(a) (1)  A committee formed pursuant to § 82013 of the Government Code that pays for the circulation of a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition shall create an Official Top Funders sheet as follows, with all text in a black roman type with a type size of 14 point on a plain, contrasting background, and centered horizontally, except as described below. None of the text shall have its type condensed or have the spacing between characters reduced to be narrower than a normal roman type. Unless otherwise specified, the text shall not be boldface type.

(2) At the top of the sheet shall appear the text “OFFICIAL TOP FUNDERS. Valid only for”, followed by a month and year that starts at most seven days after the date the top contributors as defined in subdivision (c) of § 84501 of the Government Code were last confirmed. This text shall be boldface type and with a type size of at least 16 point.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(3) Next, separated by a blank horizontal line from the text in paragraph (2), shall appear the title of the initiative, referendum, or recall as it appears on the petition, in all capital letters.

(4) (A) Next, separated by a blank horizontal line from the text in paragraph (3), shall appear a disclosure statement in a printed or drawn box with a black border.

(B) At the top of the disclosure statement shall appear the text “Petition circulation paid for by” in boldface text.

(C) Next, on a separate horizontal line, shall appear the name of the committee as it appears on the most recent Statement of Organization filed pursuant to § 84101 of the Government Code. If the committee has any top contributors as defined in subdivision (c) of § 84501 of the Government Code, it shall be followed by a blank horizontal line and then the underlined text “Committee major funding from:”.

(D) The top contributors as defined in subdivision (c) of § 84501 of the Government Code, if any, shall each be disclosed in boldface text on a separate horizontal line separate from any other text, in descending order, beginning with the top contributor who made the largest cumulative contributions, as defined in subdivision (b) of § 84501 of the Government Code, on the first line.

(E) The committee, in its discretion, may include the underlined text “Endorsed by:”, followed by a list, not underlined, of up to three endorsers. The text pursuant to this subparagraph shall be separated from the text above and below it by a blank horizontal line.

(F) The following line shall include the text “Latest Official Top Funders:” followed by either (i) the internet web page on the Secretary of State’s internet website that lists the “Official Top Funders” statements that are reported pursuant to subdivision (f), or (ii) the internet website described in subdivision (c).

(5) If the petition is a state initiative petition, next, separated by at least two blank horizontal lines from the disclosures of paragraphs (4) and (5), shall appear the text “OFFICIAL TITLE AND SUMMARY (SAME AS ON PETITION)”, in boldface text in all capital letters.

(6) If the petition is a state initiative petition, next, starting on a separate horizontal line, shall appear the text “The Attorney General of California has prepared the following circulating title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed measure:”, in boldface text with a type size of 11 point.

(7) If the petition is a state initiative petition, next, starting on a separate horizontal line, shall appear the Attorney General summary of the initiative as it appears on the initiative petition, in plain text with a type size of 11 point.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition that requires voter signatures and for which the circulation is paid for by a committee formed pursuant to § 82013 of the Government Code shall either include a disclosure statement on the petition that is displayed as follows or the circulator for the petition shall present as a separate document the Official Top Funders sheet described in subdivision (a) to a prospective signer of the petition.

(1) The disclosure statement shall have a solid white background and shall be in a printed or drawn box with a black border and shall appear before that portion of the petition for voters’ signatures, printed names, and residence addresses. The text in the disclosure area shall be in a black Arial equivalent type with a type size of at least 10 point, with all lines centered horizontally in the disclosure area.

(2) The top of the disclosure shall include the text “OFFICIAL TOP FUNDERS. Valid only for”, followed by a month and year that starts at most seven days after the date the top contributors as defined in subdivision (c) of § 84501 of the Government Code were last confirmed. The text of this paragraph shall be boldface.

(3) Next shall appear, on a separate horizontal line, the text “Petition circulation paid for by”, followed by the name of the committee as it appears on the most recent Statement of Organization filed pursuant to § 84101 of the Government Code. If the committee has any top contributors as defined in subdivision (c) of § 84501 of the Government Code, it shall be followed by, on a separate horizontal line, the underlined text “Committee major funding from:”.

(4) The top contributors as defined in subdivision (c) of § 84501 of the Government Code, if any, shall each be disclosed in boldface text on a separate horizontal line separate from any other text, in descending order, beginning with the top contributor who made the largest cumulative contributions, as defined in subdivision (b) of § 84501 of the Government Code, on the first line.

(5) The committee, in its discretion, may include the underlined text “Endorsed by:”, followed by a list, not underlined, of up to three endorsers. The text in this paragraph shall be separated from the text above and below it by a blank horizontal line.

(6) The following line shall include the text “Latest info:” followed by the URL for either (A) the internet web page on the Secretary of State’s internet website that lists the “Official Top Funders” statements that are reported pursuant to subdivision (f), or (B) the internet website described in subdivision (c). The text specified in this paragraph shall be underlined.

(c) Any committee formed pursuant to § 82013 of the Government Code that pays for the circulation of a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition may create a page on an internet website that includes both of the following:

(1) A prominent link to the most recent Official Top Funders sheet as described in subdivision (a). The Official Top Funders sheet that the page links to shall be in a format that allows it to be viewed on an internet website and printed out on a single page of paper.

(2) A prominent link to the full text of the initiative or referendum.

(d) The disclosure of a top contributor or endorser pursuant to this section need not include terms such as “incorporated,” “committee,” “political action committee,” or “corporation,” or abbreviations of these terms, unless the term is part of the contributor’s or endorser’s name in common usage or parlance.

(e) If this section requires the disclosure of the name of a top contributor that is a committee pursuant to subdivision (a) of § 82013 of the Government Code and is a sponsored committee pursuant to § 82048.7 of the Government Code with a single sponsor, only the name of the single sponsoring organization shall be disclosed.

(f) A committee that circulates a state initiative, referendum, or recall petition shall submit the Official Top Funders sheet required by subdivision (a), and any updates to that statement, to the Secretary of State, who shall post that statement on the Secretary of State’s internet website along with the previous versions the committee submitted.

(g) This section does not require a local elections official to verify the accuracy of the information required by this section or to re-approve the petition upon any updates the committee makes.

(h) Signatures collected on an initiative, referendum, or recall petition are not invalid solely because the information required by this section was absent or inaccurate.

(i) For purposes of this section, “endorser” means:

(1) A business that has been in existence for at least two years and has had at least one full-time staffer during that period.

(2) A non-profit organization that was not originally created for the purposes of serving as a committee, that has been in existence for at least two years, and either has received contributions from more than 50 donors in that period or has had at least one full-time staffer during that period.

(3) A political party.

(4) An individual, whose name may include their title if they are an elected official or represent one of the organizations described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3).

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 887, Sec. 3. (SB 1360) Effective January 1, 2023.)