BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1100| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 1100 Page 2 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 AB 1100 Page 3 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 AB 1100 Page 4 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. AB 1100 Page 5 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, AB 1100 Page 6 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 **** END ****