Article 5. Disclosure In Advertisements of California Government Code >> Title 9. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 5.

(a) "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.
  (b) "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.

"Cumulative contributions" means the cumulative amount of contributions received by a committee beginning 12 months prior to the date the committee made its first expenditure to qualify, support, or oppose the measure and ending within seven days of the time the advertisement is sent to the printer or broadcast station.

(a) Any advertisement for or against any ballot measure shall include a disclosure statement identifying any person whose cumulative contributions are fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more.
  (b) If there are more than two donors of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more, the committee is only required to disclose the highest and second highest in that order. In the event that more than two donors meet this disclosure threshold at identical contribution levels, the highest and second highest shall be selected according to chronological sequence.

(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.
  (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.

In addition to the requirements of Sections 84503, 84504, 84506, and 84506.5, 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.

(a) An advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot measure, that is paid for by an independent expenditure, shall include a disclosure statement that identifies both of the following:
  (1) The name of the committee making the independent expenditure.
  (2) The names of the persons from whom the committee making the independent expenditure has received its two highest cumulative contributions of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more during the 12-month period prior to the expenditure. If the committee can show, on the basis that contributions are spent in the order they are received, that contributions received from the two highest contributors have been used for expenditures unrelated to the candidate or ballot measure featured in the communication, the committee shall disclose the contributors making the next largest cumulative contributions of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more.
  (b) If an acronym is used to identify any committee names required by this section, the names of any sponsoring organization of the committee shall be printed on print advertisements or spoken in broadcast advertisements.

(a) An advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate that is paid for by an independent expenditure must include the following statement: This advertisement was not authorized or paid for by a candidate for this office or a committee controlled by a candidate for this office.
  (b) In addition to the requirements of Section 84507, a mailed advertisement subject to this section shall also comply with each of the following:
  (1) The disclosure statement in subdivision (a) shall be located within one quarter of an inch of the recipient's name and address as printed on the advertisement.
  (2) The text of the disclosure statement shall be contained in a box with an outline that has a line weight of at least 3.25 pt. The background color of the box shall be in a contrasting color to the background of the advertisement. The outline of the box shall be in a contrasting color to both the background color of the advertisement and the background color of the box. The color of the text shall be in a contrasting color to the background color of the box.

Any disclosure statement required by this article shall be printed clearly and legibly in no less than 14-point, bold, sans serif type font and in a conspicuous manner as defined by the commission or, if the communication is broadcast, the information shall be spoken so as to be clearly audible and understood by the intended public and otherwise appropriately conveyed for the hearing impaired.

If disclosure of two major donors is required by Sections 84503 and 84506, the committee shall be required to disclose, in addition to the committee name, only its highest major contributor in any advertisement which is:
  (a) An electronic broadcast of 15 seconds or less, or
  (b) A newspaper, magazine, or other public print media advertisement which is 20 square inches or less.

When a committee files an amended campaign statement pursuant to Section 81004.5, the committee shall change its advertisements to reflect the changed disclosure information.

(a) In addition to the remedies provided for in Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 91000) of this title, any person who violates this article is liable in a civil or administrative action brought by the commission or any person for a fine up to three times the cost of the advertisement, including placement costs.
  (b) The remedies provided in subdivision (a) shall also apply to any person who purposely causes any other person to violate any provision of this article or who aids and abets any other person in a violation.
  (c) If a judgment is entered against the defendant or defendants in an action brought under this section, the plaintiff shall receive 50 percent of the amount recovered. The remaining 50 percent shall be deposited in the General Fund of the state. In an action brought by a local civil prosecutor, 50 percent shall be deposited in the account of the agency bringing the action and 50 percent shall be paid to the General Fund of the state.

(a) This section applies to a committee that does either of the following:
  (1) Makes an expenditure of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more to an individual for his or her appearance in an advertisement that supports or opposes the qualification, passage, or defeat of a ballot measure.
  (2) Makes an expenditure of any amount to an individual for his or her appearance in an advertisement that supports or opposes the qualification, passage, or defeat of a ballot measure and that states or suggests that the individual is a member of an occupation that requires licensure, certification, or other specialized, documented training as a prerequisite to engage in that occupation.
  (b) A committee described in subdivision (a) shall file, within 10 days of the expenditure, a report that includes all of the following:
  (1) An identification of the measure that is the subject of the advertisement.
  (2) The date of the expenditure.
  (3) The amount of the expenditure.
  (4) The name of the recipient of the expenditure.
  (5) For a committee described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), the occupation of the recipient of the expenditure.
  (c) An advertisement paid for by a committee described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall include a disclosure statement stating "(spokesperson's name) is being paid by this campaign or its donors" in highly visible font shown continuously if the advertisement consists of printed or televised material, or spoken in a clearly audible format if the advertisement is a radio broadcast or telephonic message.
  (d) (1) An advertisement paid for by a committee described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) shall include a disclosure statement stating "Persons portraying members of an occupation in this advertisement are compensated spokespersons not necessarily employed in those occupations" in highly visible font shown continuously if the advertisement consists of printed or televised material, or spoken in a clearly audible format if the advertisement is a radio broadcast or telephonic message.
  (2) A committee may omit the disclosure statement required by this subdivision if all of the following are satisfied with respect to each individual identified in the report filed pursuant to subdivision (b) for that advertisement:
  (A) The occupation identified in the report is substantially similar to the occupation portrayed in the advertisement.
  (B) The committee maintains credible documentation of the appropriate license, certification, or other training as evidence that the individual may engage in the occupation identified in the report and portrayed in the advertisement and makes that documentation immediately available to the Commission upon request.