AB 436 Assembly Bill

BILL NUMBER: AB 436	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 14, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Saldana
    (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member  
Huffman   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to  amend Section 9004 of   add
Section 9004.5 to  the Elections Code, relating to elections.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 436, as amended, Saldana. Elections: initiatives.
   Existing law requires that the proponents of an initiative measure
submit a draft of the measure to the Attorney General for
preparation of a summary of its chief purposes and points. Under
existing law, the proponents are required to also submit at that time
a $200 fee that is held in trust and refunded to the proponents if
the measure qualifies for the ballot within a specified time period,
but the fee is paid to the General Fund if the measure fails to
qualify.
   This bill would  increase  instead require
 that  a new  fee  in specified amounts every 2
years from $200   from $500 in 2010  to $2,000 in
2016  and   be paid in lieu of current fees. The
bill  would require the fee to be  refunded if the measure
qualifies for the ballot within 2 years and to be  deposited
into the General Fund  and   if it does not
qualify,  to be used to reimburse the Attorney General for the
costs of preparing the title and summary of proposed initiative
measures.  The bill would delete the provision for
reimbursement of the proponent if the measure qualified for the
ballot.  The bill would require in 2018 that the Attorney
General biennially review the fee and increase it in accordance with
an increase in the California Consumer Price Index.
   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 9004.5 is added to the 
 Elections Code   , to read:  
   9004.5.  (a) Notwithstanding Section 9001 or 9004 or any other
provision of law, on or after January 1, 2010, the proponents of an
initiative measure, at the time of submitting the draft of the
measure to the Attorney General, shall pay in lieu of all other fees,
a fee to the Attorney General in accordance with the following
schedule:
   (1) Five hundred dollars ($500), beginning January 1, 2010.
   (2) One thousand dollars ($1,000), beginning January 1, 2012.
   (3) One thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), beginning January
1, 2014.
   (4) Two thousand dollars ($2,000), beginning January 1, 2016.
   (b) A fee received under subdivision (a) shall be placed into a
trust fund in the office of the Treasurer and refunded to the
proponents if the measure qualifies for the ballot within two years
from the date the summary is furnished to the proponents. If the
measure does not qualify within that period, the fee shall be paid
into the General Fund of the state for reimbursement of the costs
incurred by the Attorney General for preparing the title and summary
of proposed initiative measures.
   (c) Beginning in 2018, the Attorney General shall annually review
the amount of the fee required by this section and every two years,
beginning in 2018, shall increase the fee in an amount equaling an
increase in the California Consumer Price Index as determined
pursuant to Section 2212 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. 

  SECTION 1.    Section 9004 of the Elections Code
is amended to read:
   9004.  (a) Upon receipt of a draft of a petition, the Attorney
General shall prepare a summary of the chief purposes and points of
the proposed measure. The summary shall be prepared in the manner
provided for the preparation of ballot titles in Article 5
(commencing with Section 9050), the provisions of which in regard to
the preparation, filing, and settlement of titles and summaries are
hereby made applicable to the summary.
   (b) The Attorney General shall provide a copy of the title and
summary to the Secretary of State within 15 days after receipt of the
final version of a proposed initiative measure, or if a fiscal
estimate or opinion is to be included, within 15 days after receipt
of the fiscal estimate or opinion prepared by the Department of
Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee pursuant to
Section 9005. If during the 15-day period, the proponents of the
proposed initiative measure submit amendments, other than technical,
nonsubstantive amendments, to the final version of the measure, the
Attorney General shall provide a copy of the title and summary to the
Secretary of State within 15 days after receipt of the amendments.
   (c) The proponents of an initiative measure, at the time of
submitting the draft of the measure to the Attorney General, shall
pay a fee of five hundred dollars ($500) beginning January 1, 2010;
one thousand dollars ($1,000) beginning January 1, 2012; one thousand
five hundred dollars ($1,500) beginning January 1, 2014; and two
thousand dollars ($2,000), beginning January 1, 2016. The fee shall
be immediately paid into the General Fund of the state for
reimbursement of the costs incurred by the Attorney General for
preparing the title and summary of proposed initiative measures. The
Attorney General shall annually review the amount of the fee required
by this subdivision and every two years, beginning in 2018, shall
increase it in an amount equaling any increase in the California
Consumer Price Index as determined pursuant to Section 2212 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code.