BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1200
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( Without Reference to File )
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1200 (Ma)
As Amended February 28, 2012
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(June 2, 2011) |SENATE: |31-1 |(March 1, 2012) |
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(vote not relevant)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |6-0 |(March 5, 2012) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
|(E. & R. ) | | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: E.S. & T.M.
SUMMARY : Makes numerous substantive changes to state laws
governing the conduct of central committee elections.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill, and
instead:
1)Eliminate a requirement for elections officials to issue a
certificate of election to each elected member of a political
party's county central committee.
2)Permit the chairperson of the county central committee, his or
her immediate predecessor, or a designee of the chairperson or
his or her immediate predecessor, to administer the oath of
office or affirmation to members of the county central committee.
Repeal a requirement that no fee be charged by any person before
whom such an oath is taken or subscribed.
3)Repeal a provision of law that allows the county central
committee for the Democratic Party in Sacramento County to
provide for the election of 25 central committee members to
represent individual central committee districts, as specified,
and instead require the elected members of the county central
committee to be elected by supervisor districts with six members
elected from each district, as specified.
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4)Require the elected members of the county central committee for
the Democratic Party in Alameda County to be elected by Assembly
districts, with the number of members elected from each district
determined based on the number of votes cast in the portion of
the district located in Alameda County for the Democratic
candidate for Governor at the last gubernatorial election, as
specified.
5)Provide that of the 24 members of the county central committee
for the Democratic Party in the City and County of San Francisco,
14 shall be elected from the Assembly district in San Francisco
that has a majority of registered Democrats in the city and
county, and 10 shall be elected from the Assembly district that
has the minority of registered Democrats, instead of requiring 12
members to be elected each from Assembly Districts 12 and 13.
6)Provide that of the 25 members of the county central committee
for the Republican Party in the City and County of San Francisco,
the Assembly district that consists of the majority of the
registered Republicans in the city and county shall elect 13
members plus one additional member for each four percent of the
registered Republicans in the district above a majority of the
registered Republicans in the city and county, and the remainder
of the members shall be elected from the Assembly district that
consists of the minority of the registered Republicans, instead
of requiring 13 members to be elected from Assembly District 12
and 12 members from Assembly District 13.
7)Repeal requirements that the newly elected chairperson of a
Republican county central committee notify the elections official
of his or her name and that the election official mail a
certificate to that effect to the Secretary of State (SOS).
8)Repeal a requirement that the county central committee for the
American Independent Party in Los Angeles County meet at its
county seat in a centrally located public auditorium sufficient
to accommodate its membership. Repeal a requirement that county
central committees for the American Independent Party in all
other counties meet in the courthouse at the county seat.
Transfer the responsibility for calling a meeting of each county
central committee of the American Independent Party from the
elections official of the county to the chairperson of the county
central committee, or his or her immediate predecessor.
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9)Repeal a requirement that the SOS, under specified circumstances,
ascertain who the chairperson is for the state central committee
of the Peace and Freedom Party and mail a certificate to that
effect to the elections official of each county.
10)Provide, for the June 5, 2012, statewide primary election only,
that a signer of a nomination paper for a candidate for the
Sacramento Democratic Central Committee, the San Francisco
Democratic Central Committee, or the San Francisco Republican
Central Committee, need not reside in the district in which the
candidate is to be voted on as long as the signer is a resident
of the county and is registered as disclosing a preference for
the political party of the central committee to which the
candidate is seeking to be elected.
11)Add an urgency clause, allowing this bill to take effect
immediately upon enactment.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required a local public agency
operating a combined sewer and stormwater system to implement a
notification plan to inform the public of a discharge from the
system that occurred near a recreational beach.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 1200 (Ma) makes various
changes to the method of electing central committees in response to
the impacts of the new top 2 primary process and recent
redistricting.
"AB 1200 makes several changes to ease the administrative
challenges for local election officials. First, it eliminates
certificates of election for central committees. These are
ceremonial documents not required for the political parties to
conduct their business. Second, it transfers the responsibility
for swearing in their members from the local election officials to
the parties themselves. Third, it eliminates a unique provision
that places special responsibilities on local election officials to
organize the first meetings of the American Independent Party.
"AB 1200 also makes several changes to the organization of various
county central committees in response to the new district
boundaries. For San Francisco, AB 1200 changes references to
Assembly Districts 12 and 13 to Assembly Districts 19 and 17
respectively, and makes changes to the proportional make-up. For
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Sacramento, AB 1200 changes the method of organizing the Democratic
central committee from Assembly District to Supervisorial District.
For Alameda, AB 1200 changes the method of organizing its central
committees from having an equal number of members from each
Assembly District to a proportional system."
This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the
Assembly-approved provisions of this bill were deleted. As a
result, this bill was re-referred to the Assembly Elections and
Redistricting Committee pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2, and that
committee subsequently recommended that the Assembly concur in the
Senate amendments to this bill.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0003140