BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 614|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 614
Author: Wolk (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 4-2, 4/3/13
AYES: Wolk, Beall, DeSaulnier, Hernandez
NOES: Knight, Emmerson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu
SUBJECT : Irrigation districts: directors
SOURCE : California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
DIGEST : This bill eliminates landownership requirement to
serve on irrigation districts' elected boards.
ANALYSIS : Article 1, Section 22 of the California
Constitution provides that the right to vote or serve in elected
office may not be conditioned on a landownership qualification.
California has more than 3,000 special districts. Most are
governed by registered-voter boards, in which the electors and
the elected representatives must be registered to vote in the
district's boundaries. But a small portion of those special
districts are landowner-voter districts. State law assigns
voting power in those districts to those who own real property
within the district. Members of the governing boards of these
districts must be landowners or, at times, landowner
representatives.
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This bill deletes the landowner qualification in the Irrigation
District Law for Irrigation District board members.
Background
In 1973, the United States 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 don't
exercise normal governmental authority and their activities
disproportionally affect landowners.
California's 93 irrigation districts function under a range of
statutes that govern who can serve on their elected boards, who
can vote, and how those votes are counted. Some districts have
landowner, voter, and residency provisions for serving on the
board and voting. Other districts have landownership but not
residency requirements. Some districts use weighted ballots in
their elections, based on the relative value of land under
ownership.
The Legislature added the landowner requirement for irrigation
districts' boards in the 1890s, recognizing that irrigation
districts primarily delivered agricultural water and the
operations of the districts mostly impacted and were paid for by
landowners. Since then, the Legislature has allowed irrigation
districts to provide other public services, including drainage,
electricity, flood control, sewage disposal, and water storage
and distribution.
The 1976 Choudhry v. Free decision by the California Supreme
Court declared unconstitutional the section of the Irrigation
District Law that required district board candidates to be
landowners as it applied to Imperial Irrigation District. The
court ruled the landownership qualification unconstitutional,
despite the Salyer decision, because of the size and range of
public services provided by the district. The court also found,
because of Salyer, that it could not rule on the
constitutionality of the landowner requirement for all
irrigation districts and that such determinations should be made
on a case-by-case basis.
In 2000, the Legislature deleted the landowner qualification for
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board members of irrigation districts that provide electricity.
Elected members of those boards must be registered voters (SB
1939 (Alarc�n, 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)).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/4/13)
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council (source)
California Labor Federation
Coalition of California Utility Employees
Community Water Center
Planning and Conservation League
United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council
OPPOSITION : (Verified 4/4/13)
Association of California Water Agencies
California Association of Wine Grape Growers
Friant Water Authority
Kings River Water Association and Kings River Conservation
District
San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority
Valley Ag Water Coalition
Western Growers
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters state that water is a
precious and essential resource for all Californians. Access to
clean water is still not a reality for many communities,
especially farmworker communities. Existing law requires that a
person own land in order to serve on an Irrigation District
Board. The landowner requirement reinforces and perpetuates the
existing power structure and it fundamentally obstructs
democratic decision making. This bill eliminates the antiquated
and inequitable land holder provision and extends the right to
hold office within an irrigation district to all residents
served by an irrigation district and that it ensures that other
residents are not denied the right to participate in the
governing of local water resources.
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ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The San Joaquin River Exchange
Contractors Water Authority (SJRECWA) believes that in the
context of irrigation districts, the land ownership requirement
is an appropriate safeguard of the capital investments made by
all landowners in the infrastructure of the irrigation district.
Applying land ownership requirements to irrigation districts is
appropriate in that irrigation districts, unlike other types of
water supply districts, were formed by farmer land owners for
the purpose of serving water to agricultural lands.
The members of the SJRECWA believe that it is appropriate for
landowners to
govern the infrastructure that was paid for and maintained
through their investments.
AB:k 4/5/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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