AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 2026

AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 11, 2026

AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 23, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

96

Introduced by Assembly Members Berman and Blanca Rubio

February 20, 2025

An act to amend Section 84513 of the Government Code, relating to the Political Reform Act of 1974.

Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: yes

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, requires a person paid by a committee to post content supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot measure on an internet website, web application, or digital application to include a disclaimer stating that they were paid by the committee in connection with the post, except as specified. Existing law requires the committee to notify the person paid to post the content of this requirement. Existing law authorizes the Fair Political Practices Commission to seek injunctive relief to compel compliance with this disclaimer requirement. Existing law exempts a person who violates the disclaimer requirement from administrative, civil, and criminal penalties established by the act.

This bill would remove the exemption for administrative, civil, and criminal penalties and instead provide that if the required disclaimer is not included, the person paid to post the content and the committee who paid them are jointly and severally liable for any administrative or civil penalties incurred for the violation. The bill would require the committee to inform the person that failure to include the disclaimer may result in penalties under the Political Reform Act of 1974. The bill would also require the committee to include a statement on their campaign report, as specified, that the payment was provided for a paid thirty party post.

A violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 is punishable as a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime under the act, the bill would establish a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act’s purposes upon a ⅔ vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements.

This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 84513 of the Government Code is amended to read:

84513.

(a) (1) If a committee pays a person to post content on an internet website, web application, or digital application for the purpose of supporting or opposing a candidate for elective office or a ballot measure, the person shall concurrently include a disclaimer with that content stating that the person was paid by the committee in connection with the posting.

(2) The disclaimer required by this subdivision shall be readily legible to an average viewer or, if the content is in audio format, shall be clearly audible. A disclaimer that states, or is substantially similar to, the following satisfies the requirement in this subdivision: “The author was paid by [name of committee and committee identification number] in connection with this posting.”

(3) This subdivision does not apply to the following:

(A) Content requiring a disclosure pursuant to Section 84504.3 or subdivision (c) of Section 84511.

(B) Content posted on the committee’s own website, profile, or landing page by a person compensated by the committee to post such content.

(C) Content posted by a compensated employee of a committee on the employee’s own social media page or account where if the only expense or cost of the communication is compensated staff time. This exception shall not apply if the compensated employee of the committee’s principal duties are to post content on their own social media page or account.

(b) A committee described in subdivision (a) shall notify the person paid to post the content of the requirement to include a disclaimer and that failure to include the disclaimer may result in penalties under the Political Reform Act of 1974.

(c) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, if a person accepts payment from a committee to post content that is subject to subdivision (a), and does not include the required disclaimer, that person and the committee shall be jointly and severally liable for any civil or administrative penalties incurred for the violation.

(2) If a person violates subdivision (a), the Commission may seek injunctive relief to compel compliance pursuant to Section 90009 after the person is notified of the requirement in subdivision (a).

(d) If a committee pays a person as described in subdivision (a) and that payment is required to be reported on a campaign report pursuant to subdivision (k) of Section 84211 of the Government Code, the committee shall include on the campaign report a statement that the payment was provided for a paid third party third-party post.

SEC. 2.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.

SEC. 3.

The Legislature finds and declares that this bill furthers the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974 within the meaning of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the Government Code.