16-973. Disclosure reports; exceptions

(Caution:  1998 Prop. 105 applies)

A. Within five days after first spending monies or accepting in-kind contributions totaling $50,000 or more during an election cycle on campaign media spending in statewide campaigns or $25,000 or more during the election cycle in any other type of campaigns, a covered person shall file with the secretary of state an initial report that discloses all of the following:

1. The identity of the person that owns or controls the traceable monies.

2. The identity of any entity established, financed, maintained or controlled by the person that owns or controls the traceable monies and that maintains its own transfer records and that entity's relationship to the covered person.

3. The name, mailing address and position of the individual who is the custodian of the transfer records.

4. The name, mailing address and position of at least one individual who controls, directly or indirectly, how the traceable monies are spent.

5. The total amount of traceable monies owned or controlled by the covered person on the date the report is made.

6. The identity of each donor of original monies who contributed, directly or indirectly, more than $5,000 of traceable monies or in-kind contributions for campaign media spending during the election cycle to the covered person and the date and amount of each of the donor's contributions.

7. The identity of each person that acted as an intermediary and that transferred, in whole or in part, traceable monies of more than $5,000 from original sources to the covered person and the date, amount and source, both original and intermediate, of the transferred monies.

8. The identity of each person that received from the covered person disbursements totaling $10,000 or more of traceable monies during the election cycle and the date and purpose of each disbursement, including the full name and office sought of any candidate or a description of any ballot proposition that was supported, opposed or referenced in a public communication that was paid for, in whole or in part, with the disbursed monies.

9. The identity of any person whose total contributions of traceable monies to the covered person constituted more than half of the traceable monies of the covered person at the start of the election cycle.

B. After a covered person makes an initial report, each time the covered person spends monies or accepts in-kind contributions totaling an additional $25,000 or more during an election cycle on campaign media spending in statewide campaigns or an additional $15,000 or more on campaign media spending during an election cycle in any other type of campaigns, that covered person shall file with the secretary of state within three days after spending monies or accepting the in-kind contribution a report that discloses any information that has changed since the most recent report was made pursuant to this section.

C. When the information required pursuant to subsection A, paragraphs 1 through 4 of this section has changed since it was previously reported, the changed information shall be reported to the secretary of state within twenty days, except that there is no obligation to report changes that occur more than one year after the most recent report should have been filed pursuant to this section.

D. To determine the sources, intermediaries and amounts of indirect contributions received, a covered person may rely on the information it received pursuant to section 16-972, unless the covered person knows or has reason to know that the information relied on is false or unreliable.

E. When a covered person transfers more than $5,000 in traceable monies to another covered person, or after receiving the required notice under section 16-972, subsection B, fails to opt out of having previously transferred monies used for campaign media spending, a transfer record must be provided to the recipient covered person that identifies each person that directly or indirectly contributed more than $2,500 of the original monies being transferred, the amount of each person's original monies being transferred, and any other person that previously transferred the original monies.

F. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the identity of an original source that is otherwise protected from disclosure by law or a court order or that demonstrates to the satisfaction of the commission that there is a reasonable probability that public knowledge of the original source's identity would subject the source or the source's family to a serious risk of physical harm shall not be disclosed or included in a disclaimer.

G. This section does not require public disclosure of or a disclaimer regarding the identity of an original source that contributes, directly or through intermediaries, $5,000 or less in monies or in-kind contributions during an election cycle to a covered person for campaign media spending.

H. All disclosure reports made pursuant to this section shall be made electronically to the secretary of state and to any other body as directed by law. Officials shall promptly make the information public and provide it to the commission electronically. All disclosure reports are subject to penalty of perjury.

I. Except as provided in subsection J of this section, a political action committee or political party that is a covered person may satisfy the timing requirements for reporting in this section by filing the periodic campaign finance reports as required by law for political action committees and political parties, provided that the disclosures required by this section are included in those periodic reports, including the requirement to identify the original sources of traceable monies who gave, directly or indirectly, and any intermediaries who transferred, directly or indirectly, more than $5,000 in traceable monies to the covered person during the election cycle.

J. If a political action committee or political party that is a covered person spends monies or accepts in-kind contributions within 20 days of an election that would require a report under this section, it shall file a report pursuant to this section within 3 days of that spending or in-kind contribution.