BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1676|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1676
Author: Fuentes (D), et al
Amended: 8/18/10 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE ELECTIONS, REAP. & C. A. COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/29/10
AYES: Hancock, DeSaulnier, Liu, Strickland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Denham
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 8/12/10
AYES: Leno, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cogdill, Cedillo, Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-2, 6/3/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Elected officials: residency requirements
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill prohibits a person elected to a
nonjudicial office for a county, city, or school district,
from moving outside the jurisdiction that he/she represents
during his/her term of office, as specified.
ANALYSIS : The California Constitution requires that a
person reside for one year within the legislative district
for which he/she seeks election as a Member of the
Legislature. Various statutory provisions impose residency
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AB 1676
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requirements on other specified elected officials in
California.
This bill:
1. Requires a person who is elected to a nonjudicial office
for a county, city, or school district to continue to
maintain his/her place of domicile within the
jurisdiction in which voters are qualified to vote for
the office during his/her term of office. Provides that
a person does not violate this provision if, after being
elected for a term of office, the boundaries of the
jurisdiction in which voters are qualified to vote for
the office are changed during that term of office so as
to exclude his/her domicile.
2. Provides that a person who violates the provisions of
this bill shall immediately forfeit his or her office
and is disqualified from holding any state or local
public office for a period of four years.
3. Provides that any person serving a term of a nonjudicial
office for a county, city, or school district commencing
on or after November 2, 2010, who violates the
provisions of this bill, shall be subject to a civil
penalty not to exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding six months, a fine not
exceeding $1,000, or by both the fine and imprisonment,
if it is established that the officeholder moved his/her
domicile out of the jurisdiction of the office with the
intent of retaining the office and misleading the voters
within the jurisdiction to believe that he/she maintains
his/her domicile within the jurisdiction of the office.
4. Permits an action to enforce the provisions of this bill
for a violation to be brought by the Attorney General or
the district attorney of a county for a violation
involving an office whose territory is located wholly or
partially within that county.
5. Contains a severability clause.
Comments
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According to the author, "Existing law requires that a
person running for office reside in the district that they
aspire to represent for a proscribed period of time in
order to be qualified. The law is unclear as to whether
they must continue to reside in the district after they are
elected. This lack of clarity is problematic for a number
of reasons. First, the people of a district have a right
to be represented by someone who lives in their district
and understands the unique needs and desires of the
constituents. Further, most constituents presume that they
are being represented by someone who lives in their
district, and this belief is logical given the requirement
of residency in the district to run for the seat. Finally,
the public good is best advanced when representatives are
in touch with their constituents. To allow elected
officials to live in areas potentially far removed from the
district they were elected to represent frustrates the
goals of representative democracy."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/20/10)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
California Common Cause
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John
A. Perez
NOES: Anderson, Emmerson
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AB 1676
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NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Cook, Fuller, Norby,
Audra Strickland, Vacancy
DLW:mw 8/22/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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