BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 809
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
809 (Obernolte)
As Amended March 26, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Elections |4-3 |Grove, Travis |Ridley-Thomas, |
| | |Allen, Gatto, |Gordon, Perea |
| | |Mullin | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires the ballot, if a proposed local initiative
imposes a tax or raises the rate of a tax, to include in the
AB 809
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, any costs to add the statement would be minor and
absorbable.
COMMENTS: 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."
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
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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 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.
Analysis Prepared by:
Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN:
0000395