ASSEMBLY, No. 1056

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

 

 

By Assemblyman DORIA

 

 

An Act concerning campaign advertisements, amending and supplementing P.L.1973, c.83 (C.19:44A-1 et seq.), and repealing parts of the statutory law.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. (New section) The Legislature finds and declares that:

    a. in McIntyre v. Ohio, 63 U.S.L.W. 4279 (U.S. April 19, 1995) (No. 93-986), the United States Supreme Court invalidated, on First Amendment grounds, an Ohio statute prohibiting the distribution of campaign materials which did not bear the issuer's name and address;

    b. nevertheless, this decision recognized that there may be circumstances in which a state's enforcement interest justifies a more limited identification requirement;

    c. the court noted that in the area of campaign finance, in particular, a more narrowly drawn statute may be permitted;

    d. prior decisions of the United States Supreme Court have established that regulation of campaign finance may be justified by a state's interest in preventing actual or perceived corruption; and

    e. because the McIntyre decision calls into question the validity of certain New Jersey statutes requiring disclosures on campaign advertising, there is a need to revise the law so that it is narrowly-tailored to help effectuate the State's compelling interest in preventing corruption in connection with the financing of campaigns for public office.

 

    2. (New section) a. Whenever a candidate committee, joint candidates committee, political committee, continuing political committee, political party committee or legislative leadership committee, or any group other than such a committee, or any person makes, incurs or authorizes an expenditure for the purpose of financing a communication aiding or promoting the nomination, election or defeat of any candidate or providing political information on any candidate which is an expenditure that the committee, group or person is required to report to the Election Law Enforcement Commission pursuant to P.L.1973, c.83 (C.19:44A-1 et seq.), the communication shall clearly state the name and business or residence address of the committee, group or person, as that information appears on reports filed with the commission, and that the communication has been financed by that committee, group or person.

    b. Whenever a candidate committee, joint candidates committee, political committee, continuing political committee, political party committee or legislative leadership committee, or any group other than such a committee, or any person makes, incurs or authorizes an expenditure for the purpose of financing a communication aiding the passage or defeat of any public question or providing political information on any public question which is an expenditure that the committee, group or person is required to report to the Election Law Enforcement Commission pursuant to P.L.1973, c.83 (C.19:44A-1 et seq.), the communication shall clearly state the name and business or residence address of the committee, group or person, as that information appears on reports filed with the commission, and that the communication has been financed by that committee, group or person.

    c. A communication that is financed by any person, not acting in concert with a candidate or any person or committee acting on behalf of a candidate, shall contain a clear and conspicuous statement that the expenditure was not made with the cooperation or prior consent of, or in consultation with or at the request or suggestion of, any such candidate, person or committee.

    d. Any person who accepts compensation from a committee, group or individual described in subsection a. or b. of this section for the purpose of printing, broadcasting, or otherwise disseminating to the electorate a communication shall maintain a record of the transaction which shall include an exact copy of the communication and a statement of the number of copies made or the dates and times that the communication was broadcast, and the name and address of the committee, group or individual paying for the communication. The record shall be maintained on file at the principal office of the person accepting the communication for at least two years and shall be available for public inspection during normal business hours.

    e. As used in this section, "communication" means a press release, pamphlet, flyer, form letter, sign, billboard or paid advertisement printed in any newspaper or other publication or broadcast on radio or television, or any other form of advertising directed to the electorate.

    f. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to any bona fide news item or editorial contained in any publication of bona fide general circulation.

    g. (1) A person who violates a provision of this section shall be subject to the civil penalties provided in section 22 of P.L.1973, c.83 (C.19:44A-1 et seq.) C.19:44A-22).

    (2) A person who, with intent to injure anyone or to conceal wrongdoing, purposely falsifies, conceals or misrepresents information required by this section to be disclosed or maintained on file is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.

    h. The Election Law Enforcement Commission shall promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to effectuate the purpose of this section. The commission may, by regulation, exempt from the provisions of this section small, tangible items of de minimis value which are commonly used in campaigns to convey a political message, including, but not limited to, buttons, combs, and nail files. The commission may also, by regulation, exempt from the provisions of this section advertising space purchased by a candidate committee, joint candidates committee, political committee, continuing political committee, political party committee, legislative leadership committee or other person, in a political program book distributed at a fund-raising event if the financial transaction is otherwise subject to disclosure. An exemption granted by the commission with respect to any item shall not relieve the committee, group or individual making an expenditure therefor from any applicable campaign finance reporting requirements.

    In addition, the commission shall have the authority to provide, by regulation, that a communication need not include the address of the committee, group or person financing the communication in circumstances where the name of a committee, group or person would be sufficient to identify it from the commission's records.

 

    3. Section 11 of P.L.1973, c.83 (C.19:44A-11) is amended to read as follows:

    11. No contribution of money or other thing of value, nor obligation therefor, including but not limited to contributions, loans or obligations of a candidate himself or of his family, shall be made or received, and no expenditure of money or other thing of value, nor obligation therefor, including expenditures, loans or obligations of a candidate himself or of his family, shall be made or incurred, directly or indirectly, to support or defeat a candidate in any election, or to aid the passage or defeat of any public question, except through:

    a. The duly appointed campaign treasurer or deputy campaign treasurers of the candidate committee or joint candidates committee;

    b. The duly appointed organizational treasurer or deputy organizational treasurers of a political party committee or a continuing political committee;

    c. The duly appointed campaign treasurer or deputy campaign treasurers of a political committee; or

    d. The duly appointed organizational treasurer or deputy organizational treasurer of a legislative leadership committee.

    It shall be lawful, however, for any person, not acting in concert with any other person or group, to expend personally from his own funds a sum which is not to be repaid to him for any purpose not prohibited by law, or to contribute his own personal services and personal traveling expenses, to support or defeat a candidate or to aid the passage or defeat of a public question; provided, however, that any person making such expenditure shall be required to report his or her name and mailing address and the amount of all such expenditures and expenses, except personal traveling expenses, if the total of the money so expended, exclusive of such traveling expenses, exceeds[$200] $500, and also, where the person is an individual, to report the individual's occupation and the name and mailing address of the individual's employer, to the Election Law Enforcement Commission at the same time and in the same manner as a political committee subject to the provisions of section 8 of this act.

    No contribution of money shall be made in currency, except contributions in response to a public solicitation, provided that cumulative currency contributions of up to $200 may be made to a candidate committee or joint candidates committee, a political committee, a continuing political committee, a legislative leadership committee or a political party committee if the contributor submits with the currency contribution a written statement of a form as prescribed by the commission, indicating the contributor's name, mailing address and occupation and the amount of the contribution, including the contributor's signature and the name and mailing address of the contributor's employer.

    Any anonymous contribution received by a campaign treasurer or deputy campaign treasurer shall not be used or expended, but shall be returned to the donor, if his identity is known, and if no donor is found, the contribution shall escheat to the State.

    No person, partnership or association, either directly or through an agent, shall make any loan or advance, the proceeds of which that person, partnership or association knows or has reason to know or believe are intended to be used by the recipient thereof to make a contribution or expenditure, except by check or money order identifying the name, mailing address and occupation or business of the maker of the loan, and, if the maker is an individual, the name and mailing address of that individual's employer; provided, however, that such loans or advances to a single individual, up to a cumulative amount of $50 in any calendar year, may be made in currency.

(cf: P.L.1993, c.65, s.6)

 

    4. Sections 2 through 5 of P.L.1963, c.57 (C.19:34-38.1 et seq.), P.L.1966, c.70 (C.19:34-38.5), N.J.S.18A:14-97, and N.J.S.18A:14-97.1, N.J.S.18A:14-97.2 and N.J.S.18A:14-97.3 are repealed.

 

    5. This act shall take effect on February 1 next following the date of enactment.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill provides that whenever any committee, group or person makes an expenditure to finance a communication aiding or promoting the nomination, election or defeat of any candidate or the passage or defeat of any public question, or providing political information on any candidate or public question, which expenditure must be reported to the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) under "The New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act," N.J.S.A.19:44A-1 et seq., the communication must clearly state the name and business or residence address of the committee, group or individual in the same manner as that information appears on reports filed with ELEC, and that the communication has been financed by that committee, group or person. The purpose of this disclosure is to prevent the possible circumvention of the campaign expenditure reporting requirements which could result from the large-scale dissemination of anonymous campaign materials.

    In addition, the bill requires that a communication financed by a person not acting in concert with a candidate or candidate-related party shall contain a statement to that effect.

    The bill defines "communication" to include a press release, pamphlet, flyer, form letter, sign, billboard or paid advertisement printed in any newspaper or other publication or broadcast on radio or television, or any other form of advertising directed at the public. Its provisions would not apply to any bona fide news item or editorial contained in any publication of bona fide general circulation. The bill also provides that a person who accepts compensation for disseminating a communication must keep a record of the communication for two years thereafter.

    A person who violates a provision of the legislation would be subject to the civil penalties provided under section 22 of P.L.1973, c.83 (C.19:44A-22). A person who, with intent to injure anyone or to conceal wrongdoing, purposely falsifies, conceals or misrepresents information required by the bill to be disclosed or maintained on file would be guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.

    The bill directs ELEC to promulgate regulations effectuating the provisions of the legislation.


    The bill would also amend existing law to increase the threshold for reporting independent expenditures to ELEC from 200 to $500. This threshold would also be applicable to the disclosures in connection with communications financed by independent expenditures.

    The following would be repealed under the legislation: sections 2 through 5 of P.L.1963, c.57 (C.19:34-38.1 et seq.), P.L.1966, c.70 (C.19:34-38.5), N.J.S.18A:14-97, and N.J.S.18A:14-97.1, N.J.S.18A:14-97.2 and N.J.S.18A:14-97.3.

    At present, New Jersey law requires campaign advertising materials to disclose the name and address of the person causing the material to be printed, copied or published, or of the person paying for the printing, copying or publishing, as well as the name and address of the person who prints, copies or publishes the material. However, the constitutionality of the relevant current law has been called into question by the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in McIntyre v. Ohio, 63 U.S.L.W. 4279 (U.S. April 19, 1995) (No. 93-986) which held that a similar Ohio law abridged freedom of speech. The McIntyre decision, nevertheless, acknowledged that a more narrowly-drawn statute, particularly one which promotes a state's interest in enforcing its campaign finance laws, may be permissible. This bill would repeal the existing campaign advertising laws. The new disclaimer provisions of the bill are intended to require, within the bounds permitted by the Supreme Court, certain limited disclosures on campaign advertising materials in furtherance of the State's compelling interest in preventing actual or perceived corruption in the area of campaign finance.

 

 

 

Revises law concerning campaign advertising disclosures.