BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 19 (Blakeslee)
Hearing Date: 5/16/2011 Amended: 4/26/2011
Consultant: Maureen Ortiz Policy Vote: E&CA 3-0
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 19 enacts the California Political Robocall Do
Not Call List Act, and requires the Secretary of State to
establish, manage and maintain the list comprised of the names
and telephone numbers of registered voters who have elected to
be on the list. The bill prohibits any person from making an
automated campaign telephone call to any person on the list in
support of, or opposition to, a candidate.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Do No Call List -------potentially
absorbable---- Federal
County elections officials: -----unknown, potentially
$250---- General*
Enforcement -- $187 annually
beginning in 2015--- General
*Reimbursable local mandate
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) estimates
one-time costs of $4,000, and annual ongoing of approximately
$187,000 for legal, enforcement and investigative expenses. If
each county incurs administrative costs of only $5,000, the
reimbursable mandate would exceed $250,000.
SB 19 provides that the Robocall Do Not Call List will only be
implemented 90 days after the date the Secretary of State
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certifies that California has a statewide voter registration
database (known as VoteCal) that complies with the federal Help
America Vote Act of 2002. According to the Secretary of State,
costs to establish this program will be absorbed into the
contract of the vendor that will ultimately be designing the
VoteCal program which will be funded from federal dollars. One
of the components of VoteCal will be to enable persons to
register to vote using an online database.
Affidavit of registration cards will need to include a field
allowing for a person who is registering to vote to "opt out" of
political automated phone calls. Existing forms will be
exhausted before new ones will need to be printed, again after
implementation of VoteCal. However, there are approximately 16
million Californians who are already registered to vote. In
order to be on the Political Do Not Call List, each voter will
likely have to reregister (either online through the statewide
database base when it is completed, by filling out a new
affidavit of registration and turning that into the county
elections office, or by making some sort of contact with the
Secretary of State's office or the local county elections
official).
SB 19 will prohibit any person from making an "automated
campaign telephone call" to any registered voter who has elected
to have his or her name and telephone number placed on the
California Political Robocall Do Not Call List. Calls would be
prohibited even if the caller obtains prior consent of the
person to whom the calls are directed or if the call is operated
after an unrecorded, natural voice announcement has been made to
the person called. The bill defines an automated telephone call
as a call made to a live person or voicemail or other answering
machine device using an automatic dialing-announcing device that
advocates support of, or opposition to, a candidate.
SB 19 specifically does the following:
-- Requires the Secretary of State to provide an option for a
person registering to vote to elect to be placed on the list
both on voter registration cards, and through the online voter
registration Internet Web sites. The bill requires new cards to
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be available when this provision becomes operable.
-- Requires county elections officials to cooperate with the
Secretary of State, vendors, and any voter registration agency
designated as such.
-- Provides that a person who wishes to be removed from the
list may submit a letter in writing to the Secretary of State,
or through its Internet Web site.
-- Authorizes the Secretary of State to charge a fee for a copy
of the list for persons who are seeking to make automated
campaign telephone calls, and stipulates that the fee shall not
exceed actual costs to manage and maintain the list. If the fee
turns out to be excessive, it must be reduced the following
year.
-- Allows a person seeking to make automated campaign telephone
calls to receive a copy of names and telephone numbers from the
list from up to five area codes without paying a fee, one time
per year.
-- An individual may not be charged a fee to have his or her
name on the Do Not Call list.
-- Authorizes a person who is on the list and receives an
automated campaign telephone call to notify the Fair Political
Practices Commission of the violation.
-- Requires county election officials to cooperate with the
Secretary of State, vendors and any voter registration agency in
implementing this act.
-- Authorizes the Secretary of State to contract with an
outside source.
-- Provides that this Act will not become operative until 90
days after the date the Secretary of State certifies that the
state has a statewide voter registration database.
-- Will not apply to automated telephone calls made in support
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of, or opposition to ballot measures, initiatives or for other
political purposes.
-- Provides that the provisions in the bill are severable.
In 2003, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) established the national "Do Not Call"
registry where individuals could register to have their name
taken off public phone records for "telemarketing" purposes.
Political robocalls, however, are exempt. The FTC notes that
"calls from or on behalf of political organizations, charities,
and telephone surveyors" are outside the "Do Not Call" registry
and courts have upheld this distinction.
There is also a National Political Do Not Contact Registry which
is a voluntary list not backed by federal law, where about
200,000 individuals have opted to have their number removed from
lists for the purpose of receiving political calls. Political
organizations are asked, but not required, to refrain from
calling individuals on this list.
SB 19 does not prohibit campaign calls placed from live persons.
Further, this bill does not apply to robocalls made to support
or oppose a ballot measure.
SB 19 furthers the purpose of the Political Reform Act of 1974
and will, therefore, require a 2/3 vote on the Senate Floor.