BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1272|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1272
Author: Lieu (D), et al.
Amended: 6/26/14
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND. COMM. : 4-1, 4/22/14
AYES: Torres, Hancock, Jackson, Padilla
NOES: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/23/14
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SENATE FLOOR : 23-12, 5/28/14
AYES: Beall, Block, Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier,
Evans, Galgiani, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno,
Lieu, Mitchell, Monning, Padilla, Pavley, Roth, Steinberg,
Torres, Wolk
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines, Huff,
Knight, Morrell, Nielsen, Vidak, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Hancock, Liu, Wright, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-23, 6/30/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Campaign finance: advisory election
SOURCE : Money Out, Voters In
DIGEST : This bill places an advisory question on the November
4, 2014, statewide general election ballot on amending the
CONTINUED
SB 1272
Page
2
United States Constitution to address campaign finance issues.
Assembly Amendments waive various deadlines and other provisions
of the Elections Code in order that this advisory question may
appear on the November 4, 2014, statewide general election
ballot, and add coauthors.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes each city, county, school
district, community college district, county board of education,
or special district to hold an advisory election on any date on
which that jurisdiction is permitted to hold a regular or
special election for the purpose of allowing voters within the
jurisdiction, or a portion thereof, to voice their opinions on
substantive issues, or to indicate to the local legislative body
approval or disapproval of the ballot proposal.
This bill:
1.Requires the following advisory question to be placed on the
statewide ballot at a special election consolidated with the
statewide general election on November 4, 2014:
"Shall the Congress of the United States propose, and the
California Legislature ratify, an amendment or amendments to
the United States Constitution to overturn Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission (2010) 558 U.S. 310, and other
applicable judicial precedents, to allow the full regulation
or limitation of campaign contributions and spending, to
ensure that all citizens, regardless of wealth, may express
their views to one another, and to make clear that the rights
protected by the United States Constitution are the rights of
natural persons only?"
2.Requires the SOS, upon certification of the election, to
communicate to the Congress of the United States the results
of the advisory question posed to California voters.
3.Contains various findings and declarations about the rights
guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
4.Waives various deadlines and other provisions of the Elections
Code in order that this advisory question may appear on the
November 4, 2014, statewide general election ballot.
CONTINUED
SB 1272
Page
3
Background
Past Advisory Elections . While existing state law explicitly
authorizes cities, counties, school districts, community college
districts, county boards of education, and special districts to
hold advisory elections, there is no explicit authorization, nor
is there a statutory prohibition, for a statewide advisory
election. While statewide advisory elections are uncommon, in
at least two other instances in California's history, one or
more statewide advisory measures have appeared on the ballot.
At a statewide special election in June 1933, voters rejected
Propositions 9 and 10, which asked the voters whether the
Legislature should divert gasoline tax revenues to the general
fund to pay off highway bonds. These two measures were put on
the ballot by the Legislature. Additionally, at the November
1982 Statewide General Election, voters approved Proposition 12,
a measure that urged the United States government to propose to
the Soviet Union that both countries agree to immediately halt
the testing, production and further deployment of all nuclear
weapons, missiles and delivery systems in a way that could be
checked and verified by both sides. Unlike this bill, however,
the advisory question decided by the voters in 1982 was placed
on the ballot by initiative.
Subsequent to the voters' approval of Proposition 12 in 1982,
the California State Supreme Court ruled in American Federation
of Labor v. Eu (1984) 36 Cal.3d 687, that placing advisory
questions before the voters was not a proper use of the
initiative power, because "an initiative which seeks to do
something other than enact a statute - which seeks to render an
administrative decision, adjudicate a dispute, or declare by
resolution the views of the resolving body - is not within the
initiative power reserved by the people." In that case, the
Court ordered an initiative measure which sought to compel the
Legislature to apply to Congress to hold a constitutional
convention to adopt a federal balanced budget amendment to be
removed from the ballot. The Court's decision in American
Federation of Labor did not, however, rule on whether it was
permissible for the Legislature to place an advisory question
before the voters.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
CONTINUED
SB 1272
Page
4
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, one time
ballot printing/mailing costs of approximately $275,000 -
$550,000 depending on the number of pages and based on an
estimated cost per page of $55,000. (General)
The actual costs could be higher or lower depending on the
length of the title, summary, text, LAO analysis, proponents and
opponents arguments, as well as the overall size of the ballot
pamphlet. Larger ballots generally result in less printing and
mailing costs per page. The average number of pages per measure
since 2008 is ten and the minimum per measure has been five
pages.
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/1/14)
Money Out, Voters In (source)
American Sustainable Business Council
Beach Cities Democratic Club
California Clean Money Campaign
California Public Interest Research Group
California School Employees Association
Common Cause
Democracy for America
Free Speech for People
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
LAX Area Democratic Club
Miracle Mile Democratic Club
Rebuild the Dream
Robert F. Kennedy Democratic Club
The Sierra County Central Committee
West LA Democratic Club
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/1/14)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Clean Money Campaign
agrees with the bill's findings and supports the bill's call for
the Legislature to place the Overturn Citizens United Act on the
statewide ballot. "This will give all Californians the
opportunity to directly respond to these disastrous rulings and
advise Congress to propose, and then the California Legislature
to pass, an amendment to overturn Citizens United and other
applicable judicial precedents and to allow the full regulation
CONTINUED
SB 1272
Page
5
or limitation of campaign contributions and spending."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance opposed
this bill because it results in additional costs to the state
inconsistent with the current budget.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-23, 06/30/14
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gray, Hall, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Medina,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, V.
Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle,
Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Linder,
Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Nestande, Olsen,
Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Daly, Gordon, Gorell, Weber, Vacancy
RM:MW:nl 7/1/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED