BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                         SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS 
                         AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
                           Senator Lou Correa, Chair


          BILL NO:   SB 334                             HEARING DATE: 
          4/5/11
          AUTHOR:    DeSAULNIER                         ANALYSIS BY:  
             Darren Chesin
          AMENDED:   AS INTRODUCED 
          FISCAL:    YES
          
                                     SUBJECT

           Statewide ballot pamphlet: measures: contributor disclosure

                                   DESCRIPTION  
          
           Existing law  specifies what information must be included in 
          the statewide ballot pamphlet, including, but not limited 
          to:

               A complete copy of each measure.
               A copy of the arguments and rebuttals for and against 
              each state measure.
               A copy of the analysis of each state measure by the 
              Legislative Analyst.
               Tables of contents, indexes, art work, graphics, and 
              other materials that the Secretary of State (SOS) 
              determines will make the ballot pamphlet easier to 
              understand or more useful for the average voter.

           This bill  additionally requires the state ballot pamphlet 
          to contain information about the largest contributors in 
          support of each ballot measure that will appear on the 
          ballot.  Specifically, this bill:

               Requires the state ballot pamphlet to include, 
              immediately below the analysis of a state ballot 
              measure prepared by the Legislative Analyst, a list of 
              the five highest contributors of $50,000 or more to 
              each primarily formed committee supporting the measure 
              and the total amount of each of their contributions.  
               Requires the list to be followed by a statement that 
              the list reflects only the highest contributors of 
              $50,000 or more as of 110 days before Election Day. 









               Provides that if a contributor is a committee 
              controlled by a candidate, the name of the candidate 
              shall be listed.
               Provides that if a contributor is a sponsored 
              committee, the name of the sponsor shall be listed.
               Contains technical and conforming changes.





                                    BACKGROUND  
          
           All Measures?  All Contributions  ?  This bill would require 
          disclosure in the statewide ballot pamphlet of the top five 
          contributors to each primarily formed committee supporting 
          each state ballot measure.  These measures include both 
          initiative measures placed on the ballot through voter 
          petitions as well as measures placed on the ballot by the 
          Legislature.  The 110 day cut-off period accommodates the 
          schedule by which the statewide ballot pamphlet must be 
          finalized prior to printing.  Since the expenses associated 
          with qualifying a statewide initiative usually exceed $1 
          million, the ballot pamphlet would disclose, among others, 
          those entities responsible for funding the qualification 
          effort.
           
          What is a Primarily Formed Committee  ?  A primarily formed 
          committee means a committee which is formed or exists 
          primarily to support or oppose any of the following:
             A single candidate.
             A single measure.
             A group of specific candidates being voted upon in the 
             same city, county, or multicounty election.
             Two or more measures being voted upon in the same city, 
             county, multicounty, or state election.  

          What are Controlled and Sponsored Committees  ?  A candidate 
          or state measure proponent controls a committee if he or 
          she, his or her agent, or any other committee he or she 
          controls has a significant influence on the actions or 
          decisions of the committee.  Any entity, except a candidate 
          or other individual, may be the sponsor of a committee.  An 
          entity sponsors a committee if any of the following apply:

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             The committee receives 80 percent or more of its 
             contributions from the entity or its members, officers, 
             employees, or shareholders.
             The entity collects contributions for the committee by 
             use of payroll deductions of dues from its members, 
             officers, or employees.
             The entity, alone or in combination with other 
             organizations, provides all or nearly all of the 
             administrative services for the committee.
             The entity, alone or in combination with other 
             organizations, sets the policies for soliciting 
             contributions or making expenditures of committee funds.

                                     COMMENTS  
          
            1. According to the author  , SB 334 requires the Secretary 
             of State (SOS) to add a list of the five highest 
             contributors (as of 110 days prior to Election Day) 
             supporting each ballot measure in the ballot pamphlet.  
             In recent years, observers noted that interests have 
             increasingly turned to California's initiative system to 
             amend the California Constitution or state statutes to 
             benefit themselves.  Because SB 334 requires information 
             to be gathered and disclosed as of 110 days before 
             Election Day, the bill will help voters determine the 
             interests behind the qualification efforts of ballot 
             measures.
           
           2. Prior Legislation  .  This bill is identical to SB 1202 
             (DeSaulnier) of 2010 which was vetoed by Governor 
             Schwarzenegger.  In his veto message the Governor 
             stated, in part:

           "I have consistently advocated for transparency in 
             campaign contributions and signed legislation that 
             furthers that goal.  This bill would instead create 
             confusion for voters and encourage late contributions.  
             Large donors could avoid being included on the list by 
             limiting contributions until the deadline had passed.  
             This would undermine the intent of this bill and could 
             instead mislead voters as to the identity of the major 
             contributors."

           This bill is also similar in the intent to AB 680 
             (Mazzoni) of 1995, which was eventually gutted and used 
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             for a different purpose and SB 734 (Roberti) of 1991 
             which failed passage in the Assembly Elections, 
             Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee.

            3. Will Information Be Timely and Accurate  ?  Because the 
             SOS can begin sending the state ballot pamphlet out to 
             voters on the 40th day before an election, and due to 
             the large amount of lead-time necessary to produce the 
             state ballot pamphlet and to have that pamphlet on 
             public display prior to final production, this bill 
             would include information about contributors to 
             primarily formed committees supporting state ballot 
             measures only as of 110 days prior to the election. 

           While the 110-day cutoff period accommodates the schedule 
             by which the state ballot pamphlet must be finalized 
             prior to printing, it also means that most, if not all 
             spending intended to influence voters after a measure 
             has qualified for the ballot will not be disclosed in 
             the state ballot pamphlet.  As a result, the information 
             contained in the ballot pamphlet could be outdated, or 
             could give voters a misleading picture of the true 
             supporters of a state ballot measure.

           On the other hand, because the expenses associated with 
             qualifying a statewide initiative for the ballot usually 
             exceed $1 million, this bill could result in voters 
             being given greater information in the state ballot 
             pamphlet about those entities responsible for funding 
             the effort to qualify a measure for the ballot.  
           
            4. Proponents, Not Opponents  :  This bill requires that the 
             state ballot pamphlet contain information about 
             contributors to primarily formed committees that are 
             supporting state ballot measures, but does not similarly 
             require that the state ballot pamphlet contain 
             information about contributors to committees that are 
             opposing state ballot measures.  

           Is it appropriate to have the state ballot pamphlet list 
             contributors on one side of a ballot measure, but not 
             list contributors on the other side of the ballot 
             measure?  On the other hand, as noted above, because the 
             state ballot pamphlet is sent to print well before 
             Election Day, and before mail ballots are sent to 
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             voters, it is possible that relatively little money will 
             be raised or spent on a campaign opposing a state ballot 
             measure by the 110th day prior to the election.  While 
             proponents of a measure may have spent substantial 
             amounts to gather signatures to qualify an initiative 
             for the ballot, it is relatively uncommon for initiative 
             opponents to spend large amounts of money to attempt to 
             prevent something from qualifying for the ballot.  

           As a result, it seems unlikely that requiring the state 
             ballot pamphlet to contain information about 
             contributors to committees opposing a state ballot 
             measure as of the 110th day before an election would 
             result in much information being provided to the voters.

                                    POSITIONS  

          Sponsor: Author

           Support: None received

           Oppose:  Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association






















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