BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair


          SB 1062 (Block) - Vote by Mail Ballots
          
          Amended: March 24, 2014         Policy Vote: E&CA 4-1
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: Yes
          Hearing Date: May 5, 2014       Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
          
          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
          
          
          Bill Summary:  SB 1062 requires the elections official to  
          include a prepaid postage return envelope with every ballot if  
          the ballot is to be mailed within the territorial limits of the  
          United States or the District of Columbia. 

          Fiscal Impact: 
          
              Reimbursable state mandate costs of approximately $5  
              million - $7.5 million per statewide election (General Fund)
              Unknown, potentially millions in state mandate costs for  
              local elections (General Fund)

          Background:  Existing law allows any voter to become a permanent  
          vote-by-mail (VBM) voter whereby he or she can cast their ballot  
          by mail.  The voter, however, is currently responsible for  
          placing the correct amount of postage on the return envelope  
          which can vary depending on the size of the ballot.  VBM voting  
          has been on the increase since 2000 and now more than half of  
          California's eligible voters cast their ballot by mail instead  
          of going to the polls on elections day.

          Proposed Law:  SB 1062 requires the election official to include  
          a prepaid postage return envelope with every ballot if the  
          ballot is to be mailed within the territorial limits of the  
          United States or the District of Columbia.

          Staff Comments:  Under the provisions of the bill, the counties  
          will pay for the postage costs and then will submit a claim to  
          the Commission on State Mandates for reimbursement from the  
          General Fund.

          Some counties already provide postage paid return envelopes  
          including Alpine, San Francisco, and Sierra; while the counties  








          SB 1062 (Block)
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          of Glenn, Kern, and Tuolumne offer prepaid postage for mandatory  
          VBM ballot voters who do not have a designated polling location  
          provided by the county. Although some counties are already  
          providing postage paid return envelopes, under the state  
          mandates provisions these costs will now be borne by the General  
          Fund.

          County election officials project that if the Secretary of  
          State's Business Reply Mail account were to be used, instead of  
          the local mandate reimbursement process costs would come  
          directly from the General Fund, and a high volume discount would  
          be provided.  Costs for an estimated 6.7 million returned  
          ballots (the number that were returned in the November 2012  
          statewide general election) would be between $3.9 million and  
          $5.3 million depending on whether the ballot weighed one ounce  
          or two ounces.

          Staff notes that this bill will apply to state and local  
          elections, and while counties currently pay the costs for the  
          expenses associated to local elections, this bill could result  
          in the state paying the postage costs for all ballots related to  
          local elections.