BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1492
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1492 (Low) - As Amended April 30, 2015
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|Policy |Rules |Vote:|10 - 0 |
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| |Elections and Redistricting | |7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill provides that a person found guilty of fraud, within
the context of circulating or filing an in-lieu-filing fee
petition or a political party qualification petition, is subject
AB 1492
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to the same penalties as a person found guilty of other means of
petition fraud.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Nonreimbursable costs to local governments for enforcement,
offset to some extent by fine revenues. (Consistent with current
law governing petition fraud, violations are generally
punishable by a fine not exceeding $5,000 and/or by imprisonment
for 16 months, two or three years. It is expected that any
convictions generally would not result in imprisonment.)
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, " Currently, the Secretary
of State does the investigations into people who commit fraud
involving nomination papers, declarations of candidacy,
initiatives, referenda, and recall petitions and the only two
petitions that are not specifically included in the statute
are in-lieu filing fee petitions and political party
petitions. By including the two additional petitions this
would provide clarity by allowing the state to punish people
whom commit fraud involving in-lieu filing fee petitions and
political party petitions."
2)Background. Candidates for state and federal offices, when
filing their declarations of candidacy with the SOS, are
required to pay a filing fee, which varies based on the
specific state or federal office. In lieu of paying the fee,
candidates may submit a petition containing signatures of
registered voters, with the number of required signature again
depending on the specific office.
AB 1492
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3)Prior Legislation. This bill is substantially similar to SB
1043 (Torres) of 2014, which was never brought up for a vote
on the Assembly Floor.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081