Amended in Assembly April 22, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 6, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 884

Introduced by Assembly Member Rendon

February 26, 2015

An act to amend begin delete Section end delete begin insert Sections 9001 and end insert 9004 begin delete of, to add Section 9008.5 to, and to repeal Section 18650 of, end delete begin insert of end insert the Elections Code, begin delete and to amend Section 6253.5 of the Government Code, end delete relating to initiatives.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 884, as amended, Rendon. Initiative petitions: begin delete public records. end delete begin insert title and summary. end insert

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(1) Under the California Public Records Act, statewide, county, city, and district initiative, referendum, and recall petitions, certain other petitions, and related memoranda are not public records and are not open to inspection, except as specified.

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(1) Existing law requires the proponents of a proposed ballot initiative or referendum to pay a fee of $200 to the Attorney General for preparation of a circulating title and summary.

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This bill would begin delete create an exception to that exemption for petitions for statewide initiatives that the Attorney General has determined would likely result in a violation of an individual’s constitutional rights, thereby making those petitions subject to inspection by the public. By requiring local agencies to produce additional records for inspection, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. end delete begin insert increase the fee from $200 to $1,000, and would authorize the Attorney General, on an annual basis, to determine the actual costs of preparing the title and summary and increase the fee to a maximum of $5,000 to recover the full cost of preparing the title and summary. end insert

(2) Existing law requires the Attorney General to provide a ballot label and a ballot title for each measure to be submitted to the voters at a statewide election, and requires the Attorney General to prepare a summary of the chief purposes and points of each statewide ballot measure as part of the ballot title. begin delete Existing law provides for the format of an initiative measure petition and requires, prior to circulation, the placement of specified information across the top of the petition of a proposed initiative measure in 12-point or larger roman boldface type. end delete

This bill would require the Attorney General, if he or she determines during preparation of the circulating title and summary for a statewide initiative measure that the measure would likely result in a violation of an individual’s constitutional rights, to include a specified statement in the title and summary. begin delete The bill would require, for those measures that the Attorney General determines would likely result in a violation of an individual’s constitutional rights, specified information on the petition to be in 16-point or larger roman boldface type, and would require a statement notifying the public that the petition, including information provided by signatories to the petition, is subject to the California Public Records Act. end delete

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(3) Existing law prohibits a person from knowingly or willfully permitting the list of signatures on an initiative, referendum, or recall petition to be used for any purpose other than qualification of the initiative or referendum measure or recall question for the ballot, and provides that violation of that provision is a misdemeanor.

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This bill would repeal those provisions.

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The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose.

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This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

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The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

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This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert .

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

Section 6253.5 of the Government Code is
amended to read:

6253.5.  

(a) Notwithstanding Sections 6252 and 6253, and
except as provided by subdivision (d), statewide, county, city, and
district initiative, referendum, and recall petitions, petitions
circulated pursuant to Section 5091 of the Education Code,
petitions for the reorganization of school districts submitted
pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 35700) of Chapter
4 of Part 21 of the Education Code, petitions for the reorganization
of community college districts submitted pursuant to Part 46
(commencing with Section 74000) of the Education Code and all
memoranda prepared by the county elections officials in the
examination of the petitions indicating which registered voters
have signed particular petitions shall not be deemed public records
and shall not be open to inspection except by the public officer or
public employees who have the duty of receiving, examining, or
preserving the petitions or who are responsible for the preparation
of that memoranda and, if the petition is found to be insufficient,
by the proponents of the petition and the representatives of the
proponents as may be designated by the proponents in writing in
order to determine which signatures were disqualified and the
reasons for disqualification. However, the Attorney General, the
Secretary of State, the Fair Political Practices Commission, a
district attorney, a school district or a community college district
attorney, and a city attorney shall be permitted to examine the
material upon approval of the appropriate superior court.

(b) If the proponents of a petition are permitted to examine the
petition and memoranda, the examination shall commence not
later than 21 days after the date of certification of insufficiency.

(c) As used in this section:

(1) “Petition” means any petition to which a registered voter
has affixed his or her signature.

(2) “Proponents of the petition” means the following:

(A) For statewide initiative and referendum measures, the person
or persons who submit a draft of a petition proposing the measure
to the Attorney General with a request that he or she prepare a title
and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed
measure.

(B) For other initiative and referenda on measures, the person
or persons who publish a notice of intention to circulate petitions,
or, where publication is not required, who file petitions with the
elections official.

(C) For recall measures, the person or persons defined in Section
343 of the Elections Code.

(D) For petitions circulated pursuant to Section 5091 of the
Education Code, the person or persons having charge of the petition
who submit the petition to the county superintendent of schools.

(E) For petitions circulated pursuant to Article 1 (commencing
with Section 35700) of Chapter 4 of Part 21 of Division 3 of Title
2 of the Education Code, the person or persons designated as chief
petitioners under Section 35701 of the Education Code.

(F) For petitions circulated pursuant to Part 46 (commencing
with Section 74000) of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code,
the person or persons designated as chief petitioners under Sections
74102, 74133, and 74152 of the Education Code.

(d) This section does not apply to petitions for statewide
initiative measures that the Attorney General has determined, in
accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 9004 of the Elections
Code, would likely result in a violation of an individual’s
constitutional rights.

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 9001 of the end insert begin insert Elections Code end insert begin insert is amended
to read: end insert

9001.  

(a)  begin delete Prior to end delete begin insert Before end insert the circulation of begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert initiative
or referendum petition for signatures, the text of the proposed
measure shall be submitted to the Attorney General with a written
request that a circulating title and summary of the chief purpose
and points of the proposed measure be prepared. The electors
presenting the request shall be known as the “proponents.” The
Attorney General shall preserve the written request until after the
next general election.

(b) Each and every proponent of begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert proposed initiative
measure shall, at the time of submitting the text of the proposed
measure, provide both of the following:

(1) An original signed certification stating that “I, (insert name),
declare under penalty of perjury that I am a citizen of the United
States, 18 years of age or older, and a resident of (insert county),
California.”

(2) Public contact information.

(c) The proponents of begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert initiative measure, at the time of
submitting the text of the proposed measure to the Attorney
General, shall pay a fee begin delete of two hundred dollars ($200), which end delete begin insert of
one thousand dollars ($1,000) to the Attorney General that end insert shall
be placed in a trust fund in the office of the begin delete Treasurer and refunded
to the proponents if the measure qualifies for the ballot within two
years from the date the summary is furnished to the proponents.
If end delete begin insert Treasurer. end insert

begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert On an annual basis, the Attorney General may determine
the actual costs of preparing the title and summary and increase
the fee to a maximum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) to recover
the full cost of preparing the title and summary. end insert

begin insert (2) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert If the measure qualifies for the ballot within two years from
the date the summary is furnished to the proponents, the fee
described in this subdivision shall be refunded to the proponents.
If end insert the measure does not qualify within that period, the fee shall be
immediately paid into the General Fund of the state.

(d) All referenda and proposed initiative measures must be
submitted to the Attorney General’s Initiative Coordinator located
in the Sacramento Attorney General’s Office via U.S. Postal
Service, alternative mail service, or personal delivery. Only printed
documents will be accepted, facsimile or e-mail delivery will not
be accepted.

(e) The Attorney General’s office shall not deem a request for
a circulating title and summary submitted until all of the
requirements of this section are met.

SEC. 2.  

Section 9004 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

9004.  

(a) Upon receipt of the text of a proposed initiative
measure, and after the public review period provided for in Section
9002, the Attorney General shall prepare a circulating title and
summary of the chief purposes and points of the proposed measure.
The circulating title and summary shall not exceed 100 words. The
Attorney General shall also provide a unique numeric identifier
for each proposed initiative measure. The circulating title and
summary shall be prepared in the manner provided for the
preparation of ballot titles and summaries in Article 5 (commencing
with Section 9050), the provisions of which, in regard to the
preparation, filing, and settlement of ballot titles and summaries,
are applicable to the circulating title and summary.

(b) If, during his or her preparation of the circulating title and
summary for a proposed initiative measure, the Attorney General
determines that the measure would likely result in a violation of
an individual’s constitutional rights, he or she shall include the
following statement in the circulating title and summary:

“The Attorney General has determined that this initiative
measure, if approved by the voters, would likely result in a
violation of an individual’s rights under the United States
Constitution or the California Constitution.”

(c) The Attorney General shall provide a copy of the circulating
title and summary and its unique numeric identifier to the
proponents and to the Secretary of State within 15 days after receipt
of the fiscal estimate or opinion prepared by the Department of
Finance and the Legislative Analyst pursuant to Section 9005. The
date the copy is delivered or mailed to the proponents is the
“official summary date.”

(d) Upon receipt of the circulating title and summary from the
Attorney General, the Secretary of State shall, within one business
day, notify the proponents and county elections official of each
county of the official summary date and provide a copy of the
circulating title and summary to each county elections official.
This notification shall also include a complete schedule showing
the maximum filing deadline, and the certification deadline by the
counties to the Secretary of State.

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SEC. 3.  

Section 9008.5 is added to the Elections Code, to read:

9008.5.  

A proposed initiative measure that the Attorney General
has determined, in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section
9004, would likely result in a violation of an individual’s
constitutional rights shall, prior to circulation, have placed across
the top of the petition in 16-point or larger roman boldface type,
all of the following:

(a) The Attorney General’s unique numeric identifier placed
before the circulating title and summary upon each page where
the circulating title and summary is to appear.

(b) The circulating title and summary prepared by the Attorney
General upon each page of the petition on which signatures are to
appear.

(c) The circulating title and summary prepared by the Attorney
General upon each section of the petition preceding the text of the
measure.

(d) The circulating title and summary prepared by the Attorney
General as required by subdivision (c) shall be preceded by the
following statement: “Initiative measure to be submitted directly
to the voters. This petition, including information provided by
signatories to the petition, is subject to the California Public
Records Act.”

SEC. 4.  

Section 18650 of the Elections Code is repealed.

SEC. 5.  

The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of
this act, which amends Section 6253.5 of the Government Code,
furthers, within the meaning of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b)
of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the purposes
of that constitutional section as it relates to the right of public
access to the meetings of local public bodies or the writings of
local public officials and local agencies. Pursuant to paragraph (7)
of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the California
Constitution, the Legislature makes the following findings:

Access to information concerning proposed measures to be
submitted directly to the voters related to the people’s business is
a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state,
and serves to preserve the integrity of the electoral process by
combating fraud and fostering government transparency and
accountability.

SEC. 6.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district under this act would result from a legislative mandate that
is within the scope of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section
3 of Article I of the California Constitution.

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