BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
BILL NO: AB 894 HEARING DATE:7/7/09
AUTHOR: FURUTANI ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: 5/11/09
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Ballot measures: fiscal impact statements
DESCRIPTION
Existing law establishes a process for the Attorney General
(AG) to prepare a summary of the chief purposes and points
of a proposed measure. Requires the AG to provide a copy
of the title and summary to the Secretary of State (SOS)
within 15 days after receipt of the final version of a
proposed initiative measure, or if a fiscal estimate or
opinion is to be included, within 15 days after receipt of
the fiscal estimate or opinion prepared by the Department
of Finance (DOF) and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee
(JLBC).
Existing law specifies that in preparing a title and
summary, the AG shall determine whether the substance
thereof, if adopted, would affect the revenues or
expenditures of the state or local government, and if he or
she determines that it would, he or she shall include in
the title either the estimate of the amount of any increase
or decrease in revenues or costs to the state or local
government.
Existing law provides that the fiscal impact statement
prepared by the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) may be
used by the DOF and JLBC in preparation of the fiscal
estimate or the opinion.
Existing law requires the LAO to prepare an impartial
analysis of each state ballot measure describing the
measure and including a fiscal analysis of the measure
showing the amount of any increase or decrease in revenue
or cost to state or local government.
Existing law requires that the statement of all measures
submitted to the voters be abbreviated on the ballot.
Specifies that the statement contain not more than 75 words
of each measure to be voted on, followed by the words,
"Yes" and "No".
This bill requires the fiscal impact statement included in
the title and summary prepared by the AG for an initiative
measure to be in boldface print.
This bill requires the LAO to prepare an analysis of a
state ballot measure's estimated impact on the General Fund
(GF) for every measure that will result in increased costs
to the state.
This bill requires the LAO's estimated numerical figure of
revenue or cost to the state to appear below the
designation of a measure on the ballot.
This bill requires the fiscal impact statement and any
estimated amount of an increase or decrease in revenues or
costs to the state or local government included in the
title and summary prepared by the AG for a state initiative
measure to be in boldface type.
This bill permits the LAO to include in his or her analysis
of a state ballot measure the measure's estimated impact on
the GF and an estimated percentage of the GF that would be
expended due to the measure's passage, if it is estimated
that a measure will result in increased cost to the state.
Allows for the use of visual aids for the estimated impact
and the percentage of GF expended.
BACKGROUND
Since the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, the use of
ballot measures and initiatives to achieve public policy
ends has increased dramatically. In all of the 1960s,
there were only nine statewide initiatives placed on the
ballot. In the 1970s, that number rose to 22. In the
1980s, Californians were called upon to vote on 46 ballot
measures, and in the 1990s that number climbed to 61. So
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far in this decade, there have been 63, and the May 19,
2009 Statewide Special Election brought about six more
measures. In reviewing the growth of these ballot measures
and initiatives, it is apparent they have not been
accompanied by a clear explanation of what these measures
are costing the state or how they impact state finances.
COMMENTS
1. According to the author : The state faces an ongoing
budget shortfall of tens of billions of dollars. This
crisis is made far more difficult to solve with the
increasing passage of ballot measures and initiatives
that set aside state resources, commit future tax
revenues, or in some cases do not even identify a
funding source, for various projects. Voters are not
sufficiently aware of the cost pressures certain ballot
measures and initiatives create. Voters need to
understand the fiscal impact of new ballot proposals in
the context of the state's budget and General Fund.
This bill would put the fiscal analysis of ballot
measures and initiatives in context for voters tasked
with making complicated decisions that impact state
funds. Assembly Bill 894:
Specifies that the fiscal impact statement
included in the ballot title and summary be in
boldface type;
Requires the fiscal analysis of a ballot
measure include an analysis of the measure's
estimated impact on the General Fund, including an
estimate of the percentage of the state General Fund
that would be expended if the measure were to pass;
Allows the inclusion of visual aids in the
analysis to illustrate the fiscal impact, when
appropriate;
Requires that the costs (numerical value)
associated with a measure appear immediately below
the title on the ballot, with the corresponding
explanatory description of an estimated increase or
decrease in state revenue or costs.
1. Limited Ballot Space : Requiring additional fiscal
information on a state ballot measure will limit the
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number of words used to summarize the measure, since the
75 word limit applies to the summary and fiscal effect.
The committee may wish to consider if limiting the words
used to summarize a ballot measure will further the
bill's intent to provide voters with information
regarding the ballot measure's fiscal impact to the
state.
2. Related Legislation : AB 319 (Niello), which failed
passage in the Assembly Elections and Redistricting
Committee in April, would have required the LAO, instead
of the AG, to prepare the ballot title and summary for
all measures submitted to the voters of the State and
would have also required the LAO, instead of the DOF and
the JLBC, to prepare any fiscal estimate or opinion
required by a proposed initiative measure.
AB 753 (Adams) is currently on the Senate Inactive file
and is a code cleanup measure to reorganize, update, and
clarify the Elections Code provisions regarding ballot
labels, titles, and summaries.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 7-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 16-0
Assembly Floor: 77-0
POSITIONS
Sponsor: State Controller
Support: Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Oppose: None received
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