BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1021
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          Date of Hearing:   May 18, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                AB 1021 (Gordon) - As Introduced:  February 18, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:5-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill,  as proposed to be amended  , requires that specific 
          language be provided for the title and summary of a state 
          initiative petition and be included in the analysis of a state 
          proposition if the estimated fiscal impact of a proposed 
          initiative or proposition meets specified criteria. 
          Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires-if determined by the Legislative Analyst's Office 
            (LAO) that the fiscal impact of a proposed initiative or a 
            proposition, respectively, would (a) establish a new or 
            expanded program, (b) cost more than $1 million in any year, 
            and (c) not provide new revenues or eliminate or reduce other 
            programs sufficient to offset the new costs-that a statement 
            be provided to the Attorney General for potential inclusion in 
            the title and summary for an initiative petition and that a 
            similar statement be included in the analysis of a proposition 
            provided in the state ballot pamphlet.

            The statement would say that it has been determined "?this 
            measure does not include sufficient funds to pay the cost of 
            the new program or expanded program or service provided 
            herein. Therefore, should the measure pass, its cost would 
            have to be supported from one or more of the following:
               1)     Reductions to existing state programs.
               2)     Revenue increases.
               3)     State reserves, if available."

          1)Requires the LAO, in preparing the analysis of a proposition, 
            to:

             a)   Include the estimated percentage of the state General 








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               Fund that the measure would cost and use visual aids where 
               appropriate.

             b)   Use a uniform method in each analysis, to the extent 
               practicable, to describe the estimated increase or decrease 
               in cost or revenue of each proposition.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible fiscal impact. For every additional page required in 
          the state ballot pamphlet, the cost is $66,000. However, the 
          Secretary of State's (SOS's) office formats the Voter 
          Information Guide in 16-page increments, thus there is often 
          blank space available for additional information. Moreover, 
          additional pages would likely not be necessary solely to include 
          the additional language specified in this bill.
           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . According to the author, "AB 1021 would require 
            greater transparency in the fiscal analysis of initiatives by 
            adding advisories to the fiscal impact statement for petitions 
            and the ballot pamphlet if the measure does not provide 
            adequate funding or corresponding reductions to fund 
            implementation.  The democratic process requires transparency 
            and an honest evaluation of the cost of government.  
            Accordingly, this bill aims to give voters a better 
            understanding of the fiscal impact of initiatives proposed for 
            or placed on a ballot."

           2)Related Legislation  . AB 65 (Gatto), which passed the Assembly, 
            requires that the top five contributors of $50,000 or more to 
            each committee supporting or opposing a proposition be listed 
            in the state ballot pamphlet.

            AB 732 (Buchanan), also on today's committee agenda, requires 
            that, for state bond measures, an explanatory table be 
            included for each measure summarizing the LAO's estimate of 
            the measure's fiscal impact.

           3)Amendments  proposed by the author simply clarify language in 
            the statement to be included in the voter pamphlet.

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










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