BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1100|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1100
Author: Low (D) and Bloom (D)
IntroducedAmended:6/19/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 3-2, 6/16/15
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Liu
NOES: Anderson, Hertzberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-1, 6/29/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 46-28, 5/26/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Ballot initiatives: filing fees
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill increases the fee to submit a proposed state
ballot initiative to the Attorney General (AG) for preparation
of the circulating title and summary from $200 to $2,500 to be
adjusted bi-annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price
Index.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Defines a circulating title and summary to mean the text that
is required to be placed on the petition for signatures that
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is either of the following:
a) The summary of the chief purpose and points of a
proposed initiative measure that affects the Constitution
or laws of the state, and the fiscal impact of the proposed
initiative measure; or,
b) The summary of the chief purpose and points of a
referendum measure that affects a law or laws of the state.
2)Requires the proponents of a proposed initiative or referendum
measure to submit the text of the proposed measure to the AG
with a written request that a circulating title and summary of
the measure be prepared, prior to circulating the petition for
signatures. Requires proponents of any initiative measure, at
the time of submitting the text of the proposed initiative
measure to the AG, to pay a fee of $200, which shall be placed
in a trust fund in the office of the 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 the measure does not qualify within that
period, the fee shall be paid into the General Fund of the
state.
3)Requires the AG upon receipt of the text of a proposed
initiative measure, and after the public review period, to
prepare a circulating title and summary of the chief purposes
and points of the proposed measure. Specifies that the
circulating title and summary shall not exceed 100 words.
4)Requires the AG to give a true and impartial statement of the
purpose of the measure in such language that the ballot title
and summary shall neither be an argument nor be likely to
create prejudice, for or against that proposed measure.
This bill increases the fee to submit a proposed state ballot
initiative to the AG for preparation of the circulating title
and summary from $200 to $2,500 which shall be adjusted
bi-annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.
Background
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Attorney General's Process for Preparing Ballot Titles and
Summaries. Before circulating a state initiative measure,
initiative proponents must first submit their proposal to the
AG's office. Upon receipt of the proposed measure by the AG, a
30-day public comment period begins. Additionally, the
proponent(s) may amend the initiative until close of business on
the 35th calendar day after receipt. Before the AG can issue
the circulating title and summary, the AG must request the
preparation of a fiscal impact report prepared jointly by the
Department of Finance (DOF) and the Legislative Analyst. These
agencies have 50 calendar days following receipt of the proposed
measure from the AG to prepare the fiscal estimate.
Within 15 calendar days following the receipt of the fiscal
impact report, the AG is required to issue an official
circulating title and summary to the proponent(s). A copy of
the official circulating title and summary is provided to the
Secretary of State and the Legislature on the official summary
date, the same date it is sent to the proponent(s).
Under current law, proponents must pay a $200 fee to the AG, a
fee that is placed in a trust fund in the office of the
Treasurer and is refunded in full to the proponent(s) if the
initiative qualifies for the ballot within two years after the
summary has been issued to the proponents. If the measure fails
to qualify, the fee is immediately paid into the General Fund of
the state.
Purpose of the Fee. The purpose of the $200 filing fee is
two-fold. Primarily, the fee exists to discourage the submission
of frivolous proposals; secondly, the fee is intended to defray
some of the administrative costs to the state associated with
processing initiatives.
The existing fee was established in 1943 and has never been
increased. When adjusted for inflation that $200 is now
somewhere between $2,500 and $3,000, depending on whose rate of
inflation figures are used.
Increasing Number of Initiatives and Ballot Summaries.
According to the AG's office, there has been a steady increase
in the number of initiative proposals submitted for title and
summary in the last few decades. The following illustrates the
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increased number of filed initiative proposals:
47 from 1960 to 1969
180 from 1970 to 1979
282 from 1980 to 1989
391 from 1990 to 1999
647 from 2000 to 2009
240 from 2010 to April 21, 2015
Recent California Initiative Proposals. According to
information obtained from the AG's office, between 2009 and 2013
there were 315 proposed initiative measures submitted for a
circulating title and summary. Of those 315 initiative
proposals, 27 qualified for the ballot. Additionally, the AG
estimates that an average of 56 hours of staff time is
accumulated in the preparation of each title and summary.
Although the current fee is $200, the average proposed
initiative will cost the state more than $8,000. Any costs for
preparing a title and summary that exceed the $200 fee are
ultimately covered by the General Fund.
Comments
1)According to the author, AB 1100 will increase the ballot
initiative proposal fee from $200 to $2,500 to be adjusted
bi-annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.
The $200 fee was set in 1943 to cover the administrative costs
by the AG to analyze a proposal and prepare a title and
summary. According to the Consumer Price Index, the value of
$200 today is the equivalent of $14.80 in 1943 dollars. It
has been 72 years since this aspect of the initiative process
has been updated. This proposal is long overdue.
An analysis of previous budget change proposals relating to the
cost to prepare title and summary for 315 initiatives from
2009-2013 totaled close to $2.6 million, an average of over
$8,000 per initiative. As of early April, 16 initiatives have
been submitted to the AG for the 2016 ballot.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Potentially significant increase in filing fee revenue
(General Fund)
The increase in revenue will be dependent on the number of
initiatives filed, and the number of those which eventually
qualify for the ballot (which results in a refund of the filing
fee).
SUPPORT: (Verified6/29/15)
California Common Cause
Equality California
Glendale City Employees Association
Organization of SMUD Employees
San Bernardino Public Employees Association
San Diego County Court Employees Association
San Luis Obispo County Employees Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/29/15)
California Taxpayers Association
Consumer Watchdog
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 46-28, 5/26/15
AYES: Alejo, Bonilla, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chiu, Chu, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier,
Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian,
O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood,
Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Cooley,
Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Irwin,
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Jones, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mayes, Melendez,
Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Salas, Steinorth, Wagner,
Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bloom, Brown, Chang, Chávez, Harper, Mathis
Prepared by:Darren Chesin / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
6/30/15 13:59:37
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