BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   SB 334|
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                              UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 334
          Author:   DeSaulnier (D), et al.
          Amended:  8/31/11
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMMITTEE  :  3-2, 5/3/11
          AYES:  Correa, De León, Lieu
          NOES:  La Malfa, Gaines

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  6-3, 5/26/11
          AYES:  Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
          NOES:  Walters, Emmerson, Runner

           SENATE FLOOR  :  23-14, 6/1/11
          AYES:  Alquist, Calderon, Corbett, Correa, De León, 
            DeSaulnier, Evans, Hancock, Hernandez, Kehoe, Leno, Lieu, 
            Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, 
            Rubio, Steinberg, Vargas, Wolk, Yee
          NOES:  Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Cannella, Dutton, 
            Fuller, Gaines, Harman, Huff, La Malfa, Runner, 
            Strickland, Walters, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Emmerson, Simitian, Wright

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  50-27, 8/25/11 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Elections:  statewide ballot pamphlet

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill requires the Secretary of State to 
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          include in the ballot pamphlet a list of the five highest 
          contributors of $50,000 or more to each primarily formed 
          committee supporting or opposing each state measure, as 
          well as the total amount of their contributions, as of 110 
          days before election day or, if a special election is 
          called on a date before election day for that special 
          election so as to make compliance with the 110-day 
          timeframe infeasible, as of a later date as feasible, based 
          on the time requirements set forth by the Secretary of 
          State for preparation of the ballot pamphlets for that 
          special election.

           Assembly Amendments  delete duplicative wording; add 
          double-jointing language to AB 732; and add Assembly 
          coauthors.

           ANALYSIS  :    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 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, and in opposition to, 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 

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            more as of 110 days before Election Day (or a later date 
            in the case of certain special elections). 

           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.

           Requires the following statement to also appear in the 
            state ballot pamphlet:  "To learn who contributed to 
            committees supporting or opposing each state measure, 
            access the Secretary of State's Internet Web site at 
            ÝInternet Web site address]." 

           Contains technical and conforming changes.

           NOTE:  The bill also specifies that under a legislative 
                 finding and declaration that the Fair Political 
                 Practice Commission permits or requires the 
                 inclusion of additional information on the ballot 
                 pamphlet in accordance with Government Code section 
                 88007 and the Legislative Counsel indicates that 
                 because of this, the bill is a 21 vote instead of 
                 27.

           Prior Legislation
           
          This bill is similar to AB 65 (Gatto) which was recently 
          approved by the Assembly.  This bill is also 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.

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

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

                          Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions                2011-12     2012-13    
          2013-14   Fund  

          Ballot costs                                           
          -----unknown, potentially $132 per                     
          General
                                   statewide election-----

          SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/25/11)

          Secretary of State, Debra Bowen
          Ballot Initiative Strategy Center 
          California State PTA 
          California Common Cause
          California Clean Money Campaign

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/25/11)

          California Taxpayers Association 
          Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office, 
          this bill requires the Secretary of State 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 this bill requires information 
          to be gathered and disclosed as of 110 days before Election 

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          Day, the bill will help voters determine the interests 
          behind the qualification efforts of ballot measures.

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    CalTax writes, "SB 334 is 
          unworkable and unbalanced.  Ballot pamphlets are printed 
          many weeks before an election and would not reflect the 
          final contributors to a ballot measure campaign.  SB 334 
          would influence proponents of campaign to wait until ballot 
          pamphlets are printed and then contribute large sums of 
          money towards a campaign effort.  The increasing popularity 
          of independent expenditure committees also makes SB 334 
          mute.  Campaign contributors could form an independent 
          expenditure committee that has a name that polls well with 
          voters."  
           

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  50-27, 8/25/11
          AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block, 
            Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, 
            Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, 
            Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, 
            Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, 
            Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, 
            Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, 
            Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, 
            Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly, 
            Fletcher, Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, 
            Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, 
            Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth, 
            Valadao, Wagner
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Bonilla, Gorell, Hall


          DLW:do  9/8/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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