BILL NUMBER: AB 436	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
	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 add Section 9004.5 to the Elections Code, relating to
elections.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 436, 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 instead require that a new fee from $500 in 2010
to $2,000 in 2016 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 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 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.


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.