AN ACT CONCERNING ACCOUNTABILITY IN CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 9-601 of the general statutes is amended by adding subdivisions (28) to (30), inclusive, as follows (Effective October 1, 2007):

(NEW) (28) "Valid citation" means an identifiable reference to publicly accessible records including, but not limited to, transcripts or recordings of proceedings, public speeches or statements, news reports, articles and editorials, or other sources that can be located and accessed by the general public through the information provided in such citation.

(NEW) (29) "Altered or fabricated representation" means the visual or auditory representation of a candidate that is (A) altered such that the effect is to portray an individual other than such candidate or an image significantly different from that of such candidate, or (B) an individual, other than the candidate, who is posing as the candidate.

(NEW) (30) "Robotic call" means an unsolicited telephone call placed to a resident by an automatic dialing-announcing device that, working alone or with other equipment, disseminates a recorded or synthesized voice message to the telephone number called.

Sec. 2. Section 9-621 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2007):

(a) No individual shall make or incur any expenditure with the cooperation of, at the request or suggestion of, or in consultation with any candidate, candidate committee or candidate's agent, and no candidate or committee shall make or incur any expenditure for any written, typed or other printed communication, or any web-based, written communication, which (1) promotes the success or defeat of any candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election or solicits funds to benefit any political party or committee unless such communication bears upon its face [(1)] (A) the words "paid for by" and the following: [(A)] (i) In the case of such an individual, the name and address of such individual; [(B)] (ii) in the case of a committee other than a party committee, the name of the committee and its campaign treasurer; (iii) in the case of a candidate committee a photograph of the candidate that is not less than four square inches; or [(C)] (iv) in the case of a party committee, the name of the committee, and [(2)] (B) the words "approved by" and the following: [(A)] (i) In the case of an individual making or incurring an expenditure with the cooperation of, at the request or suggestion of, or in consultation with any candidate, candidate committee or candidate's agent, the name of such individual; or [(B)] (ii) in the case of a candidate committee, the name of the candidate; (2) promotes the defeat of any candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election unless such communication bears a valid citation for each vote, quote or stated position or opinion ascribed to such; or (3) promotes the defeat of any candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary and contains an altered or fabricated representation of such candidate. No candidate or candidate committee or exploratory committee established by a candidate shall make or incur any expenditure for a mailing to promote the success of said candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election or the defeat of another candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election, unless the mailing contains a photograph of the candidate conducting the mailing and said candidate's name in a font that is not less than the size of the font used for the narrative of the mailing.

(b) In addition to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section:

(1) No candidate or candidate committee or exploratory committee established by a candidate shall make or incur any expenditure for television advertising or Internet video advertising, which promotes the success of such candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election or the defeat of another candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election, unless (A) at the end of such advertising there appears simultaneously, for a period of not less than four seconds, (i) a clearly identifiable photographic or similar image of the candidate making such expenditure, (ii) a clearly readable printed statement identifying such candidate, and indicating that such candidate has approved the advertising, and (iii) a simultaneous, personal audio message, in the following form: "I am .... (candidate's name) and I approved this message", and (B) the candidate's name and image appear in, and the candidate's voice is contained in, the narrative of the advertising, before the end of such advertising;

(2) No candidate or candidate committee or exploratory committee established by a candidate shall make or incur any expenditure for radio advertising or Internet audio [advertising] or Internet video, which promotes the success of such candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election or the defeat of another candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election, unless (A) the advertising ends with a personal audio statement by the candidate making such expenditure (i) identifying such candidate and the office such candidate is seeking, and (ii) indicating that such candidate has approved the advertising in the following form: "I am .... (candidate's name) and I approved this message", and (B) the candidate's name and voice are contained in the narrative of the advertising, before the end of such advertising; [and]

(3) No individual shall make or incur any expenditure with the cooperation of, at the request or suggestion of, or in consultation with any candidate, candidate committee, or candidate's agent, and no candidate, candidate committee or candidate's exploratory committee shall make or incur any expenditure for television advertising, Internet video or Internet audio, or radio advertising communication that promotes the defeat of any candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary (A) if such communication contains an altered or fabricated representation intended to promote the defeat of a candidate for public office, and (B) unless such communication includes a valid citation for each vote, quote or stated position or opinion ascribed to such candidate;

(4) No business entity, candidate or candidate committee or individual acting independently or on behalf of a campaign or political committee or other organization or association shall use, authorize, or otherwise cause the use of any device to generate a robotic call to promote the success or defeat of a candidate for public office unless the recorded or synthesized message contained in such call clearly identifies, in its first seven seconds, the individual or organization that authorized or otherwise caused such robotic call to be placed; and

[(3)] (5) No candidate or candidate committee or exploratory committee established by a candidate shall make or incur any expenditure for [automated telephone] robotic calls which promote the success of such candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election or the defeat of another candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election, unless the candidate's name and voice are contained in the narrative of the call, before the end of such call.

(c) No business entity, organization, association, committee, or group of two or more individuals who have joined solely to promote the success or defeat of a referendum question and is required to file a certification in accordance with subsection (d) of section 9-605, shall make or incur any expenditure for (1) any written, typed or other printed communication which promotes the success or defeat of any referendum question unless such communication bears upon its face the words "paid for by" and the following: [(1)] (A) In the case of a business entity, organization or association, the name of the entity, organization or association and the name of its chief executive officer; [(2)] (B) in the case of a political committee, the name of the committee and the name of its campaign treasurer; [(3)] (C) in the case of a party committee, the name of the committee; or [(4)] (D) in the case of such a group of two or more individuals, the name of the group as it appears on the certification filed in accordance with subsection (d) of section 9-605, and the name and address of its agent, or (2) any television advertising, Internet video or Internet audio, or any radio advertising which promotes the success or defeat of any referendum question unless such communication bears a valid citation for each vote, quote or stated position or opinion included in such communication.

(d) The provisions of subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section do not apply to (1) any editorial, news story, or commentary published in any newspaper, magazine or journal on its own behalf and upon its own responsibility and for which it does not charge or receive any compensation whatsoever, (2) any banner, (3) political paraphernalia including pins, buttons, badges, emblems, hats, bumper stickers or other similar materials, or (4) signs with a surface area of not more than thirty-two square feet.

(e) The campaign treasurer of a candidate committee which sponsors any written, typed or other printed communication for the purpose of raising funds to eliminate a campaign deficit of that committee shall include in such communication a statement that the funds are sought to eliminate such a deficit.

(f) The campaign treasurer of an exploratory committee or candidate committee established by a candidate for nomination or election to the office of Treasurer which committee sponsors any written, typed or other printed communication for the purpose of raising funds shall include in such communication a statement concerning the prohibitions set forth in subsection (n) of section 1-84, subsection (f) of section 9-612 and subsection (f) of section 9-613.

(g) In the event a campaign treasurer of a candidate committee is replaced pursuant to subsection (c) of section 9-602, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the candidate committee from distributing any printed communication subject to the provisions of this section that has already been printed or otherwise produced, even though such communication does not accurately designate the successor campaign treasurer of such candidate committee.

Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2007) At the time that a candidate for the office of Governor, Secretary of the State, State Comptroller, Attorney General, State Treasurer, state senator or state representative files his or her candidacy pursuant to section 9-400 of the general statutes and at the time that a candidate for Lieutenant Governor is nominated, the State Elections Enforcement Commission shall provide any such candidate with a form that contains a copy of the "Connecticut Code of Fair and Truthful Campaign Conduct", as described in this section. Concomitantly, the commission shall inform such candidate that subscription to the code is voluntary. Such code printed on the form provided to candidates pursuant to this section, shall read as follows:

"Connecticut Code of Fair and Truthful Campaign Conduct

I shall conduct my campaign and, to the extent reasonably possible, insist that my campaign employees and volunteers conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the best Connecticut and American democratic traditions, discussing the issues and presenting my record and policies with sincerity, accuracy and candor.

I shall uphold the right of every qualified voter to free and equal participation in the election process.

I shall not participate in and I shall condemn defamation of and other attacks on any opposing candidate or party that I do not believe to be truthful, provable and relevant to my campaign.

I shall not use or authorize and I shall condemn material relating to my campaign that falsifies, misrepresents or distorts the facts, including, but not limited to, malicious or unfounded accusations creating or exploiting doubts as to the morality, patriotism or motivations of any party or candidate.

I shall not originate or spread any malicious or unfounded accusations against any candidate which are aimed at creating or exploiting doubts on the part of the public or that seek to proliferate the misrepresentation or distortion of facts to influence public perception of any party or candidate.

I shall not appeal to and I shall condemn appeals to prejudices based on the race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age or national origin of any other candidate.

I shall not practice and I shall condemn practices that tend to corrupt or undermine the system of free election or that hamper or prevent the free expression of the will of the voters.

I shall promptly and publicly repudiate the support of any individual or group that resorts, on behalf of my candidacy or in opposition to that of an opponent, to methods in violation of the letter or spirit of this code.

I, the undersigned, candidate for election to public office in the State of Connecticut, hereby voluntarily endorse, subscribe to and solemnly pledge to conduct my campaign in accordance with the above principles and practices."

Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2007) (a) The State Elections Enforcement Commission shall print, or cause to be printed, copies of the Connecticut Code of Fair and Truthful Campaign Conduct established pursuant to section 3 of this act for distribution to registered candidates or otherwise make such form available to candidates electronically.

(b) The commission shall accept, at all times prior to election day, completed code forms provided such forms have been (1) notarized, signed and sworn by the candidate submitting the form, or (2) signed by a candidate and signed by an authorized staff member of the commission who has witnessed such candidate's signature.

(c) The commission shall: (1) Retain for public inspection all completed code forms accepted by the commission pursuant to this section, (2) maintain a list of candidates who have subscribed to the code, and (3) post such list on the commission's web site and make such list available to the public in both paper and electronic form, upon request.

Statement of Purpose:

To ensure accountability and candidate identification for campaign ads, campaign mail and automated campaign phone calls.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]

S.B. 547