BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 654|
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VETO
Bill No: SB 654
Author: Leno (D) and Padilla (D), et al.
Amended: 9/3/13
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 4-1, 4/30/13
AYES: Correa, Hancock, Padilla, Yee
NOES: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/23/13
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SENATE FLOOR : 28-9, 5/29/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Calderon, Corbett, Correa, De Le�n,
DeSaulnier, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso,
Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Padilla, Pavley,
Price, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Berryhill, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Huff, Knight,
Nielsen, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson, Cannella, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-25, 9/11/13 - See last page for vote
SENATE FLOOR : 24-12, 9/12/13
AYES: Block, Calderon, Corbett, Correa, DeSaulnier, Galgiani,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu,
Liu, Monning, Padilla, Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Wolk,
Wright, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines,
Huff, Knight, Nielsen, Vidak, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beall, De Le�n, Evans, Vacancy
CONTINUED
SB 654
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SUBJECT : Ballot measure petitions: recall petitions:
translations
SOURCE : Greenlining Institute
DIGEST : This bill requires the Attorney General (AG), if
proponents intend to circulate a proposed state measure
initiative, to translate the title and summary of the proposed
initiative into each language in which the state or a county is
required to provide voting materials; and requires the Secretary
of State (SOS), if proponents intend to circulate a proposed
recall petition, to translate the title and summary of the
proposed recall petition into each language in which the state
or a county is required to provide voting materials.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Requires the proponent of a proposed initiative or referendum
to submit the proposal to the AG who must prepare a
circulating title and summary of its chief points and
purposes. The AG must provide a copy of the title and summary
to the SOS within 15 days after receipt of the final version
of a proposed initiative measure, or if a fiscal estimate is
to be included, within 15 days after receipt of the fiscal
estimate prepared by the Department of Finance and the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee who have 25 days to prepare the
fiscal estimate. The AG must provide a copy of the
circulating title and summary of a proposed referendum measure
to the proponents of the measure and the SOS within 10 days
after receipt of the proposed referendum.
2.Permits any person who is a voter or who is qualified to
register to vote in the state to circulate an initiative or
referendum petition for signature and imposes certain
requirements on these circulators.
3.Authorizes the recall of state officers under provisions of
the California Constitution and statute.
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4.Requires the proponents of the recall to file two blank copies
of the petition to recall the officer with the SOS, who is
required to ascertain if the proposed form and wording of the
petition meet specified requirements.
5.Requires a recall petition to use a specified format and
contain certain information. Any person who is a registered
voter of the electoral jurisdiction of the officer sought to
be recalled may circulate the recall petition for signatures.
6.Requires a recall petition to use a specified format and
contain certain information. Any person who is a registered
voter of the electoral jurisdiction of the officer sought to
be recalled may circulate the recall petition for signatures.
This bill:
2.Requires the proponents of a state initiative measure, if they
intend to circulate the initiative measure petition, to notify
the AG of their intention to circulate the petition no later
than five business days after receipt of the copy of the
circulating title and summary from the AG.
3.Requires the AG, upon receipt of the proponents' notice of
intention to circulate, to prepare a translation of the
circulating title and summary of the measure in each language
in which the state or a county is required to provide voting
materials pursuant to federal law. Requires the AG, no later
than 10 days after receipt of the notice of intention to
circulate, to provide a copy of each translation to the
proponents and the SOS.
4.Requires the AG, if the proponents do not notify the AG of
their intention to circulate the petition, to notify the SOS
of that fact, and provides that the proponents' request for a
circulating title and summary is deemed to be withdrawn and
the petition shall not be circulated for signature.
5.Requires the circulator of an initiative petition who
circulates the petition in a county required to provide voting
materials pursuant to federal law to attach the translated
circulating title and summary prepared by the AG to the
petition and make it available to each person whom the
circulator solicits in that language to sign the petition and
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any other person upon request.
6.Requires the SOS to prepare a translation of a recall petition
of a state officer in each language in which the state or a
county is required to provide voting materials pursuant to
federal law. Requires the SOS, if the officer sought to be
recalled is a State Senator, Member of the Assembly, Member of
the Board of Equalization, or Justice of a court of appeal, to
prepare a translation of the petition in each language in
which the state or a county included within the officer's
electoral jurisdiction is required to provide voting materials
pursuant to federal law.
7.Requires the SOS, within 10 days after ascertaining that the
proposed form and wording of a recall petition complies with
existing law, to provide a copy of each translation to the
proponents.
8.Requires a copy of the translation of the recall petition
prepared by the SOS to be attached to the petition and made
available to each person whom the circulator solicits in that
language to sign the petition and to any other person upon
request.
Background
The federal Voting Rights Act (VRA) outlawed discriminatory
voting practices and outlined a number of provisions aimed at
providing all eligible voters with the opportunity to exercise
their right to vote free from discrimination or intimidation.
To this end, Section 203 of the VRA as well as conforming state
law requires jurisdictions with sufficiently large Limited
English Proficient (LEP) populations to provide elections
materials in the group's language. In California, this has
meant that several counties provide voting materials, such as a
ballot pamphlet and sample ballot, in numerous languages. The
VRA currently does not extend to initiative materials prior to
qualification for the ballot.
Note:Although Spanish translations are a statewide requirement
(e.g., the statewide ballot pamphlet), if the minority
language group within a certain county doesn't meet the
population requirements, then Spanish translations aren't
required to be provided.
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Prior Legislation
SB 1233 (Padilla, 2012) was identical to this bill but was
vetoed by the Governor who stated in his veto message:
"The provisions of this bill are well intended.
Unfortunately, however, they add substantial burdens to the
petition process without commensurate benefit. I would
also note that the vast majority of initiatives submitted
to the AG's Office never get to the circulation stage."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
Annual General Fund costs of about $130,000 to the AG for one
position and for translation services, based on estimated
costs of about $390 per measure to translate into nine
languages.
The SOS estimates costs of about $4,000 per petition for
translation of recall petitions into nine languages. The
number of recalls attempted over the past 25 years has
averaged 3.2, with a high of 17 and several years with none.
In most years, the SOS's total costs for this activity would
be very minor, but could exceed $50,000 if more than 12
petitions were submitted and designated by the proponents for
circulation.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/11/13)
Greenlining Institute (source)
18 Million Rising
American Civil Liberties Union
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
California Association of Nonprofits
California Calls
California Communities United Institute
California Democratic Party
California Labor Federation
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California Nurses Association
California Teachers Association
Common Cause
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay
Area
League of Women Voters of California
Maplight
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/11/13)
California Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office:
California is a diverse state with a government selected by
the votes of its citizens. In addition, we have a robust
initiative process designed to put lawmaking in the hands
of the people. Federal law recognizes that many Americans
rely heavily on languages other than English, and that they
require information in minority languages in order to be
informed voters and participate effectively in our
representative democracy.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, California is
home to the largest foreign-born LEP population in the
United States - approximately 5,807,401 persons, to be
precise - many of whom are eligible to vote. 46.5% of
California's naturalized U.S. citizens age five and older
are limited-or non-English-proficient.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance opposes
this bill because it adds substantial burdens to the petition
process without commensurate benefit and causes additional
General Fund costs inconsistent with the current budget.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
"I am returning Senate Bill 654 without my signature.
This bill would require that the Attorney General's title
and summary be translated into multiple languages before an
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initiative measure could be circulated for signatures. A
translation would also be required before a recall petition
could be circulated. Current law already requires language
translations for measures that qualify to appear on the
ballot.
As I noted in my veto message last year, imposing
translation obligations at the circulating stage would add
substantial burdens to the initiative process. I remain
unconvinced that the benefits outweigh the costs."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-25, 9/11/13
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Frazier,
Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger
Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Medina,
Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel
P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Ch�vez, Conway, Dahle,
Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones,
Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Morrell,
Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fox, Vacancy, Vacancy
RM:ejd 1/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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