BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 400
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 17, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                  AB 400 (Fong) - As Introduced:  February 15, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:5-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires that initiative, referendum, or recall  
          petitions circulated by a paid circulator identify the five  
          largest contributors in support of the measure. Specifically,  
          this bill: 

          1)Requires the disclosure statement on the petition to be  
            updated within seven days of any change in the five largest  
            contributors.

          2)Requires a campaign committee employing paid circulators to  
            submit the disclosure statement regarding the largest donors,  
            and any updates, to the Secretary of State (SOS) for posting  
            on the SOS website.

          3)Requires any committee required to include the disclosure  
            statement per (2) to also include on a petition the  
            committee's name, identifying itself using a name or phrase  
            that clearly identifies the economic or other special interest  
            of its donors of $50,000 or more.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Costs to the SOS will be minor and absorbable.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . According to the author, "While committees supporting  
            or opposing ballot measures are required to file periodic  
            campaign finance reports, potential signers of the petitions  
            do not have easy access to this information when approached by  
            a petition circulator.  Petitions contain official titles,  








                                                                  AB 400
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            summaries, and (in some cases) the text of the proposed  
            measures, but there is no readily available information  
            regarding the source or sponsors of the measures at the time a  
            voter is asked to sign a petition. 

            AB 400 will improve transparency about the financial backers  
            of proposed ballot measures by requiring initiative,  
            referendum, and recall petitions to include a listing of the  
            five top donors to the committee that is funding the petition  
            drive. "

           2)Prior Legislation  :  SB 469 (Bowen) of 2005, which included  
            provisions substantially similar to this bill, was vetoed by  
            Governor Schwarzenegger, who asserted that the bill would  
            hinder the initiative process.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081