identifiable
contributors. The link shall be labeled "More funding info" and shall
be a standard hyperlink that is displayed as blue underlined text in
Arial equivalent font in at least 9-point font size.
(B) The linked page on the committee disclosure Internet Web site
shall have a title that reads "$10,000 Funders of this Committee."
The linked page shall disclose each identifiable contributor of the
committee on a separate vertical line, in descending order, beginning
with the identifiable contributor who made the largest aggregate
contribution on the first line. Each line shall identify the name of
the identifiable contributor and the amount of that contributor's
aggregate contributions received by the committee since its
organization, current within seven days.
(f) If there are fewer than 10 identifiable contributors, the
disclosure shall be adjusted accordingly to disclose the qualifying
identifiable contributors, if any. If the committee does not have any
identifiable contributors, but the committee has received cumulative
contributions totaling at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000), the
disclosure shall be adjusted to include the name of the committee in
the place of the names of identifiable contributors.
SEC. 13. Section 84506.5 of the Government Code is repealed.
SEC. 14. Section 84507 of the Government Code is repealed.
SEC. 15. Section 84507 is added to the Government Code, to read:
84507. For purposes of any disclosure required by Sections 84506
to 84506.3, inclusive, for advertisements that are not authorized by
a candidate or an agent of the candidate, the following shall also
apply in the event that an identifiable contributor is a person who
is an individual:
(a) If the committee receiving the contribution is supporting or
opposing a candidate, then the disclosure shall include the
occupation and employer of the identifiable contributor in addition
to the contributor's name.
(b) If the committee receiving the contribution is supporting or
opposing a ballot measure, and the passage or defeat of the ballot
measure directly benefits or harms the employer of the identifiable
contributor, then the disclosure shall include the occupation and
employer of the identifiable contributor in addition to the
contributor's name. However, if an employer of an identifiable
contributor is also an identifiable contributor of that committee,
then the contributions of the employees shall, instead, be deemed to
be contributions by the employer for purposes of determining the
total cumulative contribution made by the employer in order to
determine which identifiable contributors shall be disclosed on an
advertisement pursuant to this article.
(c) If the committee receiving the contribution is supporting or
opposing a ballot measure, and the passage or defeat of the ballot
measure does not directly benefit or harm the employer of the
identifiable contributor, then the disclosure shall include only the
name of the identifiable contributor.
SEC. 16. Section 84508 of the Government Code is repealed.
SEC. 17. Section 84508 is added to the Government Code, to read:
84508. Disclosures made pursuant to Sections 84506 to 84506.3,
inclusive, shall be sufficient to identify the identifiable
contributor but need not include such legal terms as "incorporated,"
"committee," "political action committee," or "company," or their
abbreviations. Nothing in this section shall prevent a contributor
from being disclosed as a name used in common usage or parlance,
including, but not limited to, an abbreviation or acronym.
SEC. 18. 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. 19. 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. 20. 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 to ensure that the voters of California are able to make
informed decisions in elections and fully participate in an open and
transparent democracy that represents their true interests, it is
necessary for this act to take effect immediately as an urgency
statute.
SEC. 18. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the duties imposed on a local agency or school
district by this act were expressly included in a ballot measure
approved by the voters in a statewide election, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code.
SEC. 19 . A special election is hereby
called to be held throughout the state on November 4, 2014. The
election shall be consolidated with the statewide general election to
be held on that date. The consolidated election shall be held and
conducted in all respects as if there were only one election and only
one form of ballot shall be used.
SEC. 20. Notwithstanding Section 9040 of the
Elections Code or any other provision of law, the Secretary of State,
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 81012 of the Government Code,
shall submit Sections 1 to 17, inclusive, of this act to the voters
for approval at the election called by Section 19 of this act.
SEC. 21. This act calls an election within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect.
