BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1769
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Date of Hearing: April 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1769 (Tran) - As Amended: April 12, 2010
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:7-0
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the state to reimburse counties for the costs
of all special elections held during 2009 and 2010 to fill
vacancies in the Assembly, Senate, and Congress.
FISCAL EFFECT
One-time GF cost likely exceeding $12 million. (County
elections costs to date total $9.3 million to fill five vacant
seats since January 1, 2009. Election costs in 2010 to fill two
additional vacancies will likely be around $3 million.)
Since January 2009, special elections have been held to fill
seven vacancies: three Assembly seats, two Senate seats, and
two seats in the House of Representatives. Filling all but one
of these vacancies will require both a special runoff and a
special general election. (The special general elections for
the 37th Senate District and the 43rd Assembly District are
scheduled for June 8, 2010.)
COMMENTS
Purpose . 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 Congress. The state did this in recognition of the
fact it is difficult for counties to afford the unanticipated
expense of conducting a special vacancy election. The state law
that provided for such reimbursement sunset on January 1, 2008.
The previous version of this bill would have provided state
reimbursement only for the special primary and runoff elections
AB 1769
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in the 72nd Assembly District and the special runoff election in
the 10th Congressional District. Amendments in the policy
committee expanded the bill to cover all special elections over
the two-year period.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081