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    
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          |Author:    |Cristina Garcia                                      |
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          |Version:   |4/22/15                                              |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:    |Yes              |
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          |Consultant:|Frances Tibon Estoista                               |
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                  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  







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             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  
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             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
           
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          |Assembly Floor:                       |74 - 0                     |
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          |Assembly Appropriations Committee:    |17 - 0                     |
          |--------------------------------------+---------------------------|
          |Assembly Elections and Redistricting  |  7 - 0                    |
          |Committee:                            |                           |








          AB 609 (Cristina Garcia)                                Page 4  
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          POSITIONS
           
          Sponsor: Author

           Support: None received

           Oppose:  None received
                                          
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