BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 75
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 4, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                  AB 75 (Hill) - As Introduced:  December 22, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              Business and 
          Professions  Vote:                            8 - 0 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill makes changes to the law governing solicitations and 
          notaries public. Specifically, this bill: 

          1)Authorizes the Secretary of State to refuse to process 
            documents that are clearly intended for fraudulent purposes.

          2)Expands existing prohibitions on nongovernmental entities 
            implying a governmental connection for solicitation purposes 
            to federal entities, as specified.

          3)Requires the disclosures on solicitations to be conspicuously 
            displayed in certain locations, type, and manner, as 
            specified.

          4)Prohibits the use of a title, trade, or brand name in a 
            solicitation that could be reasonably interpreted or construed 
            as implying any federal, state, or local government 
            connection, approval, or endorsement.

          5)Prohibits stating or implying in a solicitation that a payment 
            to the nongovernmental entity is mandatory, required by law, 
            or that penalties, fines or consequences will occur if payment 
            is not made to the soliciting nongovernmental entity.

          6)Makes a violation of the above requirements a misdemeanor 
            punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six 
            months and/or by a fine not exceeding $2,500. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  









                                                                  AB 75
                                                                  Page  2

          1)Any additional costs for the Secretary of State's Office would 
            be minor and absorbable. In addition, to the extent this 
            legislation would reduce fees paid by entities attempting 
            bogus filings, that loss would be offset by savings achieved 
            by staff not being required to process those bogus filings. 


          2)Potential nonreimbursable costs to local government for 
            additional enforcement, offset to some extent by additional 
            fine revenues. 



           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . According to the sponsor of this bill, Secretary of 
            State Debra Bowen, the intent of this legislation is to reduce 
            the potential for document fraud by providing the Secretary of 
            State with the authority to refuse to process documents that 
            are clearly intended for fraudulent purposes. 

           2)Related Legislation  . AB 898 (Lieu) of 2010, a substantially 
            similar bill was vetoed by the governor.  In his veto message, 
            Governor Schwarzenegger wrote, "While there are some laudable 
            aspects of this bill, the provision allowing private right of 
            action for violating very prescriptive criteria for the 
            solicitation of services will no doubt lead to spurious law 
            suits."  


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081