AP16:011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2016
CONTACT: Sam Mahood
(916) 653-6575
Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation
Sales Tax on Political Advertisements. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures today.
The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:
SALES TAX ON POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Imposes a 1,000 percent sales tax on political advertising delivered within the State of California. Exempts from tax the first one million dollars in spending within a calendar year by a single entity or group of related entities. Political advertising includes, but is not limited to, all media spending by political parties, political action committees, or candidates. Requires that proceeds of the tax be used for public education. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Unknown increase in state revenues to be provided to public educational entities, assuming that the measure goes into effect after voter approval, executive branch implementation decisions, and court challenges. (15-0106.)
The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1765 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 15-0106.
The proponent of the measure, Terrance Lynn, must collect the signatures of 585,407 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the November 2016 ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials by July 11, 2016. The proponent can be reached at contact@theterrylynn.com. No phone number was provided.
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