BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE
Senator Lois Wolk, Chair
BILL NO: AB 72 HEARING: 5/15/13
AUTHOR: Holden FISCAL: No
VERSION: 3/19/13 TAX LEVY: No
CONSULTANT: Weinberger
MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICTS' BOARDS OF DIRECTORS
Specifies the date on which municipal water district board
members take office after an election.
Background and Existing Law
The Municipal Water District Law of 1911 governs
California's 36 municipal water districts (MWDs). With
specified exceptions, a MWD's board of directors consists
of five members who must be elected from divisions in which
they are residents. Directors hold office for a four-year
term, starting from the date they take office and until the
election and qualification of their successors.
MWDs' directors must be elected at general district
elections, which must be held in each even-numbered year
and consolidated with the general election. State law
defines "general election" as either:
The election held throughout the state on the first
Tuesday after the first Monday of November in each
even-numbered year, or
Any statewide election held on a regular election
date specified in state law.
MWD directors elected to office must take office at 12
o'clock noon on the first Monday after the January 1st
succeeding their election, which is the time provided by
state law for county officers to take office (SB 15,
Backstrand, 1963).
Under the Uniform District Election Law (UDEL), special
districts' governing board members take office on the first
Friday in December following their election (AB 3543,
Harvey, 1990). Other state laws specify the first Friday
in December as the day on which many local elected
officials' terms begin, including:
School and community college district board
AB 72 -- 3/19/13 -- Page 2
members,
Library district trustees,
Community services district directors,
Recreation and park district directors,
California water district directors,
Orange County Water District's directors, and
Santa Clara Valley Water District's directors.
Some MWD officials want the Legislature to change the date
on which MWD directors take office after an election to
conform to the more common UDEL standard.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 72 requires municipal water district
directors to take office at noon on the first Friday in
December succeeding their election, except for directors
elected at a formation election.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . AB 72 changes the date on which
municipal water districts' directors take office to the
same date on which many other special districts' directors
take office after an election. This change will allow MWD
directors to take office approximately 30 days earlier than
is required under current law, cutting in half the amount
of time that "lame-duck" MWD directors would continue to
serve after an election. By shortening the time that newly
elected board members must wait to join a board, SB 72 will
make MWD's governing boards more reflective of - and
responsive to - voters' choices at the ballot box.
2. Similar legislation . AB 72 is similar to AB 17 (Davis,
2012), which would have allowed MWD directors who win
elections held before November to take office one month
after the election's certification. AB 17 died on the
Senate Floor.
Assembly Actions
AB 72 -- 3/19/13 -- Page 3
Assembly Local Government Committee: 9-0
Assembly Floor: 75-0
Support and Opposition (5/9/13)
Support : Three Valleys Municipal Water District;
Association of California Water Agencies; California
Municipal Utilities Association; California Special
Districts Association; Calleguas Municipal Water District;
City of Burbank Department of Water and Power; City of
Pasadena; Cucamonga Valley Water District; Eastern
Municipal Water District; Humboldt Bay Municipal Water
District; San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District;
Walnut Valley Water District; West Basin Municipal Water
District; Yuima Municipal Water District.
Opposition : Unknown.