BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 809|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 809
Author: Obernolte (R)
Amended: 3/26/15 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 7/7/15
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 57-8, 5/22/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Local initiative measures: ballot printing
specifications
SOURCE: Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
DIGEST: This bill 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 of the tax to be
levied.
ANALYSIS:
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
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ordinance and dictates the placement of that text.
This bill 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.
Background
Ballot Form: Existing 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, existing 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.
Comments
1) 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.
Prior Legislation
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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, 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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified8/17/15)
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (source)
California Taxpayers Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/17/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 57-8, 5/22/15
AYES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla,
Brough, Brown, Calderon, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chu, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Beth Gaines, Gallagher,
Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gray,
Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, Patterson, Quirk, Salas, Steinorth,
Thurmond, Wagner, Wilk, Williams, Wood
NOES: Chiu, Cooper, Frazier, Gordon, Medina, Ridley-Thomas,
Mark Stone, Ting
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Bonta, Burke, Campos, Gipson, Holden,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Perea, Rendon, Rodriguez, Santiago, Waldron,
Weber, Atkins
Prepared by:Frances Tibon Estoista / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
8/18/15 17:03:13
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