Senate Study Bill 1160 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON SMITH) A BILL FOR An Act relating to political and campaign ethics, including 1 the reporting of certain gifts and bequests received by the 2 executive branch and attribution statements on published 3 materials, and making penalties applicable. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 2158XC (4) 88 ss/jh

S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 8.7, Code 2019, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 8.7 Reporting of gifts and bequests received. 3 All gifts and bequests with a value of fifty dollars or 4 more received by a department or accepted by the governor on 5 behalf of the state shall be reported within twenty days of 6 receiving the gift or bequest to the Iowa ethics and campaign 7 disclosure board and the general assembly’s standing committees 8 on government oversight , using the board’s internet reporting 9 system . The Iowa ethics and campaign disclosure board shall, 10 by January 31 of each year, submit to the fiscal services 11 division of the legislative services agency a written report 12 listing all gifts and bequests received during the previous 13 calendar year with a value over one thousand dollars and the 14 purpose for each such gift or bequest. The submission shall 15 also include a listing of all gifts and bequests received by a 16 department from a person if the cumulative value of all gifts 17 and bequests received by the department from the person during 18 the previous calendar year exceeds one thousand dollars, and 19 the Iowa ethics and campaign disclosure board shall include, if 20 available, the purpose for each such gift or bequest. However, 21 the reports on gifts or bequests filed by the state board of 22 regents and the Iowa state fair board pursuant to section 8.44 23 shall be deemed sufficient to comply with the requirements of 24 this section . 25 Sec. 2. Section 68A.405, subsection 1, paragraph a, 26 unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2019, is amended to read as 27 follows: 28 For purposes of this subsection section : 29 Sec. 3. Section 68A.405, subsection 1, paragraph a, 30 subparagraph (3), Code 2019, is amended to read as follows: 31 (3) “Published material” means any newspaper, magazine, 32 shopper, outdoor advertising facility, poster, direct mailing, 33 brochure, internet site, campaign sign, or any other form of 34 printed or electronic general public political advertising. 35 -1- LSB 2158XC (4) 88 ss/jh 1/ 3

S.F. _____ “Published material” includes television, video, or motion 1 picture advertising , automated telephone calls, or text 2 messages . 3 Sec. 4. Section 68A.405, subsection 1, paragraph h, Code 4 2019, is amended to read as follows: 5 h. (1) If Except as provided in subparagraph (2), if the 6 published material is the result of an independent expenditure 7 subject to section 68A.404 , the published material shall 8 include a statement that the published material was not 9 authorized by any candidate, candidate’s committee, or ballot 10 issue committee. 11 (2) Published material that is the result of an expenditure 12 by a political party, as defined in section 43.2, designed to 13 expressly advocate the nomination, election, or defeat of a 14 candidate for public office shall include the words “published 15 on behalf of” and the name of the political party’s candidate 16 for that office. 17 EXPLANATION 18 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 19 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 20 This bill relates to political and campaign ethics, 21 including the gift-reporting requirements of the executive 22 branch and attribution statement requirements on published 23 materials. 24 Currently, all gifts and bequests received by a department 25 or accepted by the governor on behalf of the state are required 26 to be reported to the Iowa ethics and campaign disclosure board 27 and the general assembly’s standing committees on government 28 oversight. Each year, the board is required to submit a report 29 to the legislative services agency listing all of the gifts and 30 bequests received during the previous year with a value of over 31 $1,000 as well as all gifts and bequests a department receives 32 from a person if the cumulative value of the gifts and bequests 33 from the person to the department exceeds $1,000 during the 34 previous calendar year. 35 -2- LSB 2158XC (4) 88 ss/jh 2/ 3

S.F. _____ The bill limits the reporting requirement to gifts and 1 bequests with a value of $50 or more. The bill requires the 2 recipient reports to the board to be filed electronically 3 within 20 days of receiving the gift or bequest using the 4 board’s internet reporting system. The bill eliminates 5 the filing requirement with the general assembly’s standing 6 committees on government oversight. 7 Under Code chapter 68A (campaign finance), published 8 material designed to expressly advocate the nomination, 9 election, or defeat of a candidate for public office or the 10 passage or defeat of a ballot issue is required to include an 11 attribution statement indicating who is responsible for the 12 published material. The bill adds automated telephone calls 13 and text messages to the definition of “published material”. 14 The bill also requires published material that is published 15 by a political party to state that it is published on behalf 16 of that party’s candidate for an office if the published 17 material expressly advocates the nomination, election, 18 or defeat of a candidate for that office. A person who 19 violates a provision of Code chapter 68A is subject to civil 20 penalties imposed by the Iowa ethics and campaign disclosure 21 board, including remedial action, a reprimand, and a civil 22 penalty of up to $2,000. In addition, a person who willfully 23 violates a provision of Code chapter 68A is guilty of a 24 serious misdemeanor. A serious misdemeanor is punishable by 25 confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least 26 $315 but not more than $1,875. 27 -3- LSB 2158XC (4) 88 ss/jh 3/ 3