BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 809|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
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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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