BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 680
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 18, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 680 (Block) - As Amended: May 5, 2011
Policy Committee: Higher
EducationVote:8-0
Elections 6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires that trustees of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca
Community College District (GCCCD) governing board be elected by
trustee area rather than at-large. Specifically, this bill:
1)Specifies that the board be composed of between five and nine
members and that boundaries for the trustee areas be those
established by the board or the county committee on school
district reorganization prior to January 1, 2012, to reflect
2010 U.S. Census data.
2)Specifies that trustee elections shall coincide with state
primary and general elections and that the two candidates in
each trustee area receiving the highest number of votes in the
primary election shall be nominees for the general election.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible state costs, as the bill was requested by the GCCCD,
who will bear any costs for its implementation, and potential
significant one-time savings to the district in avoiding the
costs of an election seeking approval to change from at-large to
trustee-area representation.
COMMENTS
1)Background . The California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) prohibits
an at-large method of election from being imposed or applied
in a political subdivision in a manner that impairs the
ability of a protected class of voters to elect the candidate
AB 680
Page 2
of its choice or to influence the outcome of an election, as a
result of the dilution or the abridgement of the rights of
voters who are members of the protected class. Since the
enactment of the CVRA in 2002, a number of local jurisdictions
have converted, or are in the process of converting, from an
at-large method of election to district-based elections.
Existing law permits the State Board of Education (SBE) to
waive all or part of any section of the Education Code, with
certain exceptions, upon request by the governing board of a
school district or county board of education. Some school
districts that have sought to move from at-large elections to
district-based elections since the enactment of the CVRA have
applied for and received a waiver from the requirement that
the change from at-large to district elections be approved by
the voters of the district, the saving the cost of such an
election.
AB 684 (Block), a bill passed by this committee last week,
enacts a similar waiver process by the California Community
Colleges Board of Governors for community college districts.
2)Purpose . In contrast to AB 684, this bill, requested by the
GCCCD, provides for the election of trustees by area in
statute. This is intended to allow the district to immediately
proceed with trustee-area election beginning with the June
2012 primary.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081