BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 894|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                         |
          |1020 N Street, Suite 524          |                         |
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 894
          Author:   Furutani (D)
          Amended:  5/11/09 in Assembly
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE ELECTIONS, REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COMM.  :  5-0, 7/7/09
          AYES:  Hancock, Walters, DeSaulnier, Liu, Strickland

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/21/09 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Ballot measures:  fiscal impact statements

           SOURCE  :     State Controller


           DIGEST  :    This bill requires the Legislative Analysts  
          Office, when preparing the required fiscal analyses for  
          measures on the statewide ballot, to provide specified  
          additional information.

           ANALYSIS  :    According to the bills sponsor, the State  
          Controller, this bill is intended to enable voters to  
          better understand the measure's costs.  According to the  
          sponsor, "The recent budget crisis demonstrates the need to  
          make more transparent the costs to taxpayers of  
          establishing new programs or locking in formulaic spending,  
          especially via ballot box budgeting.  By presenting costs  
          in the manner proposed by this bill, voters will be better  
          able to assess and understand the benefits versus the costs  
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          of the measure on which they are deciding." 

          This bill: 

          1. Requires the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), if it  
             estimates that a measure will increase state costs, to  
             provide an analysis of the measure's impact on the  
             state, and an estimate of the percentage of the General  
             Fund that would be expended by the measure if  
             applicable. 

          2. Requires that any estimate of increased cost to the  
             state or local governments be set out in boldface print  
             in the ballot pamphlet. 

          3. Requires the LAO, in preparing the fiscal impact summary  
             for a measure on the ballot, to attempt using standard  
             descriptions of changes in revenues or costs for measure  
             so that comparison between measures can be easier for  
             the average voter to understand. 

          4. 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. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  7/20/09)

          State Controller (source)
          Service Employees International Union


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill  
            Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,  
            Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,  
            Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,  
            DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,  
            Fong, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,  
            Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,  







                                                                AB 894
                                                                Page  
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            Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu,  
            Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,  
            Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel  
            Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner,  
            Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson,  
            Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Fuentes, Nava, Saldana


          DLW:mw  7/20/09   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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