BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 651|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 651
Author: Hueso (D) et al.
Amended: 7/11/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONSTIT. AMEND. COMM : 3-2, 06/08/11
AYES: Correa, De León, Lieu
NOES: La Malfa, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-24, 04/25/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Initiatives: paid circulators: registration
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires professional petition firms,
as defined, to register with Secretary of State (SOS).
Specifies that the failure to register would be punishable
by a fine of $10,000, and failure to submit required
training or verification materials would be punishable by a
fine of $5,000.
Senate Floor Amendments of 7/11/11 provide that the bill
would only ban a person from being involved with petition
circulation if they were convicted within the previous 10
years for a crime relating to petition circulation.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Requires every state or local initiative petition to
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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.
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. Specifies that
the SOS may seek a civil penalty not exceeding $10,000
from a firm that fails to register.
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 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
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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.
7.Allows the SOS to seek a civil penalty of $5,000 from a
firm that fails to submit a statement of verification and
training materials to the SOS as required.
8.Provides that a person who has been convicted of perjury
or other crimes related to the circulation of petitions
shall not be permitted to operate a professional petition
firm or gather signatures for an initiative petition.
9.Provides that a contract for circulating a petition or
collecting signatures for a proposed state or local
initiative, referendum, or recall measure that is to be
submitted to the voters is void if it makes payment to
any person under the contract contingent upon the measure
being qualified for the ballot. This bill applies only
to a contract entered into after the effective date of
this bill.
Prior Legislation
AB 6 (Saldaña) of 2009, would have required professional
petition firms to register with the SOS and pay a
registration fee. AB 6 (Saldaña) 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."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/12/11)
Secretary of State
San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council
The Human Society of the United States
The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center
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OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/12/11)
Capitol Resource Family Impact
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
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 decrease fraudulent or illegal practices in
signature gathering.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : 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.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes,
Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hernández,
Hill, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez,
Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly, Fletcher,
Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth, Valadao, Wagner
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NO VOTE RECORDED: Achadjian, Furutani, Gorell, Huber,
Olsen, Vacancy
DLW:nl 7/12/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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