BILL NUMBER: AB 6 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Saldana
DECEMBER 1, 2008
An act to add section Section 9023
to the Elections Code, relating to elections.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 6, as amended, Saldana. Initiatives: paid circulators.
Existing law regulates the process of proposing initiative
measures to the people and sets forth qualifications for persons who
circulate initiative petitions in the state.
This bill would require a professional petition firm, as defined,
that pays petition circulators to gather signatures for state or
local ballot initiatives to register with the Secretary of State and
pay an unspecified a registration fee
to be established by the Secretary of State . The bill
would require the Secretary of State to use the fees collected to
provide mandatory training regarding laws relating to
petition circulation to designated officers of each firm. The
Secretary of State would also be required to maintain a
directory of professional petition firms on its website
Internet Web site, as well as to defray costs
associated with these requirements .
This bill would require an officer a
member of the firm to brief petition circulators on the
relevant law regarding circulation of petitions as a condition of
hiring and to submit to the Secretary of State a statement signed by
each petition circulator and the member who conducted the
briefing that he or she the petition
circulator has received the briefing , as well as the
training materials provided to the petition circulator in connection
with the briefing .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 9023 is added to the Elections Code, to read:
9023. (a) For purposes of this section, a "professional petition
firm" means an entity that pays individuals to circulate petitions
and gather signatures for the purpose of qualifying an initiative on
a state or local election ballot.
(b) A professional petition firm shall register annually with the
Secretary of State in order to be eligible to pay individuals to
circulate petitions and collect signatures in order to qualify an
initiative on a state or local election ballot. Registration shall
include the full name, address, and partners, owners, or officers of
the firm. This information shall be accompanied by a registration
fee of $__. fee to be established by the
Secretary of State.
(c) Money collected from registration fees shall be used by the
Secretary of State to develop and conduct a training course that
covers the relevant law pertaining to signature gathering and a
designated officer of each professional petition firm shall attend
the training course. The Secretary of State shall also use
registration fees to maintain on its Internet Website a directory of
professional petition firms.
(d) An officer of the professional petition firm who has completed
the training course described in subdivision (c) shall
(c) The Secretary of State shall use the registration fees to
maintain on its Internet Web site a directory of professional
petition firms and to defray any other costs associated with its
requirements as described in this section.
(d) A member of a
professional petition firm shall review the law relating to
obtaining petition signatures, including prohibitions, with each paid
petition circulator, individually or in a group, as a condition of
their his or her hiring. A copy of
the training materials provided to the paid circulators shall be
submitted by the firm to the Secretary of State. A statement,
signed by a paid petition circulator and the individual who
conducted the review , that they have
that the paid petition circulator has received the review,
required by this subdivision, of the relevant law relating to
obtaining petition signatures, shall be submitted by the professional
petition firm to the Secretary of State.
(e) Nothing in this section shall abridge or restrict the
provisions of Section 9021.