BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1005 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Mike Gatto, Chair AB 1005 (Alejo) - As Amended: April 30, 2013 Policy Committee: JudiciaryVote:10-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill adds veteran status, physical disability, and mental disability-each as defined in either state or federal law-to the list of demographic data, provided by judicial applicants, nominees, appointees, justices, and judges, and required to be collected and released annually by the Governor, the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE Commission) of the State Bar, and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). FISCAL EFFECT Based on similar legislation from 2011, the AOC will incur General Fund costs of about $100,000 in 2013-14 to collect the additional information from 1,700 justices and judges and to compile and release this information. Ongoing costs to seek the data from new judges and from those judges who have not previously responded would be about $30,000 annually. Costs for the Governor's Office would be minor and absorbable. COMMENTS 1)Background . Under current law, the Governor, the JNE Commission, and the AOC annually collect and release demographic data provided by judicial applicants, nominees, appointees, justices, and judges relative to these individuals' ethnicity, race, gender, gender identify, and sexual orientation. Providing this information is voluntary, and the disclosure or release of any demographic data must be done only on an aggregated statistical basis. 2)Purpose . This bill seeks to help remedy the historic lack of AB 1005 Page 2 diversity in the judicial branch by expanding the demographic data collected and released to the public to include demographic data relative to the disability and veteran status of the aforementioned groups. Supporters believe the judiciary should more closely reflect the diverse population of California, which includes California veterans and those with disabilities. 3)Prior Legislation . SB 182 (Corbett)/Chapter 720 of 2011 added gender identity and sexual orientation to the demographic characteristics to be collected and reported. Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081