BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 202 (Hancock)
Hearing Date: 9/9/2011 Amended: 9/8/2011
Consultant: Maureen Ortiz Policy Vote: N/A
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 202 provides that all initiatives or
referendum measures that are certified for the ballot on or
after July 1, 2011 will be placed on the ballot only at a
November statewide general election or at a statewide special
election. SB 202 also requires the Secretary of State to submit
ACA 4 of the 2009-10 Regular Session to the voters at the
November 4, 2014 statewide general election, and makes related
changes.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Ballot initiatives ----unknown costs in general
elections offset by
savings in primary elections
in even numbered years-- General
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STAFF COMMENTS: SB 202 was referred to the Senate
Appropriations Committee pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10.
SB 202 will require all initiatives that qualify for the ballot
after July 1, 2011 to be placed on the November general
election, rather than on the state primary election resulting in
a potential shift of printing and mailing expenses from June to
November during years that elections are held. Shorter ballots
for primary elections could be beneficial to counties since the
implementation of the "top two" primary systems will require all
candidates to be listed on the primary ballot.
According to the Senate Floor Analysis of ACA 4 dated October 8,
2010, the following is noted:
ACA 4 "results in increased funding in the state rainy day
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reserve account. It also increases state spending on repaying
budgetary borrowing and debt, and infrastructure projects.
Finally, the additional reserve reduces the extent of state cash
borrowing, resulting in reduced external-borrowing costs."
Assuming the passage of ACA 4 by the voters, SB 202 will delay
the above noted impact for two years. Delaying the
implementation of ACA 4 will have the benefit of allowing the
economy to more fully recover from the U.S. recession of 2008
and 2009 before funds become more restricted. Revenues will
retain current flexibility to be directed to existing budget
obligations, or to be deposited into the rainy day reserve.
Specifically, SB 202 does the following:
1. Defines "general election", for the purposes of provisions
of the state constitution that specify when a qualified state
initiative or referendum measure will appear on the ballot, as
only the election held throughout the state on the first Tuesday
after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year
with respect to an initiative or referendum measure that is
certified for the ballot on or after July 1, 2011.
2. Repeals Section 1 of Chapter 732 of the Statutes of 2010
which would have required ACA 4 of the 2009-10 Regular Session
to be submitted to the voters at the 2012 statewide presidential
primary election, and also removes from statute the required
text of the ballot label, and the ballot title and summary for
ACA 4.
3. Requires the Secretary of State to submit ACA 4 of the
2009-10 Regular Session to the voters at the November 4, 2014,
statewide general election.
ACA 4 (Res. Chapter 174, Statutes of 2010) proposes various
changes to the state budget process and to the state's Budget
Stabilization Fund. As with all constitutional amendments, ACA
4 requires the approval of the voters. Among other provisions,
AB 1619 (Chapter 732, Statutes of 2010) requires ACA 4 to be
submitted to the voters at the 2012 statewide presidential
primary election. This bill repeals that provision of
AB 1619 and instead requires ACA 4 to be submitted to the voters
at the November 4, 2014 statewide general election.
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In addition to specifying the election at which ACA 4 will
appear on the ballot, AB 1619 also outlined the text to be used
as the ballot label, title and summary for ACA 4 when it is
placed on the ballot. Subsequent to the Legislature's enactment
of AB 1619, the Court of Appeal of the State of California for
the Third Appellate District ruled in Howard Jarvis Taxpayers
Association v. Bowen (2011) 192 Cal. App. 4th 110, that the
Political Reform Act (PRA) requires the Attorney General to
prepare the ballot label and ballot title and summary for state
ballot measures, and that an attempt by the Legislature to
override that requirement for any particular measure was not a
valid amendment of the PRA, without the approval of the voters.
In light of this decision, the ballot label, and ballot title
and summary language contained in AB 1619 is deemed to be
invalid. SB 202 will, therefore, delete the following language
from Chapter 732, Statutes of 2010, and the Attorney General
will prepare the label, title and summary as provided in
existing law.
Ballot Label for ACA 4 :
"'RAINY DAY' BUDGET STABILIZATION FUND. Changes the budget
process. Could
limit future deficits and spending by increasing the size of the
state 'rainy day' fund and
requiring above-average revenues to be deposited into it, for
use during economic
downturns and other purposes."
Ballot Title and Summary for ACA 4 :
"STATE BUDGET. CHANGES CALIFORNIA BUDGET PROCESS. LIMITS STATE
SPENDING. INCREASES 'RAINY DAY' BUDGET STABILIZATION FUND.
Increases amount of potential savings in the state 'rainy day'
fund from 5% to 10% of the General Fund. Requires 3% of the
general revenues to be deposited each year into the state 'rainy
day' fund, except when revenues drop below last year's budget,
adjusted for population and inflation. Requires unexpected
revenues above historic trends to be deposited into the state
'rainy day' fund, limiting spending. In many years, there will
be increased amounts of money in the state 'rainy day' fund.
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Limits spending of the state 'rainy day' fund to when state
revenues drop below last year's budget, adjusted for population
and inflation, and other limited purposes, including for a
declared emergency. Once the state 'rainy day' fund becomes
full, additional revenues can only be used for one-time expenses
like infrastructure, debt repayment, or retained in the state
'rainy day' fund."
History of Initiatives on Primary Election Ballots
Since the initiative and referendum processes were created in
1911, the state Constitution has always provided that qualified
measures will appear on the ballot at the next general election
held after a specified time period, or at any special election
called by the Governor held prior to that general election. In
1972, however, the Secretary of State (SOS) placed an initiative
on the ballot at a primary election that was not consolidated
with a statewide special election for the first time, and has
since continued the practice of including initiatives on the
ballot at primary elections.
Although it appears that the courts have not been asked to
consider a challenge to the SOS's practice of placing initiative
and referendum measures on the ballot at primary elections, a
dissenting opinion in a state Supreme Court case raised a
question about whether such a practice was consistent with the
state Constitution. In her dissenting opinion in Brosnahan v.
Eu, (1982) 31 Cal.3d 1, Chief Justice Bird noted that the
constitutionality of submitting initiatives to voters at primary
elections "would appear to be an open question." In a footnote
to her dissenting opinion, the Chief Justice wrote:
An additional issue, not raised by parties here,
apparently has never been resolved by this court. The
Constitution requires that initiative and referendum
measures be submitted to the voters "at the next
general election" after the measures qualify, or at a
special election called by the Governor. (Cal.
Const., art. II, §8, subd. (c) and §9, subd. (c)?)
The Elections Code defines a general election as "the
election held throughout the state on the first
Tuesday after the first Monday of November in each
even-numbered year." (Elec. Code, §20.) A special
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election is an election the timing of which is not
otherwise prescribed by law. (Elec. Code, §27.) The
election scheduled for June of 1982 is a regularly
scheduled "direct primary" (see Elec. Code, §23) - not
a special election or a general election. Thus, the
constitutionality of submitting an initiative to the
voters at a June primary election would appear to be
an open question.
Subsequent to the Supreme Court's decision in Brosnahan v. Eu,
the definition of "general election" was revised in AB 1466
(Statham, Chapter 405, Statutes of 1993) to include regularly
scheduled statewide primary elections.
According to information from the National Conference on State
Legislatures, only four (Alaska, California, North Dakota, and
Oklahoma) of the 24 states that have the initiative process
allow initiatives to be placed on the ballot at a primary or
special election.
Staff notes that there are two initiative measures which have
already qualified for and are scheduled to appear on the ballot
at the June 2012 statewide primary election. Those measures,
relating to term limits and cigarette taxes, will be unaffected
by SB 202 because those measures were certified for the ballot
in 2010. This bill provides that the change in the definition
of "general election" applies to initiative or referendum
measures that are certified for the ballot on or after July 1,
2011.