BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON
          ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
                              Senator Ben Allen, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:             AB 2265        Hearing Date:    6/8/16    
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          |Author:    |Mark Stone                                           |
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          |Version:   |2/18/16                                              |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:    |No               |
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          |Consultant:|Frances Tibon Estoista                               |
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               Subject:  County ballot measures:  impartial analysis.

           DIGEST
           
          This bill authorizes the county counsel or district attorney to  
          prepare a summary of the impartial analysis of a county ballot  
          measure in a format that answers the questions "What does a yes  
          vote mean?" and "What does a no vote mean?"

           ANALYSIS
           
           Existing law:
           
          1) Requires the county elections official, when a county measure  
             qualifies for the ballot, to transmit a copy of the measure  
             to the county auditor and to the county counsel or to the  
             district attorney in a county that does not have a county  
             counsel.

          2) Provides that the county counsel or the district attorney  
             shall prepare an impartial analysis of the measure showing  
             the effect of the measure on the existing law and the  
             operation of the measure.

              a)     Requires the analysis to include a statement  
                 indicating whether the measure was placed on the ballot  
                 by a petition signed by the requisite number of voters,  
                 or by the board of supervisors.
              b)     Requires the analysis to be printed preceding the  
                 arguments for and against the measure.







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              c)     Provides that the analysis may not exceed 500 words  
                 in length.

          3) Requires the elections official, if the entire text of a  
             county ballot measure is not printed on the ballot, or in the  
             voter information portion of the sample ballot, to inform  
             voters of alternative ways to access the text of the measure.

          4) Provides that not later than 88 days prior to an election  
             that includes a county ballot measure, the board of  
             supervisors may direct the county auditor to review the  
             measure and determine whether the substance thereof, if  
             adopted, would affect the revenues or expenditures of the  
             county.  Requires the auditor, if so directed, to prepare a  
             fiscal impact statement which estimates the amount of any  
             increase or decrease in revenues or costs to the county if  
             the proposed measure is adopted and limits the fiscal impact  
             statement to 500 words or less.


































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           This bill:
          
           1) Authorizes the county counsel or district attorney to  
             prepare a summary of the impartial analysis of a county  
             ballot measure in a format that answers the questions "What  
             does a yes vote mean?" and "What does a no vote mean?" 

           2) Provides that the summary for each question limited to 75  
             words or less.

           3) Provides that any summary prepared pursuant to this  
             provision may be included in the voter information portion of  
             the sample ballot.

           4) Makes clarifying changes.

           BACKGROUND

           Existing law requires the state voter information guide contain  
          a section, located near the front of the pamphlet that provides  
          a concise summary of the general meaning and effect of "yes" and  
          "no" votes on each statewide ballot measure.  For these state  
          measures, summary statements are prepared solely by the  
          Legislative Analyst and are not intended to provide  
          comprehensive information on each measure.

           COMMENTS
                                           
            1) According to the author  :  California voters are often faced  
             with local ballot initiatives that are intended to cover a  
             range of local municipal issues.  As voters are seeing these  
             initiatives it is important that those voters are provided  
             with clear, unbiased information about what they are voting  
             on.  AB 2265 makes it clear that county counsels are  
             authorized to provide an analysis which answers the questions  
             "What does a yes vote mean?" and "What does a no vote mean?"  
             for the measure.  This analysis could not be longer than  
             seventy-five words for each question.

           Providing this information will not only ensure that voters  
             have the correct information, but that they have it in the  
             most useful and practical form.









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                               RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION
           
          AB 809 (Obernolte, Chapter 337, Statutes of 2015), requires the  
           ballot , if a proposed local initiative imposes a tax or raises  
          the rate of a tax, to include in the statement of the ordinance  
          to be voted on the amount of money to be raised annually and the  
          rate of the tax to be levied.

            AB 354 (Dahle, Chapter 265, Statutes of 2013), requires the  
          analysis of a local ballot measure that appears in the ballot  
          pamphlet to include a statement indicating whether the measure  
          was placed on the ballot by a petition signed by the requisite  
          number of voters or by the local governing body.







































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           PRIOR ACTION
           
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          |Assembly Floor:                       |79 - 0                     |
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          |Assembly Elections and Redistricting  |  7 - 0                    |
          |Committee:                            |                           |
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          POSITIONS
           
          Sponsor: Author

           Support: California Association of Clerks and Election  
                   Officials
                    Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

           Oppose:  None received

                                          
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