BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
AB 651
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 651 (Hueso)
As Amended August 29, 2011
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |50-24|(April 25, |SENATE: |23-16|(August 31, |
| | |2011) | | |2011) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY : Requires professional petition firms, as defined, to
register with the Secretary of State (SOS) and establishes
penalties for non-compliance. 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
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
AB 651
Page 2
individual conducting the review, to verify that the
circulator has received the review.
The Senate amendments permit the SOS to seek penalties from a
professional petition firm that fails to comply with the
provisions of this bill, as follows:
1)A civil penalty not exceeding $10,000 from a firm that fails
to register with the SOS;
2)A civil penalty not exceeding $5,000 from a firm that fails to
submit training materials to the SOS; and,
3)A civil penalty not exceeding $5,000 from a firm that fails to
submit a statement to the SOS verifying that each paid
petition circulator has received a review of the law relating
to obtaining petition signatures.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill did not specify penalties
for a professional petition firm that failed to comply with the
provisions of this bill, but otherwise was similar to the
version approved by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
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, posting this information on the SOS Web site, 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.
The Capitol Resource Family Impact, in opposition to this bill,
argues that the requirement of firms to register with the SOS is
AB 651
Page 3
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 : Ethan Jones and Maria Garcia / E. & R.
/ (916) 319-2094
FN: 0002363