BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 942 (Vidak) - Special Elections
Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: E&CA 5-0
Urgency: Yes Mandate: No
Hearing Date: April 7, 2014
Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 942 requires the state to reimburse counties
for the expenses related to special elections called to fill
specified vacancies which are held between January 1, 2008 and
December 31, 2014.
Fiscal Impact:
Unknown, potentially in excess of $40 million (General
Fund)
Since January 1, 2008, there have been 40 special elections
which SB 942 will require reimbursement to counties for election
expenses, with the potential for more elections to be held
during 2014. Costs associated with conducting special elections
result in an average of about $1 million per election, depending
on the size of the county. Costs are lower if the vacancy
election is consolidated with another local election. However,
often times an election will span across multiple counties
resulting in several million dollars of expenses for each
primary and general election. The estimated costs of special
elections held between January 1, 2008 and November 2013 for Los
Angeles County alone is $27.1 million.
Background: Existing law requires any vacancy in a state
legislative or congressional office to be filled by a special
primary, and, if needed a special run-off election. All
expenses authorized and necessarily incurred in the preparation
for, and conduct of, elections to be paid from the county
treasuries, except that when an election is called by the
governing body of a city the expenses shall be paid from the
treasury of the city.
SB 942 (Vidak)
Page 1
First implemented by AB 37 (Johnson), Chapter 39, Statutes of
1993, the state had reimbursed counties for the costs of special
elections held to fill vacancies in the Senate, Assembly, and
Congress from 1993 through 2007. Since 2008, there have been
numerous, but unsuccessful, legislative attempts to extend this
reimbursement provision.
According to the Secretary of State (SOS), since 1989, there
have been 136 special primary and general elections to fill
vacant seats in the Assembly, Senate and Congress in California;
an average of 5.6 per year, with 40 special elections taking
place for the period covering January 1, 2008 to date.
For instance, there were twenty-one special primary and general
elections held to fill Legislative and Congressional vacancies
between January 1, 2009 and April 19, 2011. These elections
resulted from the resignations of the following members: Mark
Ridley-Thomas, Hilda Solis, Curren D. Price, Jr., Ellen
Tauscher, Mike Duvall, Paul Krekorian, John Benoit, Abel
Maldonado, George Runner and Ted Gaines, as well as the deaths
of Senators Dave Cox, and Jenny Oropeza. Special elections
result in an average cost of about $1 million for counties to
conduct depending on the size of the county. Costs are much
lower if the vacancy election is consolidated with another
election. Most often these costs are unbudgeted and
unanticipated, necessitating the shifting of funds from other
necessary programs to pay for the mandated elections.
A special election to fill a vacancy in the office of
Representative in Congress, State Senator, or Member of the
Assembly must be conducted on a Tuesday at least 126 days, but
not more than 140 days, following the issuance of an election
proclamation by the Governor, except that the special election
may be conducted within 180 days following the proclamation if
the special election will be consolidated with the next
regularly scheduled statewide election or local election.
Proposed Law: SB 942 requires the state to reimburse counties
for all expenses authorized and necessarily incurred on or after
January 1, 2008 and before December 31, 2014, in the preparation
for, and conduct of, elections proclaimed by the Governor to
fill a vacancy in the office of state Senator or Member of the
SB 942 (Vidak)
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Assembly, or United States Senator or Member of the House of
Representatives.
Related Legislation: SB 963 (Torres) is scheduled to be heard
by this committee today and would reimburse counties for special
election expenses incurred on or after January 1, 2013. AB 2273
(Ridley-Thomas) is identical to SB 963, and is currently pending
for hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Additionally, this bill is similar to several measures
introduced in previous years including SB 519 (Emmerson) of
2013, SB 106 (Blakeslee) 2011, SB 141 (Price) of 2011, SB 994
(Price) of 2010, AB 496 (Davis) of 2010 - all of which were held
in this committee's Suspense File. AB 1769 (Tran) was held in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee in 2010.
Staff Comments: The costs of holding special elections have
forced many counties to redirect existing resources that would
have provided critical services to the communities as these
elections are unanticipated and not budgeted on an annual basis.
Since the passage of Proposition 140 in 1990, there have been
more than one hundred special elections called by the Governor
to fill such vacancies, all of which impose financial hardships
on the affected counties.