BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1100|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
          |327-4478                          |                              |
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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,  







                                                                    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


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