MILD
SB 384
CAMPAIGN FINANCE DISCLOSURE
- Legislative URL:
- SB 384 on nmlegis.gov
- Emergency Clause:
- No
- Germane:
- N/A
- Location:
- SRC
- Action:
- [3] SRC/SJC-SRC API.
- Issue(s):
- General Interest
Companion Bills
- Bills:
-
CAMPAIGN FINANCE DISCLOSURE
Related Legislators
- Bill Sponsor:
- Peter Wirth James Smith
Related Documents
- Downloads:
-
Introduced
Fiscal Impact Report
Summary
This bill requires reporting of independent expenditures and covered transfers in excess of $1,000.
- “Independent expenditures” are expenditures made by a person other than a candidate or campaign committee to pay for an advertisement that advocates the election or defeat of a candidate or the passage or defeat of a ballot measure.
- “Covered transfers” are payments for independent expenditures, coordinated expenditures or contributions to one or more candidates, campaign committees or political committees, or for making a transfer to another person for the purpose of making or paying for such independent expenditures or contributions.
Independent expenditures and covered transfers shall be reported electronically using software provided or approved by the Secretary of State.
The bill requires authorization and funding source disclosures for political advertisements costing more than $3,000. And it broadly defines “advertisement” to include a communication referring to a candidate, ballot measure or election that is published, disseminated, distributed or displayed to the public by print, broadcast, satellite, cable or electronic media, including recorded phone messages, or by printed materials, including mailers, handbills, signs and billboards, and that can reasonably be expected to be seen or heard by at least five hundred persons.
The bill also defines, or redefines, a variety of other terms, including “coordinated expenditure,” “political committee” and “political party.”
It increases the civil penalties for violations of the Campaign Reporting Act to as much as $1,000 for each violation not to exceed a total of $20,000. And it clarifies that a referral from the Secretary of State is not required in order for the attorney general or district attorney to institute a civil action in district court.
A possible benefit this bill might be increased disclosure of various forms of campaign contributions and the potential for more rigorous enforcement of the Campaign Reporting Act.