BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SCA 8 (Mendoza) - Counties: board of supervisors:
redistricting
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|Version: July 9, 2015 |Policy Vote: GOV.&F. 4 - 2, |
| | E.&C.A. 4 - 0 |
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|Urgency: |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SCA 8, if approved by the voters, would require
counties with a population greater than two million residents
after the 2020 United States Census to have a governing body
consisting of at least seven members. The bill would also
require members of a county governing body to be elected by
district, beginning in 2021.
Fiscal
Impact:
One-time costs in the range of $275,000 to $330,000 to the
Secretary of State (SOS) in 2015-16 for printing and mailing
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costs to place the measure on the ballot in the next statewide
election. (General Fund)
Unknown, likely significant local costs and cost pressures to
establish additional district boundaries, perform election
related duties, and make necessary office and facility
improvements, beginning in 2021. (local funds)
Background: Existing law, Section 4 of Article XI of the California
Constitution, requires county charters to provide for a
governing body of at least five members, elected by district, or
at large, as specified. Existing law authorizes a charter
county to expand the number of governing body members by a
simple majority vote of its residents. There have only been
five attempts to expand charter county boards of supervisors,
all of which failed to achieve voter-approval:
On November 6, 1962, Los Angeles County voters rejected
Proposition D, which would have expanded the Board of
Supervisors from five to seven members.
At the November 2, 1976 General Election, Los Angeles County
voters rejected Proposition B, which would have expanded the
Board of Supervisors from five to nine members.
Proposition C on the November 3, 1992 ballot, would have
increased the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from
five to nine members, but the measure failed by a margin of
about two-to-one.
On the March 26, 1996 primary ballot, voters in Orange County
rejected Measure U, a charter proposal to expand the board of
supervisors from five to nine members.
On November 7, 2000, more than 64% of Los Angeles County
voters rejected Measure A, which would have increased the
number of county supervisors from five to nine.
There are 14 charter counties in California: Alameda, Butte, El
Dorado, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange, Placer, Sacramento, San
Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara,
and Tehama. Currently, only five counties have populations of
more than two million residents: Los Angeles (10.1 million), San
Diego (3.2 million), Orange (3.1 million), Riverside (2.3
SCA 8 (Mendoza) Page 2 of
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million), and San Bernardino (2.1 million). All counties in
California conduct elections for county supervisors by district.
Proposed Law:
SCA 8 would place a measure on the statewide ballot to amend
the California Constitution to do the following:
Require the county charter in a county with a population of
more than two million residents at a decennial U.S. Census,
beginning with the 2020 U.S. Census, to provide for a
governing body of seven or more members, elected by district,
with a requirement that the member reside in a district, as
specified.
Require general law counties with over 2 million residents as
of the 2020 U.S. Census to also have a governing body of seven
or more members, as specified.
Require the county charter in a county with over 2 million
residents to limit the expenditures for the governing body and
its staff to the lesser of the amount budgeted in the 2020-21
fiscal year or the proportional amount that the county
budgeted for governing body and staff expenditures as a
percentage of the total county budget in 2020-21. These
limitations would also apply to general law counties with over
2 million residents as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
Require the members of a governing body of a general law
county to be elected by district, with the member residing in
a respective district, beginning in 2021.
Repeal the authority for any county charter to provide for a
governing body elected at large or at large by district on
January 1, 2021.
Repeal constitutional provisions on January 1, 2021 that
specify the manner in which some charter counties can
prescribe the salary of the governing body by ordinance.
Make additional non-substantive and conforming changes.
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Related
Legislation: SCA 7 (Polanco) of the 1999-2000 Session, would
have amended the California Constitution to require a charter
county with a population of over 5 million to have a governing
body of at least nine members, which only applied to Los Angeles
County. The measure was approved by the Senate but held in the
Assembly Elections, Redistricting, and Constitutional Amendments
Committee.
Staff
Comments: This bill is intended to make California's largest
counties more responsive and representative by mandating the
addition of two county supervisors to counties with a population
of over 2 million residents, while ensuring that the larger
boards do not increase costs for board operations. Staff notes,
however, that freezing or reducing the total budgets for
governing body members and associated staff at the 2020-21 level
would likely result in reduced resources for constituent
services. Despite these limits on board operations budgets,
affected counties would incur significant one-time costs to make
necessary district boundary changes, conduct elections, and make
facility improvements.
According to the SOS, the printing and mailing costs associated
with placing a measure on the statewide ballot are approximately
$55,000 per page, depending on the length of the ballot. The
fiscal estimates noted above reflect the addition of a minimum
of 5-6 pages in the Voter Information Guide for this initiative.
Actual costs would depend upon the length of the title and
summary, analysis by the Legislative Analyst's Office, proponent
and opponent arguments, and text of the proposal.
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