Church clarifies Prop8 disclosure

SALT LAKE CITY 2 February 2009 Today The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints clarified erroneous news reports following the
filing of its final report on donations to the ProtectMarriage.com
coalition.

On Friday, 30 January, the Church filed the final report of its
contributions (all of which were non-monetary) to the
ProtectMarriage.com coalition. The report, submitted in advance of the
31 January deadline, details in-kind donations totaling $189,903.58.

The value of the Church's in-kind (non-monetary) contribution is less
than one half of one percent of the total funds (approximately $40
million) raised for the "Yes on 8" campaign. The Church did not make
any cash contribution.

Because media coverage about this filing ran without a comment from
the Church, the following statements of fact from the Church add
context to this story and should help correct the record:

Fox13 (Utah): "The documents show the amount spent by the Mormon
Church is greater than what was initially stated."

Fact: The Church, like other organizations on both sides of the ballot
issue, was required to publicly file these donations by the 31 January
deadline. The Church has been filing required contribution reports
throughout the campaign. Those earlier donations "initially stated"
were filed for specific time periods prior to this last reporting
period, as required by law. Other groups are also filing their final
contribution reports to meet the same deadline.


San Francisco Chronicle : "Mormon church officials, facing an ongoing
investigation by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, Friday
reported nearly $190,000 in previously unlisted assistance to the
successful campaign for Prop. 8, which banned same-sex marriage in
California."
Sacramento Bee : "The disclosure comes amid an investigation by the
state's campaign watchdog agency into whether the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints violated state laws by not fully
disclosing its involvement during the campaign."

Fact: This filing is in no way prompted by an investigation by the
California Fair Political Practices Commission. Many organizations are
filing this week to meet the deadline required by law. We believe we
have complied with California law.


KFMB 760 AM (San Diego) :
"Mormon Church Misstated How Much It Spent in Prop 8 Fight."
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints previously claimed
only about $2,000 was spent in support of the measure."
365Ga y : "Mormon Church admits it spent 100 times more for Prop 8
than reported"

Fact: Again, the previous disclosure of an in-kind donation was to
meet an earlier deadline. In fact, previous filings detailed over
$50,000 out of the total non-monetary contribution of $189,903.58.This
week's filing reported donations that fell within a different time
period and required reporting by the 31 January deadline. Other groups
also made their final contributions reports this week.


Understanding the extent of donations from other organizations may
help the media and the public better understand the context in which
the Church's donations were made.