BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 278


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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB  
          278 (Roger Hernández)


          As Amended  August 11, 2016


          Majority vote


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          |ASSEMBLY:  |      |(June 3, 2015) |SENATE: |33-5  |(August 17,      |
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                 (vote not relevant)


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          |COMMITTEE VOTE: | 5-2 |(August 29,     |RECOMMENDATION:   |concur     |
          |                |     |2016)           |                  |           |
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          (E. & R.)




          Original Committee Reference:  E. & R.


          SUMMARY:  Permits any city, regardless of population size, to  
          change the method of electing its governing board members from  








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          at-large to a by-district method of election without receiving  
          voter approval and provides that if voter approval is sought,  
          the proposed boundaries for the districts are not required to  
          appear on the ballot.


          The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of the bill,  
          and instead:


          1)Repeal the population limitation on a law that permits the  
            legislative body of a city with a population of fewer than  
            100,000 people to adopt an ordinance, without being required  
            to submit the ordinance to the voters for approval, that  
            requires the members of the legislative body to be elected by  
            districts, thereby giving all cities, regardless of population  
            the flexibility that is provided by that law.  


          2)Repeal a requirement that a city ordinance submitted to the  
            voters asking whether they want to adopt a by-district or  
            from-district method of election for members of the  
            legislative body must include the boundaries and number of  
            each such district.  Require the legislative body to prepare a  
            proposed map describing the boundaries and numbers of the  
            legislative districts after the ordinance is passed, as  
            specified.  Permit the legislative body to seek public input,  
            including accepting proposed maps submitted by the public.   
            Require the district boundaries to be effective beginning the  
            first election following approval by the legislative body for  
            which election consolidation deadlines have not passed, as  
            specified.


          3)Require a legislative body that is establishing or adjusting  
            district boundaries pursuant to this bill to hold public  
            hearings on the boundaries, as specified by existing law. 


          4)Require the legislative body of a newly incorporated city that  
            has voted to elect members of the city council by district,  
            when establishing the boundaries of city council districts, to  








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            comply with applicable provisions of the federal Voting Rights  
            Act of 1965.


          5)Make technical, nonsubstantive, and conforming changes.


          AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill required general law cities  
          with a population of 100,000 or more, as specified, to elect  
          members of the city council by district.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  None.  This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the  
          Legislative Counsel.


          COMMENTS:  According to the author:


            AB 278 advances a more fair, comprehensive and balanced  
            process to the potential adoption of district-based elections.  
             I have worked diligently to address all the issues raised by  
            the opposition to this bill over the last two years.


            The bill accomplishes the following:


             1)   The bill broadens the applicability of SB 493 (Cannella)  
               [Chapter 735, Statutes of 2015] to allow all city councils,  
               regardless of the city's population size, to adopt the  
               district-based election method directly instead of going to  
               the voters to seek that change.


             2)   In the event a city council chooses not to adopt a  
               change in the election method and instead seek voter  
               approval, the approval of the district maps would occur  
               after the voters have approved changing to district-based  
               elections, not concurrently.  This is similar to how the  
               map adoption process is envisioned to work under SB 493  
               which was approved last year.








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          Until last year, any city that wished to move from at-large  
          elections to a district-based method of election generally  
          needed voter approval in order to enact such a change.  SB 493  
          (Cannella), Chapter 735, Statutes of 2015, however, permitted a  
          city with a population of fewer than 100,000 people to change  
          the method of electing council members to a by-district method  
          of election without receiving voter approval if such a change  
          was made in furtherance of the purposes of the California Voting  
          Rights Act (CVRA).  Any city with a population of 100,000 or  
          more still generally needs voter approval in order to change  
          from at-large elections to a district-based method of election.   



          This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the  
          Assembly-approved provisions of this bill were deleted.  As a  
          result, this bill was re-referred to the Assembly Elections and  
          Redistricting Committee pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2, and the  
          committee subsequently recommended that the Assembly concur in  
          the Senate amendments.


          Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion  
          of this bill.


          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
                          Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094  FN:   
          0004983



















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