ANA Statement on Likely Passage of California SB 1327

May 8, 2024 — Chris Oswald, the ANA's EVP, Head of Law, Ethics, and Government Relations issued the following statement in anticipation of SB 1327 passing out of the California Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee:

"A tax on digital advertising is a tax on the California businesses that depend on such advertising to reach new customers, raising costs and hurting their ability to grow. The proposed ad tax in SB 1327 is particularly pernicious, as it would target the companies that are among the largest sources of both ad revenue and traffic for California's ethnic and independent media outlets, thus choking off the very funding for journalism it claims to protect.

"Worse, this tax could end up costing California residents hundreds of millions of dollars, as similar taxes have been overturned by the courts after being challenged for conflicts with the Constitution and existing federal law, potentially forcing California to refund any money collected, plus interest.

"We urge the California Senate to reject this legally-dubious, costly, and unfair tax on digital advertising, so the state's businesses can continue to afford the advertising they need to succeed."

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ABOUT THE ANA

The mission of the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) is to drive growth for marketing professionals, brands and businesses, the industry, and humanity. The ANA serves the marketing needs of 20,000 brands by leveraging the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda, which has been endorsed by the Global CMO Growth Council. The ANA’s membership consists of U.S. and international companies, including client-side marketers, nonprofits, fundraisers, and marketing solutions providers (data science and technology companies, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, suppliers, and vendors). The ANA creates Marketing Growth Champions by serving, educating, and advocating for more than 50,000 industry members that collectively invest more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually.