BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1769
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Date of Hearing: April 6, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1769 (Tran) - As Amended: March 25, 2010
SUBJECT : Elections: payment of expenses.
SUMMARY : Requires the state to pay for all expenses authorized
and necessarily incurred in the preparation for and conduct of
certain special elections held to fill a vacancy. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Provides that the state shall pay the costs of a special
election to fill a vacancy in the office of the State Senate
or Assembly, or to fill a vacancy in the office of the United
States Senator or Representative.
2)Contains an urgency clause and provides that this bill applies
to any special election held on or after October 1, 2009 and
before February 1, 2010.
EXISTING LAW provides that all expenses authorized and
necessarily incurred in the preparation for, and conduct of,
elections are to be paid from the county treasuries, except that
when an election is called by the governing body of a city the
expenses shall be paid from the treasury of the city.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
California Counties are required to conduct any and all
elections called by the Governor. Each year, counties
prepare their budgets to accommodate the scheduled
elections in that budget year. When a special election is
called, counties must conduct the election, but to do so,
must sacrifice services to pay for the hard costs of the
election.
County budgets statewide contain funding authority to
support one statewide election per fiscal year. In 2009,
however, a special vacancy election was called by the
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Governor for January 12, 2010, with a primary election to
be held on November 17, 2009. These elections are in
addition to the regularly scheduled June 2010 Statewide
Primary Election. Thus, Orange County is seeking
reimbursement through AB 1769 for the additional costs
associated with the special vacancy election. . . . [T]his
bill is intended to reimburse the County of Orange for the
costs of printing and mailing sample ballots, operating
polling places, and counting ballots. . .
While there is no legal requirement that the State
reimburse counties for state or federal elections, and
there are no appropriations in the current or proposed
State budget, the State has, in the recent past, reimbursed
counties for special elections called by the legislature.
AB 1769 follows this established practice, by requesting
reimbursement for Orange County.
Counties statewide face difficult budgeting when a special
election is called. If counties do not receive
reimbursement, cuts must be made in services to keep their
budget solvent. This means cuts in jobs - probation
officers, social workers, foster care, and health and human
services.
AB 1769 appropriately seeks reimbursement for an election
called by the Governor to ensure that Orange County can
continue to provide needed services for their residents.
2)Reimbursing Counties for the Costs of Special Vacancy
Elections : Between 1993 and 2007, it was the policy of the
Legislature to reimburse counties for the costs incurred in
holding special elections to fill vacancies in the Assembly,
Senate and office of United States Senator or Representative.
The state did this in recognition of the fact that it is
difficult for counties to afford the unanticipated expense of
conducting a special vacancy election. The state law that
provided for such reimbursement contained a sunset clause and
was repealed on January 1, 2008.
The Governor issued proclamations in 2009 calling for special
elections to fill vacancies in the 26th Senate District, 32nd
Congressional District, 51st Assembly District, 10th
Congressional District, and the 72nd Assembly District.
Special vacancy elections called by the Governor to take place
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in 2010 include the 37th Senate District and the 43rd Assembly
District. Only three special vacancy elections took place
between October 1, 2009 and February 1, 2010, the period for
which this bill would provide reimbursement. The special
primary and runoff elections in the 72nd Assembly District and
the special runoff election in the 10th Congressional District
were held between October 1, 2009 and February 1, 2010.
The Committee may want to consider whether it is good policy
to reimburse counties for just three specific special vacancy
elections when there have been several other special vacancy
elections proclaimed by the Governor for 2009 and 2010.
3)Similar Legislation : SB 994 (Price), would reinstate a
provision of law that provides that the state will reimburse
counties for expenses incurred in the conduct of special
elections to fill vacancies in the State Assembly and Senate
as well in the office of office of the United States Senator
or Representative. SB 994 is pending in the Senate Committee
on Elections, Reapportionment, and Constitutional Amendments.
4)Prior Legislation : AB 37 (Johnson), Chapter 39, Statutes of
1993, required the state to reimburse counties for the costs
associated with special elections. AB 37 was enacted in
response to an increase in the number of special elections to
fill vacancies in the wake of the enactment of term limits.
AB 37 contained a sunset date of January 1, 1996.
AB 1709 (McPherson), Chapter 1102, Statutes of 1996, extended
the sunset date on AB 37 from January 1, 1996 to January 1,
2000. AB 547 (Longville), Chapter 790, Statutes of 1999,
further extended the sunset date to January 1, 2005 and AB 183
(Longville) of 2001 would have removed the sunset date
altogether, but it was vetoed by Governor Davis. AB 783
(Jones), Chapter 714, Statutes of 2005, reinstated the
reimbursement provision enacted by AB 37 and extended the
sunset date from January 1, 2005 to January 1, 2006. AB 1799
(McCarthy), Chapter 727, Statutes of 2006, extended the sunset
date from January 1, 2006 until January 1, 2007. AB 119
(Price), Chapter 487, Statutes of 2007, restored the
reimbursement provision to apply to any special election held
on or after January 1, 2007 and before January 1, 2008.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
AB 1769
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Support
California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials
Orange County Board of Supervisors
Secretary of State Debra Bowen
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Lori Barber / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094