BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 334| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 CONTINUED SB 334 Page 2 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 CONTINUED SB 334 Page 3 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. CONTINUED SB 334 Page 4 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 CONTINUED SB 334 Page 5 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 **** END **** CONTINUED