BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 809
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, Chair
AB 809
(Obernolte) - As Amended March 26, 2015
FOR VOTE ONLY
SUBJECT: Local initiative measures: ballot printing
specifications.
SUMMARY: Requires the ballot, if a proposed local initiative
imposes a tax or raises the rate of a tax, to include in the
statement of the ordinance to be voted on the amount of money to
be raised annually and the rate and duration of the tax to be
levied.
EXISTING LAW requires ballots used when voting upon a proposed
county, city, or district ordinance submitted to voters of the
respective local government as an initiative measure to have
printed on them specified text relating to the proposed
ordinance and dictates the placement of that text.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. State-mandated local program: contains
reimbursement direction.
COMMENTS:
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1)Purpose of the Bill: According to the author:
California continues to rank at the bottom when it comes to
transparency and access to government information. The
citizens of California have a right to know how taxes will
affect them and how those dollars are being spent. AB 809
takes a small step toward achieving this goal by requiring
the ballot statement for local tax measures to include
information on the amount of money to be raised annually
and the rate and duration of the tax to be levied. This
will help voters be better informed when making decisions
that could impact their personal budgets.
2)Ballot Form: Current law requires a ballot to comply with a
variety of laws that dictate its form and content. For
example, existing law requires a ballot to contain the title
of each office, the names of all qualified candidates, as
specified, ballot designations, as specified, titles and
summaries of measures submitted to voters, and instructions to
voters, among other things. Moreover, current law requires a
ballot to be printed in a certain form, as specified. Once
all of these requirements are met, there is limited space left
on the ballot to accommodate further requirements.
Consequently, it is common practice to include other important
election information in the sample ballot or ballot pamphlet
that is sent to all registered voters.
This bill would add another requirement to the ballot for a
proposed county, city, or district ordinance that is submitted
to the voters as an initiative measure. This bill requires
the ballot, if a proposed local ordinance imposes a tax or
raises the rate of a tax, to include in the statement of the
ordinance the amount of money to be raised annually and the
rate and duration of the tax to be levied. According to the
author's background materials, when citizens vote on local
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ballot measures, there is no requirement in law that the
ballot label states either the amount of money to be raised by
taxation or the rate of taxes to be levied. The author argues
that Californians have a right to know what they are voting
on, especially when it involves tax increases that could have
a significant impact on their financial position.
While having this information may be helpful in determining how
a local measure will raise taxes as well as providing the rate
and duration of the tax levied, it will be extremely
challenging for elections officials to include more
information on the ballot. Moreover, if the law allows for
it, many local elections are consolidated with other elections
as a cost saving measure. Consequently, it is most likely
that the ballot will have a variety of offices and measures to
vote on, leaving less room on the ballot for more information
to be added.
3)Arguments in Support: In support of this bill, the California
Taxpayers Association, writes:
When voters are asked whether to support a tax, basic
information about the tax should be abundantly clear on the
ballot. While the ballot statements for tax ordinances may
occasionally contain the rate and the sunset date of
proposed taxes, this is not always the case?The most
critical information of a tax proposal should be readily
apparent, and should not be hidden from voters.
4)Previous Legislation: AB 2551 (Wilk), Chapter 908, Statutes of
2014, requires each bond issue proposed by a county, city and
county, district, or other political subdivision, or any
agency, department, or board thereof, to include the best
estimate from official sources of the total debt service,
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including the principal and interest that would be required to
be repaid if all the bonds are issued and sold, and permits
the estimate to include information about the assumptions used
to determine the estimate.
5)Prior Consideration: This bill was heard by this committee on
April 15, 2015 and failed on a 2-2 vote. It was subsequently
granted reconsideration on a 6-0 vote. Because the committee
has already heard testimony on this bill, and the bill has not
been amended since, it is being heard in committee today for
vote only.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (sponsor)
California Taxpayers Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
AB 809
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