BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  ACA 2
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 1, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                 ACA 2 (Furutani) - As Introduced:  December 1, 2008 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:5-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill proposes to amend the State Constitution to authorize  
          a person who is at least 17 years of age and will be 18 years of  
          age at the time of the next general election to register and  
          vote at that general election and at any intervening primary or  
          special election that occurs after the person registers to vote.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)One-time General Fund costs of about $220,000 to include an  
            analysis of the measure and arguments for and against the  
            measure in the statewide voter pamphlet.

          2)County election officials would incur minor one-time costs to  
            reprogram computer systems. Statewide costs would probably be  
            in the range of $100,000.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . The author notes that ACA 2 will allow more young  
            voters in California "to participate in the full scope of the  
            election process."  The author argues that the bill "would  
            simply allow these young voters to exercise their right to  
            vote in the primary election-allowing them to help decide the  
            nominees who will appear on the general election ballot."

           2)Related Legislation  :  AB 30 (Price), pending in the Senate  
            Elections Committee, allows a person to "pre-register" to vote  
            once he or she is 16 years old.  Once a "pre-registrant" turns  
            18, he or she would automatically be registered to vote. AB 30  
            does not change the voting age.
           








                                                                 ACA 2
                                                                  Page  2

          3)Prior Legislation  . In 2008, ACA 15 (Mullin), which was an  
            identical measure, failed passage on the Assembly floor.  In  
            2005, ACA 17 (Mullin), which was substantially similar to this  
            measure, was not taken up on the Assembly Floor. 

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081