16-971. Definitions
(Caution: 1998 Prop. 105 applies)
In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Business income" means:
(a) Monies received by a person in commercial transactions in the ordinary course of the person's regular trade, business or investments.
(b) Membership or union dues that do not exceed $5,000 from any one person in a calendar year.
2. "Campaign media spending":
(a) Means spending monies or accepting in-kind contributions to pay for any of the following:
(i) A public communication that expressly advocates for or against the nomination, or election of a candidate.
(ii) A public communication that promotes, supports, attacks or opposes a candidate within six months preceding an election involving that candidate.
(iii) A public communication that refers to a clearly identified candidate within ninety days before a primary election until the time of the general election and that is disseminated in the jurisdiction where the candidate's election is taking place.
(iv) A public communication that promotes, supports, attacks or opposes the qualification or approval of any state or local initiative or referendum.
(v) A public communication that promotes, supports, attacks or opposes the recall of a public officer.
(vi) An activity or public communication that supports the election or defeat of candidates of an identified political party or the electoral prospects of an identified political party, including partisan voter registration, partisan get-out-the-vote activity or other partisan campaign activity.
(vii) Research, design, production, polling, data analytics, mailing or social media list acquisition or any other activity conducted in preparation for or in conjunction with any of the activities described in items (i) through (vi) of this subdivision.
(b) Does not include spending monies or accepting in-kind contributions for any of the following:
(i) A news story, commentary or editorial by any broadcasting station, cable television operator, video service provider, programmer or producer, newspaper, magazine, website or other periodical publication that is not owned or operated by a candidate, a candidate's spouse or a candidate committee, political party or political action committee.
(ii) A nonpartisan activity intended to encourage voter registration and turnout.
(iii) Publishing a book or producing a documentary, if the publication or production is for distribution to the general public through traditional distribution mechanisms or if a fee is required to purchase the book or view the documentary.
(iv) Primary or nonpartisan debates between candidates or between proponents and opponents of a state or local initiative or referendum and announcements of those debates.
3. "Candidate" has the same meaning as in section 16-901.
4. "Candidate committee" has the same meaning as in section 16-901.
5. "Commission" means the citizens clean elections commission.
6. "Contribution" means money, donation, gift, loan or advance or other thing of value, including goods and services.
7. "Covered person"
(a) Means any person whose total campaign media spending or acceptance of in-kind contributions to enable campaign media spending, or a combination of both, in an election cycle is more than $50,000 in statewide campaigns or more than $25,000 in any other type of campaigns. For the purposes of this chapter, the amount of a person's campaign media spending includes campaign media spending made by entities established, financed, maintained or controlled by that person.
(b) Does not include:
(i) Individuals who spend only their own personal monies for campaign media spending.
(ii) Organizations that spend only their own business income for campaign media spending.
(iii) A candidate committee.
(iv) A political action committee or political party that receives not more than $20,000 in contributions, including in-kind contributions, from any one person in an election cycle.
8. "Election cycle" means the time beginning the day after general election day in even-numbered years and continuing through the end of general election day in the next even-numbered year.
9. "Expressly advocates" has the same meaning as in section 16-901.01.
10. "Identity" means:
(a) In the case of an individual, the name, mailing address, occupation and employer of the individual
(b) In the case of any other person, the name, mailing address, federal tax status and state of incorporation, registration or partnership, if any.
11. "In-kind contribution" means a contribution of goods, services or anything of value that is provided without charge or at less than the usual and normal charge.
12. "Original monies" means business income or an individual's personal monies.
13. "Person" includes both a natural person and an entity such as a corporation, limited liability company, labor organization, partnership or association, regardless of legal form.
14. "Personal monies"
(a) Means any of the following:
(i) Any asset of an individual that, at the time the individual engaged in campaign media spending or transferred monies to another person for such spending, the individual had legal control over and rightful title to.
(ii) Income received by an individual or the individual's spouse, including salary and other earned income from bona fide employment, dividends and proceeds from the individual's personal investments or bequests to the individual, including income from trusts established by bequests.
(iii) A portion of assets that are jointly owned by the individual and the individual's spouse equal to the individual's share of the asset under the instrument of conveyance or ownership. If no specific share is indicated by an instrument of conveyance or ownership, the value is one-half the value of the property or asset.
(b) Does not mean any asset or income received from any person for the purpose of influencing any election.
15. "Political action committee" has the same meaning as in section 16-901.
16. "Political party" has the same meaning as in section 16-901.
17. "Public communication"
(a) Means a paid communication to the public by means of broadcast, cable, satellite, internet or another digital method, newspaper, magazine, outdoor advertising facility, mass mailing or another mass distribution, telephone bank or any other form of general public political advertising or marketing, regardless of medium.
(b) Does not include communications between an organization and its employees, stockholders or bona fide members.
18. "Traceable monies" means:
(a) Monies that have been given, loaned or promised to be given to a covered person and for which no donor has opted out of their use or transfer for campaign media spending pursuant to section 16-972.
(b) Monies used to pay for in-kind contributions to a covered person to enable campaign media spending.
19. "Transfer records" means a written record of the identity of each person that directly or indirectly contributed or transferred more than $2,500 of original monies used for campaign media spending, the amount of each contribution or transfer and the person to whom those monies were transferred.