BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS Senator Ben Allen, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 609 Hearing Date: 7/7/15 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Cristina Garcia | |-----------+-----------------------------------------------------| |Version: |4/22/15 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|Frances Tibon Estoista | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Members of the Legislature: residency DIGEST Permits a candidate for Member of the Legislature to file a statement with the Secretary of State (SOS), as specified, in which the candidate voluntarily agrees that, if elected, he or she will continue to reside within the district for which he or she was elected during his or her term of office. ANALYSIS Existing law provides that a person is ineligible to be a member of the Legislature unless the person is an elector and has been a resident of the legislative district for one year, and a citizen of the United States and a resident of California for three years, immediately preceding the election. This bill : 1) Makes legislative findings and declarations that, in order to ensure that Members of the Legislature adequately and effectively represent their constituents, those elected to the Legislature should continue to reside in the districts that they are elected to represent during their terms of office. 2) Permits a candidate for Member of the Legislature to file a statement with the SOS in which the candidate voluntarily agrees that, if elected, he or she will continue to reside AB 609 (Cristina Garcia) Page 2 of ? within the district from which he or she was elected during his or her term of office. Provides that a person does not violate the voluntary agreement if, after being elected for a term of office, the boundaries of the district from which he or she was elected are changed during that term of office so as to exclude his or her residence from the district. 3) Requires the statement be filed with his or her nomination documents. 4) Requires the SOS to designate in the state ballot pamphlet those candidates for Member of the Legislature who have voluntarily agreed to the continuing residency requirement set forth. BACKGROUND Unenforced Constitutional Provision : Article IV, Section 2 of the California Constitution provides that a person is ineligible to be a member of the Legislature unless the person is an elector and has been a resident of the legislative district for one year, and a citizen of the United States and a resident of California for three years, immediately preceding the election. The SOS has long held that this requirement is unconstitutional, however, and as a result it is not enforced. Moreover, existing state law does not explicitly require a Member of the Legislature to reside in his or her district for the duration of his or her term of office. State Ballot Pamphlet : Existing law requires the SOS to prepare a state ballot pamphlet for every statewide election and send to every registered voter a state ballot pamphlet, as specified. Existing law also requires the SOS to include important voter information in the state pamphlet, such as a copy, analysis, and arguments for and against each state measure, the Voters Bill of Rights, and statewide candidate statements, as specified. COMMENTS 1) According to the author , current law requires a candidate for the California Legislature to live within the district AB 609 (Cristina Garcia) Page 3 of ? they intend to represent. However, there is no requirement that they must continue reside there, once elected. Voters have the right to know if the person they elected intends on living amongst their constituents. AB 609 creates a designation for those who wish to voluntarily declare that they will continue to reside within their district. 2) Is the Ballot Pamphlet the Right Venue ? This bill adds more information to an already voluminous state ballot pamphlet, by requiring the SOS to designate candidates for Member of the Legislature who have voluntarily agreed to file the continuing residency statement. The voluntary statement of continuing residency proposed by this bill is similar to the voluntary "Code of Fair Campaign Practices" which is issued at the time an individual obtains his or her declaration of candidacy, nomination papers, or any other paper evidencing an intention to be a candidate for public office, and like any public document is already available for public examination. Since it is probably unlikely that any candidate for the Legislature will fail to file the residency statement, what is the value in requiring that they be listed in the ballot pamphlet? Especially since each page in the ballot pamphlet costs the state approximately $55,000. Would requiring the SOS to make this list of candidates available online serve the same purpose? 3) Will this voluntary statement of residency result in meaningful change ? This bill provides no consequences if a candidate files the residency statement but subsequently moves outside the district after election. PRIOR ACTION ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Assembly Floor: |74 - 0 | |--------------------------------------+---------------------------| |Assembly Appropriations Committee: |17 - 0 | |--------------------------------------+---------------------------| |Assembly Elections and Redistricting | 7 - 0 | |Committee: | | AB 609 (Cristina Garcia) Page 4 of ? ------------------------------------------------------------------ POSITIONS Sponsor: Author Support: None received Oppose: None received -- END --