BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 609 Hearing Date: 7/7/15
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|Author: |Cristina Garcia |
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|Version: |4/22/15 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Frances Tibon Estoista |
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Subject: Members of the Legislature: residency
DIGEST
Permits a candidate for Member of the Legislature to file a
statement with the Secretary of State (SOS), as specified, in
which the candidate voluntarily agrees that, if elected, he or
she will continue to reside within the district for which he or
she was elected during his or her term of office.
ANALYSIS
Existing law provides that a person is ineligible to be a member
of the Legislature unless the person is an elector and has been
a resident of the legislative district for one year, and a
citizen of the United States and a resident of California for
three years, immediately preceding the election.
This bill :
1) Makes legislative findings and declarations that, in order to
ensure that Members of the Legislature adequately and
effectively represent their constituents, those elected to
the Legislature should continue to reside in the districts
that they are elected to represent during their terms of
office.
2) Permits a candidate for Member of the Legislature to file a
statement with the SOS in which the candidate voluntarily
agrees that, if elected, he or she will continue to reside
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within the district from which he or she was elected during
his or her term of office. Provides that a person does not
violate the voluntary agreement if, after being elected for a
term of office, the boundaries of the district from which he
or she was elected are changed during that term of office so
as to exclude his or her residence from the district.
3) Requires the statement be filed with his or her nomination
documents.
4) Requires the SOS to designate in the state ballot pamphlet
those candidates for Member of the Legislature who have
voluntarily agreed to the continuing residency requirement
set forth.
BACKGROUND
Unenforced Constitutional Provision : Article IV, Section 2 of
the California Constitution provides that a person is ineligible
to be a member of the Legislature unless the person is an
elector and has been a resident of the legislative district for
one year, and a citizen of the United States and a resident of
California for three years, immediately preceding the election.
The SOS has long held that this requirement is unconstitutional,
however, and as a result it is not enforced. Moreover, existing
state law does not explicitly require a Member of the
Legislature to reside in his or her district for the duration of
his or her term of office.
State Ballot Pamphlet : Existing law requires the SOS to prepare
a state ballot pamphlet for every statewide election and send to
every registered voter a state ballot pamphlet, as specified.
Existing law also requires the SOS to include important voter
information in the state pamphlet, such as a copy, analysis, and
arguments for and against each state measure, the Voters Bill of
Rights, and statewide candidate statements, as specified.
COMMENTS
1) According to the author , current law requires a candidate
for the California Legislature to live within the district
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they intend to represent. However, there is no requirement
that they must continue reside there, once elected. Voters
have the right to know if the person they elected intends on
living amongst their constituents. AB 609 creates a
designation for those who wish to voluntarily declare that
they will continue to reside within their district.
2) Is the Ballot Pamphlet the Right Venue ? This bill adds more
information to an already voluminous state ballot pamphlet,
by requiring the SOS to designate candidates for Member of
the Legislature who have voluntarily agreed to file the
continuing residency statement.
The voluntary statement of continuing residency proposed by
this bill is similar to the voluntary "Code of Fair Campaign
Practices" which is issued at the time an individual obtains
his or her declaration of candidacy, nomination papers, or
any other paper evidencing an intention to be a candidate for
public office, and like any public document is already
available for public examination. Since it is probably
unlikely that any candidate for the Legislature will fail to
file the residency statement, what is the value in requiring
that they be listed in the ballot pamphlet? Especially since
each page in the ballot pamphlet costs the state
approximately $55,000.
Would requiring the SOS to make this list of candidates
available online serve the same purpose?
3) Will this voluntary statement of residency result in
meaningful change ? This bill provides no consequences if a
candidate files the residency statement but subsequently
moves outside the district after election.
PRIOR ACTION
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|Assembly Floor: |74 - 0 |
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|Assembly Appropriations Committee: |17 - 0 |
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|Assembly Elections and Redistricting | 7 - 0 |
|Committee: | |
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POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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