BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1202|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1202
Author: DeSaulnier (D), et al
Amended: 6/29/10
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS, REAP. & CONST. AMD. COMM. : 3-2, 4/20/10
AYES: Hancock, DeSaulnier, Liu
NOES: Denham, Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-3, 5/27/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Denham, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE FLOOR : 21-14, 6/2/10
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa,
DeSaulnier, Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal,
Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Romero, Simitian,
Steinberg, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Cogdill, Cox, Denham, Dutton,
Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff, Runner, Strickland, Walters,
Wright, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ducheny, Oropeza, Wiggins, Vacancy,
Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-26, 8/19/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Elections: statewide ballot pamphlet
SOURCE : Author
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DIGEST : This bill requires the statewide ballot pamphlet
to include, immediately below the analysis by the
Legislative Analyst, a list of the five highest
contributors of $50,000 or more to each primarily formed
committee supporting each state measure and the total
amount of each of their contributions. For purposes of
this requirement, if a contributor is a committee
controlled by a candidate, the name of the candidate must
be listed and if a contributor is a sponsored committee,
the name of the sponsor shall be listed. This bill also
requires a statement following the list that it reflects
only the highest contributors of the 110 days before
election day.
Assembly Amendments add a threshold of $50,000 or more for
the top five contributors to be disclosed in the state
ballot pamphlet, remove the requirement for double-jointing
to SCA 4 (Maldonado), Resolution Chapter 2, Statutes of
2009, and add co-authors.
ANALYSIS : Existing law specifies what information must
be included in the statewide ballot pamphlet including, but
not limited to:
1. A complete copy of each measure.
2. A copy of the arguments and rebuttals for and against
each state measure.
3. A copy of the analysis of each state measure by the
Legislative Analyst.
4. Tables of contents, indexes, art work, graphics, and
other materials that the Secretary of State determines
will make the ballot pamphlet easier to understand or
more useful for the average voter.
This bill adds the requirement that the pamphlet include,
immediately below the analysis by the Legislative Analyst,
a list of the five highest contributors of $50,000 or more
to each primarily formed committee supporting each state
measure and the total amount of each of their
contributions. If a contributor is a committee controlled
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by a candidate, the name of the candidate must be listed
and if a contributor is a sponsored committee, the name of
the sponsor shall be listed.
Also required is a statement that the list reflects only
the highest contributors of contributions received before
the 110 days before Election Day. The 110- day cut-off
period accommodates the schedule by which the statewide
ballot pamphlet must be finalized prior to printing. Since
the expenses associated with qualifying a statewide
initiative usually exceed $1 million, the ballot pamphlet
would disclose, among others, those entities responsible
for funding the qualification effort.
Current law already requires that any advertisement for or
against any ballot measure to include a disclosure
statement identifying any person whose cumulative
contributions are $50,000 or more.
The following list indicates the number of ballot measures
which were on statewide ballots for elections held during
the last several years:
Election Number of Ballot Measures
June 2010 (will be 5)
May 2009 6
November 2008 12
June 2008 2
November 2006 13
There are several dozen initiatives that are currently
cleared for circulation and which could be eligible to
appear on the November 2010 ballot.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis,
"To the extent that the additional information required
under the provisions of this bill extends the length of the
ballot and requires extra pages, there would be additional
expenses of approximately $66,000 per page for printing and
mailing costs. However, the Secretary of State's office
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formats the Voter Information Guide in 16 page increments
so oftentimes there are blank pages that could be used for
these purposes."
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/10)
---
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/19/10)
Department of Finance
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
in recent years, observers noted that interest has
increasingly turned to California's initiative system to
amend the California Constitution or state statutes to
benefit themselves. While state law does require that any
advertisement for or against any ballot measure shall
include a disclosure statement identifying any person whose
cumulative contributions are $50,000 or more, this bill
extends contributor disclosure to the Voter Information
Guide received by each voter before election day.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance
opposes this bill because "it would create a General Fund
pressure (to the extent that additional pages are required
to be printed in the state ballot pamphlet)."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero,
Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La
Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee,
Conway, Cook, DeVore, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland,
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Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Jeffries, Vacancy
DLW:mw 8/20/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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