BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
AB 651
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 651 (Hueso)
As Amended April 5, 2011
Majority vote
ELECTIONS 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-3
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|Ayes:|Fong, Bonilla, Hall, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Mendoza, Swanson | |Bradford, Charles |
| | | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Logue, Valadao |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, Nielsen |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires professional petition firms, as defined, to
register with the Secretary of State (SOS). Specifically, this
bill :
1)Defines the term, "professional petition firm," as an entity
that pays individuals to circulate petitions and gather
signatures for the purpose of qualifying an initiative for a
state or local election ballot.
2)Requires a professional petition firm to register annually
with the SOS in order to pay individuals to circulate
petitions and collect signatures to qualify an initiative on a
state or local election ballot.
3)Requires the registration of a professional petition firm to
include the full name, address, and partners, owners, or
officers of the firm, and to be accompanied by a registration
fee established by the SOS.
4)Requires the SOS to use the fee revenue to maintain on its
Internet Web site a directory of professional petition firms
and to defray any other associated costs with the requirements
of this bill.
5)Requires a member of a professional petition firm to review
the law relating to obtaining petition signatures with each
AB 651
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paid petition circulator before a paid petition circulator can
obtain any signatures for the firm.
6)Requires a copy of the training materials provided to the
prospective petition firm employees to be submitted by the
firm to the SOS. Requires the firm to submit a statement to
the SOS for each circulator, signed by the circulator and the
individual conducting the review, that the circulator has
received the review.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires every state or local initiative petition to contain a
statement notifying voters of their right to inquire whether
the petition is being circulated by a paid signature gatherer
or volunteer.
2)Establishes a process for proposing initiative measures
submitted to voters in California and sets forth
qualifications for persons who circulate initiative petitions.
3)Provides that a person who is a voter or who is qualified to
register to vote in this state may circulate a state
initiative or referendum petition anywhere within the state.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, likely minor costs to the SOS to establish and
maintain the registration system, at least partially offset by
fees paid by registrants. The SOS indicates that there are
currently less than 20 petition firms operating in the state.
COMMENTS : According to the author, the initiative process has
shifted from what was originally envisioned to be a grassroots
effort to a system heavily influenced by special interests that
spend large sums of money, using paid signature gatherers, to
qualify a measure for the ballot. The author believes that this
bill, by requiring state registration of petition gathering
firms, posing this information on the SOS website, and requiring
these firms to train their workers regarding relevant state law,
will help ensure an open and transparent initiative process.
In support of this bill, the SOS argues that it will ensure that
professional petition firms appropriately educate their
employees about how to comply with the law and will potentially
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decrease fraudulent or illegal practices in signature gathering.
The Capitol Resource Family Impact, in opposition to this bill,
argues that the requirement of firms to register with the SOS is
an assault to California's direct initiative process.
AB 6 (Saldaņa) of 2009, would have required professional
petition firms to register with the SOS and pay a registration
fee. AB 6 (Saldaņa) was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, who
wrote in his veto message, "The people of California often
exercise their important role in government oversight through
the initiative, referendum and recall process. I cannot support
a measure that places an undue burden on reform-minded
Californians."
Analysis Prepared by : Maria Garcia / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0000268