BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 311 (Padilla)
          As Amended  July 2, 2013
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :25-9  
           
           LOCAL GOVERNMENT         6-2    ELECTIONS           5-2         
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Levine, Alejo, Bradford,  |Ayes:|Fong, Bocanegra, Bonta,   |
          |     |Gordon, Mullin, Rendon    |     |Hall, Perea               |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Melendez, Waldron         |Nays:|Donnelly, Logue           |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

           SUMMARY  :  Requires certain city charter proposals and city  
          charter amendments to be presented to the voters at a statewide  
          general election.  Specifically,  this bill  :   

          1)Requires a city or city and county charter proposal that is  
            proposed by the governing body of a city or city and county on  
            its own motion to be submitted to the voters at the next  
            established statewide general election occurring not less than  
            88 days after the date of the order of election.

          2)Provides exceptions to the above requirement by allowing the  
            governing body of a city or city and county to direct that  
            either of the following be submitted to the voters at the next  
            regularly scheduled general municipal election or at any  
            established statewide general or statewide primary election,  
            as specified, occurring not less than 88 days after the date  
            of the order of election:

             a)   A charter proposal that proposes to amend a charter in a  
               manner that does not alter any procedural or substantive  
               protection, right, benefit or employment status of any  
               local government employee or retiree of any local  
               government employee organization; or,

             b)   A charter proposal that proposes to amend a charter  
               solely to comply with a court injunction or consent decree  








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               or with federal or state voting rights laws.

          3)Requires a city or city and county charter proposal that  
            proposes to amend or repeal a charter and is proposed by a  
            petition signed by 15% of the registered voters of a city or  
            10% of the registered voters of a city and county, as  
            specified, to be submitted to the voters at the next regularly  
            scheduled general municipal election or at any established  
            statewide general or statewide primary election, as specified,  
            occurring not less than 88 days after the date of the order of  
            election.

          4)Requires a charter or charter amendment proposed by a charter  
            commission for a city or city and county to be submitted to  
            the voters at an established statewide general election, as  
            specified, provided there are at least 95 days before the  
            election.

          5)Requires, except as provided in 2) above, the following city  
            or city and county charter proposals to be submitted to the  
            voters at an established statewide general election, as  
            specified, provided that there are at least 88 days before the  
            election:
             a)   A proposal to adopt a charter, or an amendment or repeal  
               of a charter, proposed by the governing body of a city or a  
               city and county on its own motion; or,

             b)   A recodification of the charter proposed by the  
               governing body on its own motion, provided that the  
               recodification does not, in any manner, substantially  
               change the provisions of the charter.

          6)Makes conforming and technical changes.
           
          EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Requires city or city and county charter proposals that  
            qualify for the ballot, as specified, to be submitted to the  
            voters at either the next regular general municipal election  
            occurring not less than 88 days after the date of the order of  
            election, or at a special election called for that purpose or  
            on any established election date, as specified, occurring not  
            less than 88 days after the date of the order of election.









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          2)Requires a charter or charter amendment proposed by a charter  
            commission, whether elected or appointed by a governing body,  
            for a city or city and county to be submitted to the voters at  
            an established statewide general, statewide primary, or  
            regularly scheduled municipal election date, as specified,  
            provided that there are at least 95 days before the election.

          3)Requires the following city or city and county charter  
            proposals to be submitted to the voters at an established  
            statewide general, statewide primary, or regularly scheduled  
            municipal election, as specified, provided that there are at  
            least 88 days before the election:

             a)   An amendment or repeal of a charter proposed by the  
               governing body of a city or a city and county on its own  
               motion;

             b)   An amendment or repeal of a city charter proposed by a  
               petition signed by 15% of the registered voters of the  
               city;

             c)   An amendment or repeal of a city and county charter  
               proposed by a petition signed by 10% of the registered  
               voters of the city and county; and,

             d)   A recodification of the charter proposed by the  
               governing body on its own motion, provided that the  
               recodification does not, in any manner, substantially  
               change the provisions of the charter.

          4)Requires, prior to approving the submission to the voters of a  
            proposal to adopt a charter, a governing body to hold at least  
            two public hearings on the matter of the proposal of a charter  
            and the content of the proposed charter.  Notice of the public  
            hearings shall be given by publication, as specified, in a  
            newspaper designated by the governing body and circulated  
            throughout the city, and by posting the notice in three public  
            places within the jurisdiction at least 21 calendar days prior  
            to the date of each public hearing.  The second public hearing  
            shall be held at least 30 days after the first public hearing.  
             At least one of the public hearings shall be held outside of  
            normal business hours to facilitate public participation.  The  
            governing body shall not conduct a vote on whether to approve  
            the submission to the voters of the proposal to adopt a  








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            charter until 21 days after the second public hearing.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  None

           COMMENTS  :  This bill limits the types of elections at which  
          certain city charter proposals or charter amendments that are  
          proposed by a city governing body or a charter commission can be  
          presented to the voters.  

          The bill establishes a blanket requirement that city charter  
          proposals that are proposed by the city's governing body must  
          appear only at a statewide general election.  However, the bill  
          provides exceptions to this rule by allowing the following types  
          of charter proposals to be submitted to the voters at the next  
          regularly scheduled general municipal election or at any  
          established statewide general or statewide primary election that  
          occurs not less than 88 days after the date of the order of  
          election:

          1)A charter proposal that proposes to amend a charter in a  
            manner that does not alter any procedural or substantive  
            protection, right, benefit or employment status of any local  
            government employee or retiree of any local government  
            employee organization; or,

          2)A charter proposal that proposes to amend a charter solely to  
            comply with a court injunction or consent decree or with  
            federal or state voting rights laws.

          This bill also requires a charter or charter amendment proposed  
          by a charter commission to be submitted to the voters only at an  
          established statewide general election, and makes conforming and  
          technical changes.  This bill is sponsored by the California  
          State Building and Construction Trades Council and the  
          California Professional Firefighters.

          According to the author, "This bill is needed to ensure that the  
          largest number of voters have an opportunity to vote when cities  
          decide to take the step of asking the voters to allow the city  
          to become a charter city.  Often, in the past, these measures  
          have been put before the voters in off year elections or during  
          municipal or primary elections when there tends to be much lower  
          voter turnout compared to general elections in November."









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          The California Constitution gives cities the power to become  
          charter cities.  The benefit of becoming a charter city is that  
          charter cities have supreme authority over "municipal affairs."   
          In other words, a charter city's law concerning a municipal  
          affair will trump a state law governing the same topic.  Of  
          California's 482 cities, 121 are charter cities.  

          City charter and city charter amendment proposals can originate  
          from a charter commission, the governing body of the city, or by  
          a petition of the voters.  Regardless of their source, all  
          charter proposals must be submitted to the voters at an  
          established statewide general, statewide primary, or regularly  
          scheduled municipal election.

          Statewide general elections are held on the first Tuesday, after  
          the first Monday, in November of each even-numbered year.   
          Statewide primary elections are held on the first Tuesday, after  
          the first Monday, in June of each even-numbered year.  Municipal  
          elections can fall on a range of dates.  Charter cities can  
          establish generally scheduled elections based on their charters.

          In 2005, the City of Bell drafted a city charter and placed the  
          proposal on the ballot at a special municipal election on  
          November 29, 2005, shortly after a state law limiting city  
          council members' compensation was enacted.  The measure was the  
          only item on the ballot, and was presented as a change that  
          would give the city more local control.  The ballot language  
          included no mention of the effect the change would have on  
          council members' salaries.  Fewer than 400 voters turned out in  
          the city of more than 36,000 residents.

          As a result of this action and other questionable or illegal  
          activities by the City of Bell and other municipal governments,  
          AB 1344 (Feuer and Alejo), Chapter 692, Statutes of 2011, made a  
          number of changes to the process by which a new charter or a  
          charter amendment is enacted.  AB 1344 removed the authority for  
          a city charter, charter amendment, or charter repeal to be  
          presented to the voters at a special election.  The measure also  
          required a local agency to hold two public hearings before  
          submitting to voters a proposal to adopt a charter, and it  
          required a proposal to adopt or amend a charter to include  
          explicit notice of new city powers.

          This bill takes a step further by limiting the vote on certain  








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          charter proposals that are proposed by city governing bodies or  
          by charter commissions to statewide general elections only.   
          While the types of charter proposals or amendments proposed by  
          city governing bodies that would be subject to this requirement  
          are relatively narrow, the Legislature may nevertheless wish to  
          consider whether the enhanced public notification required by AB  
          1344 is sufficient and whether enough time has elapsed to fully  
          evaluate the new law's effect on voter behavior and outcomes  
          regarding charter conversion or amendment proposals.

          The California Professional Firefighters, in support, state,  
          "Fewer voters actually participate in the local direct democracy  
          process because many local proposals are placed on municipal,  
          primary or special election ballots when voter participation is  
          historically and consistently much lower than in general  
          elections.  It is this low primary, municipal and special  
          election turnout that proponents of controversial charter  
          proposals and charter amendments attempt to use to their  
          advantage, especially proponents of proposals that seek to strip  
          firefighters and law enforcement officers of their due process  
          rights under grievance arbitration charter provisions.  For  
          example, in August 2011, the San Luis Obispo City Council placed  
          a charter amendment measure on the ballot to repeal a  
          longstanding grievance arbitration process for fire and police  
          that was overwhelmingly approved by voters in the 2000 general  
          election.  They did so as part of a special election, which was  
          held via mail-in ballot only.  When the results were tallied,  
          only 43% of registered voters had participated compared to  
          nearly 80% voter turnout in statewide general elections in San  
          Luis Obispo since 2008.  In fact, voter participation in San  
          Luis Obispo for a special election dropped as low as 32% in 2009  
          and 38% for a primary election in 2010.

          "?(T)here is a need to bring the local initiative process back  
          to its original intent and invite greater voter participation at  
          the ballot box.  Doing so is especially important when  
          considered in the context of charter conversion and charter  
          amendment proposals, which can have far-reaching impacts on a  
          community's public services."

          The League of California Cities, in opposition, argues that  
          existing law's "in-depth process for adopting proposed charters  
          illustrates the thoroughness required of a public agency to  
          consider the matter and help engage the public before it is put  








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          before the voters at a regularly scheduled municipal election, a  
          statewide primary election, or a statewide general election."   
          The League also expresses concern that "charter amendments and  
          proposed adoption of charters have particularly been called out  
          for needed change.  Truthfully, other very important decisions  
          are put before the voters at regularly scheduled municipal  
          elections, special elections, and statewide primaries."  The  
          League also contends that this bill does not change the problem  
          of low voter turnout.

          AB 822 (Hall) of the current legislative session, pending in the  
          Senate, requires local ordinances or measures that propose a  
          change to municipal employee retirement benefit plans to be  
          submitted to voters only at established statewide general  
          elections, and requires an independent actuarial statement  
          regarding such measures to be prepared and printed in the voter  
          information portion of the sample ballot.  The Legislature may  
          wish to consider how AB 822 and this bill interact.

          Support arguments:  Supporters contend that charter proposals  
          deserve the greatest voter participation possible, which is  
          achieved at general elections.

          Opposition arguments:  Opponents argue that current law  
          governing charter proposals and amendments is sufficient and  
          that this bill will not remedy the problem of low voter turnout.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958 


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