AP15:135
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 31, 2015
CONTACT: Sam Mahood
(916) 653-6575
Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation
Campaign Finance. Donor Disclosure. Initiative Statute.
SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures today.
The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:
CAMPAIGN FINANCE. DONOR DISCLOSURE. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Requires committees controlled by a candidate for the Legislature or other elected state office to disclose their top 10 donors in all committee advertisements supporting the candidate or opposing the candidate’s opponents. Requires legislators and other elected state officers, when providing testimony or participating in any vote on state legislation, to display on their persons the identity of the top 10 donors to their controlled committees. Imposes criminal and civil sanctions for violations. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Minor effects on state finances. (15-0097.)
The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1757 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 15-0097.
The proponent of the measure, John Cox, must collect the signatures of 365,880 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the November 2016 ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials by June 28, 2016. The proponent can be reached at (847) 274-8814.
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