Bill Text: NY A02158 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to disclosure of the identities of political committees making certain expenditures for political communications.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 31-2)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-01-03 - ordered to third reading cal.161 [A02158 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A02158-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2158--A Cal. No. 97 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 17, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ZEBROWSKI, LUPARDO, JAFFEE, THIELE, SIMOTAS, BENEDETTO, PAULIN, QUART, DINOWITZ, SEPULVEDA, STIRPE, ROSENTHAL, STECK, FAHY, CAHILL, GALEF, GOTTFRIED, M. G. MILLER, SOLAGES, CYMBROW- ITZ, RAIA, WEPRIN, LIFTON, ABINANTI, SANTABARBARA, MAYER, FARRELL, PEOPLES-STOKES -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CROUCH, GLICK, MAGEE, McDONALD, MOSLEY, RAMOS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes -- reported from committee, advanced to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to disclosure of the iden- tities of political committees making certain expenditures for poli- tical communications The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 14-106 of the election law, as amended by section 3 2 of subpart C of part H of chapter 55 of the laws of 2014, is amended to 3 read as follows: 4 § 14-106. Political communication. 1. The statements required to be 5 filed under the provisions of this article next succeeding a primary, 6 general or special election shall be accompanied by a copy of all broad- 7 cast, cable or satellite schedules and scripts, internet, print and 8 other types of advertisements, pamphlets, circulars, flyers, brochures, 9 letterheads and other printed matter purchased or produced, and reprod- 10 uctions of statements or information published to five hundred or more 11 members of a general public audience by computer or other electronic 12 device including but not limited to electronic mail or text message, 13 purchased in connection with such election by or under the authority of 14 the person filing the statement or the committee or the person on whose 15 behalf it is filed, as the case may be. Such copies, schedules and 16 scripts shall be preserved by the officer with whom or the board with EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04296-03-7A. 2158--A 2 1 which it is required to be filed for a period of one year from the date 2 of filing thereof. 3 2. All political committees that make an expenditure for a political 4 communication shall be required to disclose the identity of the poli- 5 tical committee which made the expenditure for such political communi- 6 cation. The disclosure on printed or digital political communications, 7 including but not limited to brochures, flyers, posters, mailings, or 8 internet advertising shall be printed or typed in an appropriate legible 9 form to read as follows: "Paid for by:" followed by the name of the 10 political committee making the expenditure. The disclosure on non-print- 11 ed or digital political communications shall clearly and prominently 12 display and/or speak the following statement: "Paid for by:" followed by 13 the name of the political committee making the expenditure. In the case 14 of a political communication that is not visual, such as radio or auto- 15 mated telephone calls, clearly speaking the statement will satisfy the 16 requirements of this section. 17 3. Political communications that are considered promotional items 18 which support a particular candidate, election, ballot measure or issue 19 and limit the content of communication to the name, office and brief 20 message of support, shall be exempt from the provisions of subdivision 21 two of this section. Promotional items shall be items that are of nomi- 22 nal value and are distributed to the general public in an effort to 23 promote a particular candidate, election, ballot measure or issue 24 including but not limited to pens, bumper stickers, yard signs, buttons, 25 shirts, bags or balloons. 26 4. Political communication that is considered digital media which 27 advertises for a particular candidate, election, ballot measure or issue 28 which limits the content of communication to the name, office and brief 29 message shall not be subject to the provisions of subdivision two of 30 this section if such digital media is unable to contain the "paid for 31 by" statement due to its small size and contains a link to another 32 webpage where the "paid for by" statement is prominently displayed. 33 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 14-107 of the election law, as amended 34 by section 2 of part A of chapter 286 of the laws of 2016, is amended to 35 read as follows: 36 2. Whenever any person makes an independent expenditure that costs one 37 thousand dollars or more in the aggregate, such communication shall, in 38 a manner consistent with section 14-106 of this article, clearly state 39 the name of the person who paid for, or otherwise published or distrib- 40 uted the communication and state, with respect to communications regard- 41 ing candidates, that the communication was not expressly authorized or 42 requested by any candidate, or by any candidate's political committee or 43 any of its agents. 44 § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 14-126 of the election law, as added by 45 section 6 of subpart C of part H of chapter 55 of the laws of 2014, is 46 amended to read as follows: 47 3. Any person who falsely identifies or knowingly fails to identify 48 any independent expenditure as required by subdivision two of section 49 14-107 of this article or any political committee as required in section 50 14-106 of this article shall be subject to a civil penalty up to one 51 thousand dollars or up to the cost of the communication, whichever is 52 greater, in a special proceeding or civil action [brought by the state53board of elections chief enforcement counsel or imposed directly by the54state board of elections]. For purposes of this subdivision, the term 55 "person" shall mean a person, group of persons, corporation, unincorpo-A. 2158--A 3 1 rated business entity, labor organization or business, trade or profes- 2 sional association or organization or political committee. 3 § 4. The state board of elections shall promulgate all rules and regu- 4 lations necessary to implement the provisions of this act on or before 5 its effective date. 6 § 5. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 7 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law.
