BILL NUMBER:  AB 436
  VETOED	DATE: 10/11/2009




To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 436 without my signature.

This bill would incrementally increase the current fee that
proponents of an initiative are required to pay at the time of
submitting the draft of the measure to the Attorney General (AG).
Under the provisions of this bill the fee would increase from $200 to
$2,000 in 2016.

The original fee was established to deter frivolous filings; this
bill would fundamentally alter the purpose of the fees to instead be
used to pay the administrative costs borne by the AG.  Using the fees
to reimburse the AG for actual costs sets a precedent of allowing
the fees to increase to the point that it would significantly deter
grassroots and volunteer efforts to qualify a measure.  Whether or
not the fee should be increased to reflect an amount that would deter
frivolous filings today is a separate question than how the fees
should be defined and distributed.

For this reason I am unable to sign this bill.

Sincerely,



Arnold Schwarzenegger