BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Norma J. Torres, Chair
BILL NO: SCA 16 HEARING DATE: 4/22/14
AUTHOR: STEINBERG ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: AS INTRODUCED
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Members of the Legislature: vacancy
DESCRIPTION
Existing law vests the Governor with specific appointing
authority. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Lieutenant Governor,
Secretary of State, Controller, Treasurer, or Attorney General,
or on the State Board of Equalization, the Governor shall
nominate a person to fill the vacancy who shall take office upon
confirmation by a majority of the membership of the Senate and a
majority of the membership of the Assembly. In the event the
nominee is neither confirmed nor refused confirmation by both
the Senate and the Assembly within 90 days of the submission of
the nomination, the nominee shall take office as if he or she
had been confirmed by a majority of the Senate and Assembly;
provided, that if such 90-day period ends during a recess of the
Legislature, the period shall be extended until the sixth day
following the day on which the Legislature reconvenes.
Existing law provides that whenever a vacancy occurs in a county
board of supervisors, the Governor shall fill the vacancy. The
appointee shall hold office until the election and qualification
of his or her successor.
Existing law per the California Constitution, allows the
Governor to appoint or nominate a person to fill a vacancy on
the California Supreme Court, the court of appeal, as well as to
the California Superior Court, provided the individual is
confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.
Existing law , per the California Constitution, requires the
Governor to call an election to fill a vacancy occurring in
either house of the Legislature.
Existing law provides for all of the following regarding special
elections called by the Governor to fill a legislative vacancy:
The Governor must issue a proclamation calling a special
election within 14 calendar days of the occurrence of a
vacancy in a legislative office, unless that vacancy occurs
after the close of the nomination period in the final year
of the term of office. When a vacancy occurs in a
legislative office after the close of the nomination period
in the final year of the term of office, no special
election may be held.
A special general election to fill a vacancy in a
legislative office must be conducted on a Tuesday that is
at least 126 days, but not more than 140 days, following
the issuance of a proclamation by the Governor calling that
special election. A special general election may be
conducted within 180 days following the issuance of a
proclamation so that the election or the primary election
may be consolidated with the next regularly scheduled
statewide election or local election occurring wholly or
partially within the same territory in which the vacancy
exists, provided that the voters eligible to vote in the
local election comprise at least 50 percent of all the
voters eligible to vote on the vacancy.
A special primary election must be held in the district
in which the vacancy occurred on the ninth Tuesday prior to
the special general election. If the ninth Tuesday prior
to the special general election is the day of, or the day
after a state holiday, the special primary election shall
be held on the tenth Tuesday prior to the special general
election.
All candidates are listed on one ballot and if any
candidate receives a majority of all votes cast in the
special primary election, he or she shall be declared
elected, and no special general election is held.
If only one candidate qualifies to have his or her name
printed on the special general election ballot, that
candidate shall be declared elected, and no special general
election is held.
This constitutional amendment instead proposes that when a
vacancy occurs in the Legislature, the Governor shall fill the
vacancy by appointment within 21 days of the date of the
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vacancy.
This constitutional amendment specifically provides for all of
the following:
A person appointed shall have, at the time of the
appointment and during the 12-month period immediately
preceding, the same political party preference as the
vacating Member had at the time he or she was last elected
to the Legislature. If the vacating Member declined to
disclose a political party preference at the time he or she
was last elected to the Legislature, the Governor may make
an appointment regardless of political party preference.
Within 21 days of an appointment, excluding any period
during which the house is in recess, the house to which the
appointment is made may reject the appointment by a
rollcall vote entered in the journal, a majority of the
membership of the house concurring. If the house rejects
the appointment, the Governor shall make another
appointment within 21 days of the date of the rejection,
subject to rejection by the house.
If an appointment is not rejected, the appointee is
eligible to take office on the day following the 21-day
(rejection) period, and serve until the end of the term of
the office to which the appointee is appointed.
In the case of a seat in the Senate, the term of which
does not end in the same year as the end of the biennium of
the regular session of the Legislature during which the
vacancy occurred, the appointee shall not serve the
remainder of the unexpired term. Instead, a special
election is to be held on the date of the statewide general
election immediately preceding the end of the biennium of
the regular session to fill the remainder of the unexpired
term, provided that the election occurs not sooner after
the date of the vacancy than a period specified by law. If
a special election is not held, the appointee shall serve
the remainder of the unexpired term.
This constitutional amendment makes other clarifying and
grammatical changes.
BACKGROUND
Over the years the California Legislature has had to grapple
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with a proliferation of special elections. Since 2010, there
have been a total of 18 separate vacancies in the California
Legislature resulting in 24 special elections, not including
those that were consolidated into regular scheduled primary or
general elections.
Special elections are generally unexpected; therefore, counties
cannot forecast the cost in their budgets. For example, in 14
special elections for state legislative seats dating back to
2008, Los Angeles County spent more than $20 million to fill
vacancies. The price tag of special elections is more
concerning when factored with low voter turnout. The average
turnout for special elections for state legislative vacancies
hovers around 15 percent.
As seen from practice, a special election tends to lead to
another special election. Seven of the last eleven special
elections for state legislative seats have been called when a
legislator was elected to another office.
COMMENTS
1. According to the Author : SCA 16 saves local taxpayer
dollars, reduces the time constituencies are unrepresented,
and improves voter turnout for unscheduled vacancies.
The Governor currently appoints replacements for vacancies in
either United States Senate seat and of constitutional
offices until the next statewide election. SCA 16 expands on
that power to include vacancies in either house of the State
Legislature. Currently, the governor must call a special
election to fill those vacancies.
SCA 16 ensures that the democratically elected governor and
members of the Legislature agree on the governor's
appointment to fill the vacancy until the next statewide
election, protecting the right of every Californian to elect
their representative.
2. Staff Comments . Under this measure if the applicable house
of the Legislature continually rejects the Governor's
appointees, the vacancy could last until the next regularly
scheduled election for that seat.
This measure also provides that a Senate vacancy occurring in
the first two-years of the vacated term will force a special
election to be consolidated with the statewide general
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election. It is unclear if a special primary election and
special general election are to be held, or if the vacancy is
to be filled in a single election.
3. Related Legislation : SB 963 (Torres) and SB 942 (Vidak)
introduced this year, are county reimbursement bills for the
conduct of special elections. Both bills are on the Senate
Appropriations Suspense calendar.
AB 2273 (Ridley-Thomas) is identical to SB 963 above, and is
currently on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense file.
SB 519 (Emmerson) of 2013, SB 106 (Blakeslee) and SB 141
(Price) both of 2011 and SB 994 (Price) of 2010 all dealt
with county reimbursement for special vacancy elections, and
all were held on the Senate Appropriation Suspense file.
AB 496 (Davis) of 2010, mirrored language in SB 994 (Price),
and was held in Senate Appropriations Committee. AB 1769
(Tran) of 2010, also similar to SB 963, was held in Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
First implemented by AB 37 (Johnson), Chapter 39, Statutes of
1993, the state reimbursed counties for the costs of special
elections held to fill vacancies in the Assembly, Senate, and
Congress from 1993 through 2007. Since 2008, there have been
numerous, but unsuccessful, legislative attempts to extend
this reimbursement provision.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: California Taxpayers Association
Urban Counties Caucus
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