Amended in Assembly May 5, 2015

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 Sections 9001 and end delete begin insert Section end insert 9004 of the Elections Code, relating to initiatives.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 884, as amended, Rendon. Initiative petitions: title and summary.

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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.

end delete begin delete

This bill would 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 delete begin delete

(2) Existing

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begin insert Existing end insert 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 begin insert as part of the ballot title end insert a summary of the chief purposes and points of each statewide ballot measure begin delete as part of the ballot title. end delete begin insert that does not exceed 100 words. end insert

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 insert The bill would specify that the statement does not count toward the 100-word limit and would authorize any elector to seek a writ of mandate challenging the inclusion of the statement. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

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SECTION 1.  

Section 9001 of the Elections Code is amended
to read:

9001.  

(a) Before the circulation of an 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 a 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 an initiative measure, at the time of
submitting the text of the proposed measure to the Attorney
General, shall pay a fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000) to the
Attorney General that shall be placed in a trust fund in the office
of the Treasurer.

(1) 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.

(2) 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 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.

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begin delete SEC. 2. end delete
begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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,
begin delete are applicable end delete begin insert apply end insert to the circulating title and summary.

(b)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert 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.”

begin insert

(2) If the Attorney General includes the statement described in
paragraph (1) in the circulating title and summary, that statement
does not count toward the 100-word limit on the length of the
circulating title and summary, as provided in subdivision (a).

end insert begin insert

(3) If the Attorney General includes the statement described in
paragraph (1) in the circulating title and summary, any elector
may seek a writ of mandate pursuant to Section 13314 challenging
the inclusion of the statement.

end insert

(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.