BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2698|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2698
Author: Assembly Local Government Committee
Amended: 6/6/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/13/12
AYES: Wolk, Dutton, DeSaulnier, Fuller, Hernandez, Kehoe,
La Malfa, Liu
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/21/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Local government: reorganization
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill proposes several changes to laws
affecting local government organization and reorganization.
ANALYSIS : The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government
Reorganization Act delegates the Legislature's power to
control the boundaries of cities and special districts to
local agency formation commissions (LAFCOs). The courts
call LAFCOs the Legislature's watchdog over local boundary
changes.
This bill makes changes to state laws affecting local
agency formation commissions (LAFCOs) and local
governments' boundaries.
1.Protest provisions . This bill reorganizes protest
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provisions of the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government
Reorganization Act of 2000.
2.Goleta West Sanitary District . The Act requires a LAFCO
to order the consolidation of districts, dissolution,
merger, or a reorganization that includes any of these
changes, without an election, pursuant to state law. The
Act exempts the Goleta Sanitary District or the Goleta
West Sanitary District from these provisions. This bill
repeals this exemption, which expired January 1, 2003.
3.Spheres of influence . The Act requires a LAFCO to
determine the sphere of influence (SOI) of each local
governmental agency and to enact policies that promote
local and orderly development of areas within SOIs. This
bill requires a LAFCO to develop and determine the SOI of
each city and each special district that is subject to
the LAFCO's jurisdiction.
4.Revise and recast . If a LAFCO has initiated a change of
organization or reorganization that affects more than one
special district, the commission may utilize, and is
encouraged to utilize, a reorganization committee to
review the proposal. This bill moves this provision from
the statute dealing with district consolidations that are
initiated by special districts' governing boards to the
statute pertaining to the formation of reorganization
committees. The bill also revises and recasts several
provisions related to the initiative of a change of
organization or reorganization that affects more than one
special district.
5.Waiver of protest proceedings . The Act authorizes a
LAFCO to approve changes in organization or
reorganization proposals, if proposals are consistent
with a LAFCO's adopted written policies, procedures, and
guidelines. A LAFCO must require voter-approval of a
change in organization or reorganization that includes an
incorporation or disincorporation.
This bill provides that voter approval is required for a
change of organization or reorganization that consists of
an incorporation or disincorporation. The bill provides
specific protest standards for district dissolution,
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consolidation of two or more districts, certain
reorganizations, and the merger or establishment of a
subsidiary district. The bill also authorizes the waiver
of protest proceedings under specified circumstances and
sets forth procedures that apply to those waivers,
including specified notice mailings. The bill exempts
from voter approval a change of organization that
includes a dissolution, except if the proposal meets
certain requirements subject to protest procedures.
6.Technical amendments . This bill makes other technical
and conforming changes.
Comments
As practitioners find problems with the
Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act, they ask for statutory
improvements. These minor problems do not warrant separate
(and expensive) bills. According to the Legislative
Analyst, in 2001-02 the cost of producing a bill was
$17,890.
Legislators respond by combining several of these minor
topics into an annual "omnibus bill." Although this
practice may violate a strict interpretation of the
single-subject and germaneness rules as presented in
Californians for an Open Primary v. McPherson (2006), it is
an expeditious and relatively inexpensive way to respond to
multiple requests. Last year's LAFCO clean-up bill was AB
2795 (Assembly Local Government Committee, 2010).
When statutory problems appear in the state law affecting
LAFCOs, the Assembly Local Government Committee avoids
legislative costs by combining several changes to the state
laws into a single, consensus bill. By carefully reviewing
each item with the affected parties, the Committee also
avoids controversy. The changes made by this bill don't
raise statewide policy questions. This bill makes a
complex statute easier for property owners, residents, and
local officials to use.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 6/14/12)
California Association of Local Agency Formation
Commissions
Coalition of California LAFCOs
El Dorado Local Agency Formation Commission
Riverside Local Agency Formation Commission
San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/21/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill, Huber,
Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fletcher, Roger Hernández, Perea
AGB:nl 6/14/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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