BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1156
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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1156 (V. Manuel Pérez)
          As Amended  June 27, 2013
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |66-8 |(May 30, 2013)  |SENATE: |37-0 |(August 19,    |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2013)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:    L. GOV.  

           SUMMARY  :  Makes changes to the weighted vote of a landowner in  
          the Palo Verde Irrigation District (PVID).  

           The Senate amendments  :  

          1)Entitle a property owner that owns less than one acre of land  
            to cast one vote.  

          2)Provide that no reimbursement will be made because the local  
            agency is requesting the authority established by this bill.  

           EXISTING LAW  establishes the Palo Verde Irrigation District Act,  
          and specifically:

          1)Authorizes any person, firm, or corporation owning any real  
            property and improvements, or any interest in real property  
            and any improvements, to vote in any election pertaining to  
            the affairs of the district.  

          2)Provides one vote for each $100 of assessed valuation or  
            fraction greater than $50 for each qualified property owner.   
            Determines the total number of votes any voter is entitled to  
            cast by dividing the total assessed value of all parcels owned  
            by the voter by 100.  

          3)Requires the assessed valuation to be the equalized assessment  
            roll of the district preceding the election.

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:  

          1)Deleted provisions in current law, which use the assessed  
            value of land and improvements to calculate a landowner's  
            weighted vote in the PVID and, instead, entitled each property  








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            owner to one vote for every one acre owned.  

          2)Entitled a property owner that owns less than one acre of  
            land, but at least one half of an acre, to cast one vote.  

          3)Required PVID to hold a public hearing about the changes to  
            the weighted vote system.  

          4)Required PVID to provide public notice by placing an  
            advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation, and by  
            first-class mail to each landowner voter in the district, as  
            specified.  

          5)Provided that if the Commission on State Mandates determines  
            that this bill contains costs mandated by the state,  
            reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those  
            costs shall be made pursuant to current law governing state  
            mandated local costs.  

          6)Made findings and declarations.  

          7)Made other non-substantive and technical changes.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.

           COMMENTS  :  PVID was established in 1923 and is comprised of  
          mostly farmland occupying about 189 square miles of territory in  
          Riverside and Imperial Counties.  PVID contains approximately  
          131,298 acres and manages and delivers water to land within its  
          jurisdiction.  PVID is governed by a seven-member board of  
          trustees elected at large among owners of property within the  
          district.  Current law limits voting rights in PVID to  
          landowners and establishes a weighted vote system based on the  
          assessed value of real property, including improvements made by  
          landowners.  The weighted vote system provides one vote for each  
          $100 of assessed property, including improvements and divides  
          the total assessed value by 100 to determine the number of votes  
          for each landowner.  

          This bill deletes the current weighted vote system in PVID and  
          instead provides one vote per acre of land owned for each  
          landowner.  If a property owner owns less than one acre of land,  
          this bill provides that property owner with one vote.  Under  
          this bill, the number of acres owned determines each landowner's  








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          weighted vote.  This bill requires PVID to hold a public hearing  
          about the changes to the weighted vote system.  Prior to the  
          public hearing, PVID would also have to provide specified public  
          notification by placing an advertisement in a newspaper of  
          general circulation and by first-class mail to each landowner  
          voter.  This bill is sponsored by PVID.  

          According to the sponsor, "Given the size and the abundance of  
          sunshine in the geographic location of the PVID, it has been  
          identified as a preferred location for solar development.  The  
          PVID was identified in the 2011 programmatic environmental  
          impact statement of the United States Department of Energy and  
          the (United State Department of the) Interior identified the  
          region as an area available for solar development."

          According to the Association of California Water Agencies, in  
          support, "This bill would ensure that the votes of irrigated  
          landowners would not be diluted by any potential large solar  
          projects in the district's service area."  According to the  
          author and sponsor, none of these projects have been developed  
          in PVID yet. 

          The California Constitution provides that the right to vote or  
          serve in elected office may not be conditioned on a  
          landownership qualification.  However, in 1973, the U.S. Supreme  
          Court ruled in Salyer Land Co. v. Tulare Water District that the  
          California statute requiring a landownership qualification did  
          not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S.  
          Constitution.  The court ruled there was no violation because  
          those districts do not exercise normal governmental authority  
          and their activities disproportionally affect landowners.  

          The California Supreme Court, in Choudhry v. Free (1976) 17 Cal.  
          3d 660, declared unconstitutional a section of the Irrigation  
          District Law requiring potential board candidates to be  
          landowners.  The court ruled that this section was  
          unconstitutional as applied to the Imperial Irrigation District  
          and its board of directors, the real parties in interest,  
          because it deprived the irrigation candidates and voters,  
          including petitioner voters, of equal protection.  The court's  
          opinion gave two reasons it did not extend its ruling to other  
          irrigation districts.  First, the Imperial Irrigation District  
          was singular at that time among irrigation districts in that it  
          had more residents, land, and employees than any other  
          irrigation district and it was providing retail water service.   








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          Second, neither respondents nor real parties in interest had  
          opposed petitioners' claim that Water Code Section 21100 was  
          unconstitutional, and numerous irrigation districts in the state  
          that would have been affected by a finding of  
          unconstitutionality did not have the opportunity to present  
          their views or offer evidence regarding the characteristics and  
          operation of irrigation districts in general.  

          California's 93 irrigation districts function under a range of  
          statutes that are a hybrid of registered voter and  
          landowner-voter type districts.  In general, registered voters  
          are eligible to vote in district elections, but board members  
          must be landowners of the district.  Historically, the  
          Legislature has recognized landowners' special concerns for  
          irrigation districts' operations by creating unique separate  
          statutes that preserve the landowner requirement to vote in  
          districts that primarily deliver agricultural water.  Some of  
          these districts have landownership, but not residency  
          requirements.  Some districts, including PVID, Camp Far West  
          Montague, and Cordua Irrigation Districts, use weighted votes in  
          their elections based on the relative value of land under  
          ownership.  

          SB 614 (Wolk) of 2013, pending in the Assembly, would delete the  
          landowner qualification in statute for most irrigation district  
          board members, but does not address the districts that have  
          unique statutes.  SB 614 builds upon several legislative  
          attempts that have sought to limit landowner qualifications for  
          board directors.  In 2000, the Legislature deleted the landowner  
          qualification for board members of irrigation districts that  
          provide electricity (SB 1939 (Alarcón), Chapter 1041, Statutes  
          of 2000).  In 2006, the Legislature removed the landowner  
          requirement for irrigation districts that provide 3,000 or more  
          acre-feet of water to residential customers or that have more  
          than 3,000 customers (AB 159 (Salinas), Chapter 847, Statutes of  
          2006).  

          Support arguments:  Supporters argue that this bill will ensure  
          that voting power is equally distributed amongst all land  
          owners, and will not favor only those who have preferred sites  
          for solar energy development.  

          Opposition arguments:  None.  

           








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          Analysis Prepared by  :    Misa Yokoi-Shelton / L. GOV. / (916)  
          319-3958 


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