BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 394
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 20, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                   AB 394 (Fuentes) - As Amended:  April 13, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the governor to appoint a task force to make  
          recommendations on maximizing the number of Californians counted  
          in the 2010 census and to implement a census outreach program.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Depending on the tenure of the task force, one-time GF costs  
          would probably be in the range of $50,000 to $75,000 for staff  
          support and other related expenses. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Background  .  The 2008-09 Budget Act contained a $1 million  
            appropriation to the Governor's Office of Planning and  
            Research (OPR) for the Count Every Californian Effort, aimed  
            at ensuring California is fully and accurately represented in  
            the 2010 census and receives all of the federal funds and  
            Congressional representatives to which it is entitled.  OPR  
            has since formed a state agency working group to identify  
            outreach efforts using existing state agency resources.   
            According to OPR, the Governor is in the process of appointing  
            a California Complete Count Committee to work with the United  
            States Census Bureau for the 2010 Census.

           2)Purpose  .  According to the author, "The 2010 Census represents  
            a once-a-decade chance for California to conduct a complete  
            count of its citizens. Census results dictate federal  
            representation, federal and state funding formulas, and state  
            redistricting changes. We need to ensure that California does  
            everything it can to enact an accurate count, building on our  
            previous successes and acknowledging the challenges that are  








                                                                  AB 394
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            still present."

           3)Task Force Details Lacking  .  This bill does not specify the  
            number or type of members that should serve on the task force,  
            when and by whom the appointments are to be made, to whom  
            recommendations are to be made and by what date, or a date for  
            the task force to complete its work.

           4)Prior Legislation  .  This bill is identical to AB 2314  
            (Fuentes) of 2008, which was never heard by the Assembly  
            Governmental Organization Committee.

            SB 711 (Burton)/Chapter 86 of 1999, among several provisions,  
            requested that the governor appoint a task force to make  
            recommendations on how to maximize the number of California's  
            counted in the 2000 census and to implement a census outreach  
            program, among other provisions.

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