BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1851|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1851
Author: Allen (D)
Amended: 8/6/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONSTITUT. AMEND. COMM : 5-0, 7/3/12
AYES: Correa, La Malfa, Gaines, Lieu, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/10/12 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : County, city, and district initiative petitions
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires county elections officials to
allow for public access to the proponent's county,
municipal, or special district initiative measure materials
that are filed with the elections officials pursuant to
current law. Specifically, this bill requires county
elections officials to (1) keep on file these materials
until the day after it is determined the initiative
petition does not qualify, the day after the election, or
the day after the proposed ordinance is adopted by the
appropriate governing board, and (2) furnish copies of the
materials to any person upon request. Elections officials
may charge a fee not exceeding the actual cost of providing
the copies.
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AB 1851
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ANALYSIS : Existing law permits a proposed ordinance to
be submitted to a county board of supervisors, a
legislative body of a city, or a governing board of a
district by filing an initiative petition with the
appropriate elections official, signed by not less than a
specified number of voters. Under existing law, before a
proponent of a county or city initiative measure may
circulate an initiative petition for signatures, he or she
is required to file specified materials with the elections
official, including a notice of intention to do so and the
written text of the initiative. Under existing law, before
a proponent of a district initiative measure may circulate
an initiative petition for signatures, he or she is
required to publish or post a notice of intention to do so
and a statement of the reasons for the initiative petition.
From the time materials pertaining to a county, city, or
district initiative petition are filed until the day after
the elections official determines that the initiative
petition does not contain the minimum number of signatures
required, the day after the election at which the
initiative measure is put before the voters, or the day
after the proposed ordinance is adopted by the relevant
governing body, as applicable, this bill would require an
elections official to retain at his or her office specified
materials filed by the proponents of the measure and to
furnish a copy of those materials to any person upon
request.
This bill permits an elections official to charge a fee to
a person obtaining copies of these materials, as specified.
The bill would also require a proponent of a district
initiative measure to file specified materials, including
the written text of the measure, with the district
elections official prior to circulating the initiative
petition for signatures.
Comments
The author notes that, once the title and summary has been
furnished to the proponents, the elections official is not
required to retain the materials described above on file as
a matter of public record. AB 1851 is intended to increase
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AB 1851
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transparency and make as much information as possible
available to voters by requiring that these materials be
kept on file and made available to anyone, for a fee, while
the initiative is being circulated or is pending before the
voters.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/10/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Pan, Perea,
Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook, Fletcher, Furutani, Jeffries,
Norby, Olsen, V. Manuel Pérez
DLW:n 8/7/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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