Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
94th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2023 SENATE BILL 585 3
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By: Senator C. Tucker 5
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For An Act To Be Entitled 7
AN ACT TO REQUIRE REPORTING AN D DISCLOSURE OF 8
ELECTIONEERING COMMU NICATIONS; TO RESTRI CT THE AMOUNT 9
OF MONEY SPENT ON CA MPAIGN COMMUNICATION S PRODUCED IN 10
COORDINATION WITH A CANDIDATE FOR OFFICE ; TO AMEND 11
THE LAW CONCERNING C AMPAIGN FINANCE CONT RIBUTIONS; 12
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 13
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Subtitle 16
TO REQUIRE REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE OF 17
ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS; AND TO 18
RESTRICT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY SPENT ON 19
CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCED IN 20
COORDINATION WITH A CANDIDATE FOR OFFICE. 21
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 24
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 7, Chapter 6, Subchapter 2, is amended 26
to add an additional section to read as follows: 27
7-6-232. Coordinated communications. 28
(a)(1) A coordinated communication is an in -kind contribution to the 29
candidate, political party, ballot question committee, or independent 30
expenditure committee who or to the candidate, political party, ballot 31
question committee, or independent expenditure committee whose authorized 32
committee or agent cooperate d, consulted, requested, suggested, or acted in 33
concert with: 34
(A) The person making the coordinated communication or his 35
or her authorized agent; or 36 SB585
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(B) The person making the expenditure for the coordinated 1
communication or his or her authorized ag ent. 2
(2) The in-kind contribution under subdivision (a)(1) of this 3
section shall be subject to the contribution limits set forth under § 7 -6-4
203. 5
(b)(1) As used in this section, "coordinated communication" means a 6
political advertisement or communicat ion funded by expenditures that contain 7
express advocacy or the functional equivalent of express advocacy made: 8
(A) In cooperation or consultation between: 9
(i)(a) A candidate or his or her authorized 10
committee or agent; 11
(b) A political part y or its authorized agent; 12
(c) A ballot question committee; or 13
(d) An independent expenditure committee; and 14
(ii) The person making the: 15
(a) Communication or his or her authorized 16
agent; or 17
(b) Expenditure for the communication or his 18
or her authorized agent; 19
(B) In concert with or at the request or suggestion of: 20
(i) A candidate or his or her authorized committee 21
or agent; 22
(ii) A political party or its authorized agent; 23
(iii) A ballot question committee; or 24
(iv) An independent expenditure committee. 25
(2) "Coordinated communication" does not include: 26
(A) A candidate's, a political party committee's, a ballot 27
question committee's, or an independent expenditure committee's response to 28
an inquiry about that candidate's, political party committee's, ballot 29
question committee's, or independent expenditure committee's positions on 30
legislative or policy issues unless the response or the inquiry concerns the 31
plans, projects, activities, or needs of the campa ign; 32
(B) Unless the public communication promotes, supports, 33
attacks, or opposes the endorsing candidate or another candidate who seeks 34
election to the same office the endorsing candidate is seeking, a public 35
communication: 36 SB585
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(i) In which a candidate endorses another candidate; 1
and 2
(ii) That is made by the endorsing candidate; 3
(C) Unless the public communication promotes, supports, 4
attacks, or opposes the soliciting candidate or another candidate who seeks 5
election to the same office the soliciting candidate is seeking, a public 6
communication: 7
(i) In which a candidate solicits funds: 8
(a) For another candidate; 9
(b) For a political committee; or 10
(c) On behalf of an organization concerning a 11
state or local election in a manner corresponding to the circumstances set 12
forth in 11 C.F.R. § 300.65; and 13
(ii) That is made by the soliciting candidate; or 14
(D) A public communication in which a candidate is clearly 15
identified only in his or her capacity as the owner o r operator of a business 16
that existed prior to the candidacy if: 17
(i) The medium, timing, content, and geographic 18
distribution of the public communication are consistent with public 19
communications made prior to the candidacy; and 20
(ii) The public communication does not promote, 21
support, attack, or oppose the communicating candidate or another candidate 22
who seeks election to the same office the communicating candidate is seeking. 23
(c)(1) In making a determination as to whether a communication is a 24
coordinated communication, the Arkansas Ethics Commission shall consider the 25
following without limitation: 26
(A) Whether the coordinated communication was paid for, in 27
whole or in part, by a person other than the candidate or his or her agent, 28
the candidate's authorized committee or its agent, or a political party or 29
its agent; 30
(B) Whether the content of the coordinated communication 31
is a public communication that republishes, disseminates, or distributes, in 32
whole or in part, campaign materials prepar ed by a candidate or a candidate's 33
campaign committee other than a photograph or other likeness of the candidate 34
obtained from a publicly available source; and 35
(C) Whether the conduct of the coordinated communication 36 SB585
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meets one (1) or more of the follow ing standards: 1
(i) The coordinated communication was created, 2
produced, or distributed at the request or suggestion of the candidate or his 3
or her agent, the candidate's committee or its agent, or the political party 4
or its agent; 5
(ii) The coordinated communication was created, 6
produced, or distributed at the request or suggestion of the person paying 7
for the communication, and the candidate or his or her agent, the candidate's 8
committee or its agent, or the political party or its agent approves t he 9
request or suggestion; 10
(iii) The candidate or his or her agent, the 11
candidate's committee or its agent, or the political party or its agent was 12
materially involved in decisions regarding the content, intended audience, 13
means or mode of the coordina ted communication, specific media outlet used, 14
timing, frequency, size, or prominence of the coordinated communication; or 15
(iv) The coordinated communication was created, 16
produced, or distributed after one (1) or more substantial discussions about 17
the communication between the person paying for the communication or the 18
employees or agents of that person and: 19
(a) The candidate or his or her agent; 20
(b) The candidate's committee or its agent; 21
(c) The political party or its agent; 22
(d) A ballot question committee; or 23
(e) An independent expenditure committee. 24
(2) As used in this section, "candidate" means the candidate who 25
is positioned to benefit from the coordinated communication, whether the 26
coordinated communication prom otes that candidate or criticizes his or her 27
opponent. 28
(d)(1) A person or an entity is an authorized agent of a candidate, a 29
candidate's committee, or a political party under this section if the person 30
or entity: 31
(A) Has actual authorization, either expressed or implied, 32
from a specific principal to engage in specific activities; and 33
(B) Engages in the activities on behalf of that specific 34
principal. 35
(2) If the activities carried out by an authorized agent would 36 SB585
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result in a coordinated communication if carried out directly by the 1
candidate, authorized committee staff, or a political party official, the 2
activities of the authorized agent result in a coordinated communication. 3
(e) As used in this section: 4
(1)(A) "Political advertiseme nt" means any campaign 5
communication: 6
(i) That is in any form, including without 7
limitation the following medias: 8
(a) Broadcast; 9
(b) Satellite; 10
(c) Cable; 11
(d) Electronic; 12
(e) Digital; 13
(f) Written; 14
(g) Print; 15
(h) Graphic; and 16
(i) Design; 17
(ii) That is publicly distributed; 18
(iii) Except as provided in subdivision (e)(1)(B) of 19
this section, that the person or committee making the advertisement or 20
communication pays money for the production or dissemination of the 21
advertisement or communication; 22
(iv) That refers to a clearly identified candidate 23
for public office; 24
(v) That is targeted to the relevant electorate for 25
that candidate; and 26
(vi) For which the only reasonable interpretat ion of 27
the advertisement or communication is that the advertisement or communication 28
is an attempt to influence a vote for or against a specific candidate or 29
specific set of candidates. 30
(B)(i) Payment of money under subdivision (e)(1)(A)(iii) 31
of this section does not include: 32
(a) Utility payments for telephone or internet 33
service made by the person or committee making the advertisement or 34
communication; or 35
(b) The costs of producing copies of flyers, 36 SB585
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handbills, or other documents to be distr ibuted by hand by one (1) or more 1
volunteers. 2
(ii) Payment of money under subdivision 3
(e)(1)(A)(iii) of this section includes without limitation money paid to a 4
person in exchange for the distribution by hand of printed advertisement or 5
printed communication such as door hangers or push cards. 6
(C) In making a determination under subdivision 7
(e)(1)(A)(vi) of this section, the Arkansas Ethics Commission shall consider: 8
(i) Whether the advertisement or communication 9
offers preferential support fo r or criticism of a clearly identified 10
candidate for office; 11
(ii) The proximity between the date of the 12
advertisement or communication and the date of the election for the clearly 13
identified candidate for office; and 14
(iii) Any other factor the co mmission deems relevant 15
to its determination. 16
(D) "Political advertisement" does not include any 17
communication that: 18
(i) Unless the facilities are owned or controlled by 19
any political party, political committee, or candidate, appears in a news 20
story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of any: 21
(a) Broadcast, cable, satellite radio, or 22
television station; or 23
(b) Newspaper, magazine, print media, or 24
internet media business; 25
(ii) Constitutes an independent expenditure that is 26
reported as required under this subchapter; 27
(iii) Constitutes a candidate debate or forum 28
conducted, or that solely promotes such a debate or forum and is made by or 29
on behalf of the person sponsoring the debate or forum; 30
(iv) Is disseminated as a flyer, handbill, or other 31
document distributed by hand by one (1) or more volunteers; 32
(v) Is disseminated by an organization to the 33
organization's own membership as reflected in the organizations membership 34
records or to person s who have requested to receive communications from the 35
organization for the purpose of indicating candidates whom the organization 36 SB585
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supports in an upcoming election; or 1
(vi) Is disseminated by a person or committee on the 2
official website or social me dia account maintained by the person or 3
committee making the advertisement or communication; 4
(2) "Refers to a clearly identified candidate" means that the 5
candidate's name, nickname, photograph, or drawing appears, or the identity 6
of the candidate is ot herwise apparent through an unambiguous reference such 7
as "the Governor", "your county judge", or "the incumbent", or through an 8
unambiguous reference to his or her status as a candidate such as "the 9
Republican nominee for Governor" or "the Democratic cand idate for Secretary 10
of State in the State of Arkansas"; and 11
(3) "Targeted to the relevant electorate" means: 12
(A) If the advertisement or communication is publicly 13
distributed by a broadcast, cable, satellite radio, or television station or 14
by a newspaper, magazine, or other print media, the advertisement or 15
communication can be seen, heard, or read: 16
(i) By at least twenty -five thousand (25,000) 17
viewers, listeners, or readers in the state, in the case of a candidate for 18
statewide office; 19
(ii) By at least ten percent (10%) of a county, 20
municipality, or district population, in the case of a candidate for a county 21
office, municipal office, school district board of directors, or other 22
district office that is not the Senate or the House of Rep resentatives; or 23
(iii) By at least two thousand five hundred (2,500) 24
viewers, listeners, or readers in the district, in the case of a candidate 25
for the Senate or the House of Representatives; 26
(B) If the advertisement or communication is publicly 27
distributed by direct mail, electronic mail, telephone, or by hand by a 28
person who has been paid to distribute the advertisement or communication, 29
the advertisement or communication is sent to or distributed to: 30
(i) At least two thousand five hundred ( 2,500) 31
individuals in the state, in the case of a candidate for statewide office; 32
(ii) At least one percent (1%) of a county, 33
municipality, or district population, in the case of a candidate for a county 34
office, municipal office, school district board of directors, or other 35
district office that is not the Senate or the House of Representatives; or 36 SB585
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(iii) At least two hundred and fifty (250) 1
individuals, in the case of a candidate for the Senate or the House of 2
Representatives; or 3
(C) If the advertisement or communication is publicly 4
distributed by internet website, the advertisement or communication is 5
intended to be viewed by: 6
(i) At least two thousand five hundred (2,500) 7
individuals in the state, in the case of a candidate for statewide office; 8
(ii) At least one percent (1%) of a county, 9
municipality, or district population, in the case of a candidate for a county 10
office, municipal office, school district board of directors, or other 11
district office that is not the Senate or the Hous e of Representatives; or 12
(iii) At least two hundred and fifty (250) 13
individuals, in the case of a candidate for the Senate or the House of 14
Representatives. 15
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