California 2021-2022 Regular Session Status: Enacted

SB 746 — Political Reform Act of 1974: business entities: online advocacy and advertisements.

Last action — Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 876, Statutes of 2022.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed Assembly
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 19, 2021. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 70% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 9 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing and related matters, including by prohibiting, limiting, or requiring disclosure of certain political activities and by regulating certain political advertisements. This bill, beginning on January 1, 2024, would require a business entity to submit a report to the Secretary of State following any calendar year in which the business entity used its products or services to alter its online search results to emphasize or deemphasize materials containing express advocacy, or to target online advertisements to individuals or groups, or generally to users or members of the public, for political purposes and without full and adequate consideration. The bill would require the report to contain certain information relating to the search results and advertisements, as specified. The bill would require reports to be filed on paper or by email with the Secretary of State, and to be made publicly available in a conspicuous location on the Secretary of State's website. These provisions would not apply to a business entity's use of its products or services exclusively to carry out its commercial activities, including delivering user-generated content or a paid advertisement on behalf of another person, or to communications that are internal to a business entity or entities. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose 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 23 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.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 876, Statutes of 2022.

  2. Approved by the Governor.

  3. Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.

  4. Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 5382.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.

  5. In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.

  6. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate.

  7. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  8. Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

  9. From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (August 17).

  10. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on ELECTIONS.

  11. Re-referred to Com. on ELECTIONS pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2.

  12. Ordered to third reading.

  13. Read third time and amended.

  14. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  15. From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (August 10).

  16. August 3 hearing postponed by committee.

  17. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  18. Re-referred to Com. on ELECTIONS pursuant to Assembly Rule 96.

  19. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.

  20. Referred to Com. on P. & C.P.

  21. In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.

  22. Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 29. Noes 6. Page 2806.) Ordered to the Assembly.

  23. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  24. Ordered to second reading.

  25. From inactive file on motion of Senator Skinner.

  26. Ordered to inactive file on request of Senator Skinner.

  27. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  28. Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

  29. From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 1203.) (May 20).

  30. Set for hearing May 20.

  31. April 19 hearing: Placed on APPR suspense file.

  32. Set for hearing April 19.

  33. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 1. Page 688.) (April 6). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  34. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  35. Set for hearing April 6.

  36. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  37. Referred to Com. on JUD.

  38. Joint Rule 55 suspended. (Ayes 32. Noes 4. Page 272.)

  39. (Ayes 32. Noes 4.)

  40. Art. IV. Sec. 8(a) of the Constitution dispensed with.

  41. Read first time.

  42. From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 24.

  43. Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

Sponsors

  • Skinner · Primary

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 121 not signed on · 3 voted No

Sponsors (1)

  • Skinner

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (121)

121 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 121 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

SB 746 Skinner Senate Third Reading By Gabriel

Passed 78 Yea · 0 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 32000
Unaffiliated 38001
Republican 8001
Total 78002
% of votes cast 98%0%0%3%
How each member voted (80)
Member Party Vote
Bloom — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Holden — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Wood — Yea
Smith — Yea
Cunningham — Yea
Voepel — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Villapudua — Yea
Salas — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Low — Yea
Levine — Yea
Daly — Yea
Gray — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Kiley — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
Ting — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Medina — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Mayes — Yea
Cooper — Not Voting
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Jim Patterson — Yea
Luz Rivas — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Vince Fong — Yea
Wendy Carrillo — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Alvarez, David Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Bauer-Kahan, Rebecca Democratic Yea
Bennett, Steve Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Boerner, Tasha Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Bryan, Isaac G. Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Fong, Mike Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Haney, Matt Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Lee, Alex Democratic Yea
McKinnor, Tina Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Nguyen, Stephanie Democratic Yea
Petrie-Norris, Cottie Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Ramos, James C. Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Rubio, Blanca E. Democratic Yea
Ward, Christopher M. Democratic Yea
Weber Pierson, M.D., Akilah Democratic Yea
Wicks, Buffy Democratic Yea
Wilson, Lori D. Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Davies, Laurie Republican Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Not Voting
Gallagher, James Republican Yea
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea
Seyarto, Kelly Republican Yea
Valladares, Suzette Martinez Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Unfinished Business SB746 Skinner Concurrence

Passed 36 Yea · 0 Nay · 4 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 12001
Republican 4000
Unaffiliated 20003
Total 36004
% of votes cast 90%0%0%10%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Bates — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Roth — Yea
Gonzalez — Yea
Hueso — Yea
Wilk — Yea
Pan — Yea
Glazer — Yea
Min — Yea
Rubio — Yea
Newman — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Kamlager — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Borgeas — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Dodd — Not Voting
Nielsen — Not Voting
Melendez — Not Voting
Allen, Benjamin Democratic Yea
Archuleta, Bob Democratic Yea
Becker, Josh Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Not Voting
Cortese, Dave Democratic Yea
Durazo, Maria Elena Democratic Yea
Hurtado, Melissa Democratic Yea
Laird, John Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Umberg, Thomas J. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Grove, Shannon Republican Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Yea
Ochoa Bogh, Rosilicie Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass.

Passed 15 Yea · 0 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 6001
Democratic 7000
Republican 2000
Total 15001
% of votes cast 94%0%0%6%
How each member voted (16)
Member Party Vote
Levine — Yea
Holden — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Not Voting
Vince Fong — Yea
Wendy Carrillo — Yea
Bryan, Isaac G. Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Fong, Mike Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Yea
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Weber Pierson, M.D., Akilah Democratic Yea
Wilson, Lori D. Democratic Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Davies, Laurie Republican Yea

Official roll call →

3rd Reading

Passed 29 Yea · 6 Nay · 5 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 13000
Unaffiliated 16304
Republican 0301
Total 29605
% of votes cast 73%15%0%13%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Pan — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Kamlager — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Dodd — Yea
Gonzalez — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Roth — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Glazer — Yea
Rubio — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Newman — Yea
Hueso — Yea
Wilk — Nay
Melendez — Nay
Nielsen — Nay
Borgeas — Not Voting
Bates — Not Voting
Min — Not Voting
Bradford — Not Voting
Allen, Benjamin Democratic Yea
Archuleta, Bob Democratic Yea
Becker, Josh Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Cortese, Dave Democratic Yea
Durazo, Maria Elena Democratic Yea
Hurtado, Melissa Democratic Yea
Laird, John Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Umberg, Thomas J. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Not Voting
Grove, Shannon Republican Nay
Jones, Brian W. Republican Nay
Ochoa Bogh, Rosilicie Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Do pass as amended

Passed 5 Yea · 2 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 4100
Democratic 1000
Republican 0100
Total 5200
% of votes cast 71%29%0%0%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Wieckowski — Yea
Kamlager — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Bates — Nay
Laird, John Democratic Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Placed on suspense file

Passed 7 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 5000
Republican 1000
Democratic 1000
Total 7000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Kamlager — Yea
Bates — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Laird, John Democratic Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]

Passed 9 Yea · 1 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 3001
Democratic 6000
Republican 0100
Total 9101
% of votes cast 82%9%0%9%
How each member voted (11)
Member Party Vote
Hertzberg — Yea
Gonzalez — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Borgeas — Not Voting
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Durazo, Maria Elena Democratic Yea
Laird, John Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Umberg, Thomas J. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Subjects

elections technology
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Frequently asked questions

What does SB 746 do?
Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing and related matters, including by prohibiting, limiting, or requiring disclosure of certain political activities and by regulating certain political advertisements. This bill, beginning on January 1, 2024, would require a business entity to submit a report to the Secretary of State following any calendar year in which the business entity used its products or services to alter its online search results to emphasize or deemphasize materials containing express advocacy, or to target online advertisements to individuals or groups, or generally to users or members of the public, for political purposes and without full and adequate consideration. The bill would require the report to contain certain information relating to the search results and advertisements, as specified. The bill would require reports to be filed on paper or by email with the Secretary of State, and to be made publicly available in a conspicuous location on the Secretary of State's website. These provisions would not apply to a business entity's use of its products or services exclusively to carry out its commercial activities, including delivering user-generated content or a paid advertisement on behalf of another person, or to communications that are internal to a business entity or entities. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose 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 23 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.
Who sponsors SB 746?
SB 746 is sponsored by Skinner.
What is the current status of SB 746?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 19, 2021. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 746?
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