BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  ACA 15
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 20, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                 ACA 15 (Arambula) - As Introduced:  March 10, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              Local  
          GovernmentVote:5-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill lowers the constitutional vote requirement for  
          approval of a special tax to provide funding for local  
          transportation projects from two-thirds to a 55% majority. 

           FISCAL EFFECTS  

          1)Moderate GF costs of about $220,000 in 2009-10 to the  
            Secretary of State to place this measure in the statewide  
            election voter pamphlet. This estimate assumes about four  
            pages at $55,000 per page.

          2)Potentially substantial local government special tax revenue  
            increase, to the extent that lowering the voter approval  
            threshold from 2/3 to 55% results in the approval of more  
            special tax measures.

           COMMENTS    

           1)Background  . Constitutional requirements for voter approval of  
            tax measures were initiated with the passage of Proposition 13  
            in 1978, and solidified with the passage of Proposition 218 in  
            1996.  The latter measure clarified that general taxes for  
            general governmental purposes require approval of a majority  
            of voters, while special taxes for any specified purposes must  
            be approved by two-thirds of voters.
           
           2)Purpose  .  The author claims that this Constitutional Amendment  
            will provide local government and residents with the ability  
            to make vital investments in local transportation projects  
            while providing economic stimulus to their region.  The author  








                                                                  ACA 15
                                                                  Page  2

            also asserts that tax measures receiving the support of a  
            strong majority a community are "at the mercy of a small  
            minority of the voters and often fail by narrow margins."


           3)Related legislation  . This year there are several other  
            measures revising voting thresholds for various local  
            purposes. These include ACA 10 (Torlakson), ACA 9 (Huffman),  
            SCA 12 (Kehoe), and SCA 6 (Simitian).

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081