BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1671
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 12, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                  AB 1671 (Jeffries) - As Amended:  April 12, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              Local  
          GovernmentVote:5-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          As proposed to be amended, this bill requires the governor to  
          fill a vacancy in a county board of supervisors within 90 days  
          of when the vacancy occurs. If the governor fails to make the  
          appointment, the bill requires, within the subsequent 90-day  
          period, the board to appoint an individual, call a special  
          election, or vote to leave the vacancy open until the next  
          election.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)State costs, if any, would be minor and absorbable.

          2)Potential costs to local governments if boards chose to call a  
            special election following inaction by the governor. If not  
            consolidated with another election, a special election could  
            cost up to several hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending  
            on the size of the county. Costs would not be state  
            reimbursable.

           COMMENTS  :

           1)Background  .  Existing law requires the governor to fill a  
            vacancy on any general-law county board of supervisors, with  
            that appointee holding office until the election and  
            qualification of his or her successor. It does not, however,  
            provide deadlines for the governor to make the appointment.  
            The 14 non-general law counties (charter counties) each have  
            their own laws governing how vacancies on their boards are  
            filled.









                                                                  AB 1671
                                                                  Page  2

           2)Rationale  . This bill is intended to ensure that vacant county  
            board of supervisor seats are filled on a timely basis.   
            Supporters of the bill, the California State Association of  
            Counties and Regional Council of Rural Counties, indicate that  
            in recent years the governor has taken several months to make  
            appointments.  They assert that counties have many  
            responsibilities, and leaving seats vacant for a prolonged  
            period is untenable.

           3)Amendments  . The proposed amendments (a) delete a board option  
            to allow the governor an additional 30 days to make the  
            appointment, (b) specify that board appointments be made by a  
            quorum of the board, and (c) give the board 90 days to act.
           
           
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081