BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  ACA 10
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          Date of Hearing:   August 8, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                     ACA 10 (Gatto) - As Amended:  April 9, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:4-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This measure proposes to amend the California Constitution to:

          1)Require that, in order for an initiative that amends the state 
            constitution to qualify for the ballot, the petition for that 
            initiative must include signatures equal to eight percent of 
            the votes cast for candidates for governor in the last 
            election from each of 27 Senatorial districts, in addition to 
            the existing requirement to obtain signatures equal to eight 
            percent of the votes cast for candidates for governor 
            statewide in that election.

          2)Require an initiative measure that proposes to amend the 
            Constitution-except for a measure repealing a previously 
            adopted amendment-to receive minimum 55% vote for approval by 
            the voters.

          3)Provides that an initiative measure proposing to repeal a 
            previously adopted constitutional amendment may be approved on 
            a majority vote.

           FISCAL EFFECT 

          1)One-time GF costs of about $220,000 to include an analysis of 
            this measure, and arguments for and against the measure, in 
            the state voter pamphlet.

          2)Likely significant increase in costs to county elections 
            officials to verify signatures according to Senate Districts. 
            Because this mandate would be established only upon voter 
            approval of this constitutional amendment, these costs would 
            not be state reimbursable.








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           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . According to the author, "A supermajority to amend 
            the Constitution is different from a supermajority to pass 
            other laws. A constitution is not a statute; it is a governing 
            document that sets forth basic rights and government 
            structures. If a constitution can be amended by a simple 
            majority, there is no constitution. Any reform or any right 
            can be altered or taken away in the very next election. Had 
            California's rules been in place nationally, there are several 
            times in history where the public would have overturned the 
            First Amendment.

          "Furthermore, because California lacks a geographic distribution 
            requirement for petition signatures, initiative proponents 
            often gather all of their signatures in the State's largest 
            urban population centers, permitting urban voters to decide 
            which initiatives make the ballot. Requiring signatures to be 
            gathered from urban and rural areas of the state would force 
            proponents to illustrate statewide interest and appeal for 
            their proposals, just as ratification of U.S. constitutional 
            amendments by 3/4 of the states ensures approval by the many 
            states?"

           2)Some History  . Since the creation of the initiative process, 
            the voters have approved 51 initiative measures that proposed 
            amendments to the constitution. Of this total, 34 received 
            more than 55% of the vote. In the last 25 years, 12 of the 23 
            initiative constitutional amendments approved by the voters 
            have received more than 55% of the vote. Among the high 
            profile initiatives that passed but did not receive 55% of the 
            vote are: Prop. 98 of 1988 (school funding); Prop. 140 of 1990 
            (term limits); Prop. 209 of 1996 (affirmative action); Prop. 8 
            of 2008 (same-sex marriage); and Prop. 11 of 2008 
            (Redistricting Commission).

           3)Geographic Distribution of Signatures  . According to 
            information from NCSL, of the 24 states that have the 
            initiative process, 12 require some sort of geographic 
            distribution requirement for signatures on an initiative 
            petition in order for that measure to qualify for the ballot. 
            These geographic distribution requirements typically require 
            initiative proponents to collect a specified number of 
            signatures in a certain number of counties, legislative 








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            districts, or congressional districts. Federal courts have 
            struck down other states' laws that had county-based 
            requirements.

            Nevada's county-based geographic distribution requirement was 
            struck down by federal courts, but that state's subsequent law 
            requiring a congressional district-based distribution 
            requirement was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 
            which ruled that it did not suffer from the same deficiencies 
            as the county-based distribution requirement because the 
            congressional district-based requirement "grants equal 
            political power to?districts having equal populations," unlike 
            the county-based requirement. The distribution requirement in 
            ACA 10 is analogous to this Nevada law, because the geographic 
            distribution requirement is based on Senate districts that 
            have equal populations.

           4)Opposition . The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the 
            California Taxpayers Association object to making the 
            initiative process more difficult in the manner of ACA 10.

           5)Related Legislation  . ACA 11 (Gatto) of 2011, which requires an 
            initiative measure amending the state constitution to receive 
            55% of the vote in order to be approved, unless the measure 
            repeals a previously adopted constitutional amendment, was 
            held on this committee's Suspense File.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081