BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SCA 8|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SCA 8
Author: Mendoza (D), et al.
Amended: 9/4/15
Vote: 27
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 4-2, 7/1/15
AYES: Hertzberg, Beall, Hernandez, Lara
NOES: Nguyen, Moorlach
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 7/7/15
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/27/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 24-15, 9/10/15 (FAIL)
AYES: Beall, Block, Cannella, De León, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara,
Leno, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Monning, Nielsen, Pan, Runner,
Wieckowski, Wolk
NOES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Fuller, Gaines, Huff,
Leyva, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Pavley, Roth, Stone, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mitchell
SUBJECT: Counties: board of supervisors: redistricting
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill, if approved by the voters, requires any
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Page 2
county with a population greater than two million residents
after the 2020 U.S. census to have a governing body comprised of
at least seven members.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/15 (1) add co-authors, (2)
clarify that once a county's population reaches two million, SCA
8 applies and cannot be reversed even if a subsequent Census
shows a decline below two million, and (3) provide that a county
board of supervisors budget can be increased from the base year
annually to reflect the Consumer Price Index.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires, pursuant to the California Constitution, that if a
county adopts its own voter-approved charter, it must have a
directly elected board of supervisors with at least five
members. The Constitution allows charter counties to elect
their supervisors by districts, from districts, or at large.
2)Requires a general law county to have a board of supervisors
consisting of five members, and requires, except under
specified circumstances, each member to be elected by the
district which the member represents.
This bill:
1)Requires that a charter or general law county with a
population of more than two million residents as of the 2020
U.S. census or thereafter must have a governing body (board of
supervisors) of seven or more members.
2)Provides that the number of members on the governing body
shall not thereafter be reduced to fewer than seven members
even if, in a future decennial United States census, the
county is not a county with a population of more than two
million.
3)Provides that the expenditures for affected boards of
supervisors and their staffs shall not exceed, for any
subsequent fiscal year after the release of the census finding
a population of more than two million, the amount that was
allocated for the expenses of the governing body and its staff
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Page 3
in the county's adopted budget for the fiscal year in which
that same census was conducted as adjusted each fiscal year
thereafter for changes in the California Consumer Price Index.
This expenditure limitation shall continue to apply even if,
in a future decennial United States census, the county is not
a county with a population of more than two million.
4)Requires, on and after January 1, 2021, a county charter to
provide for members of the board of supervisors to be elected
by district with a requirement that the member reside in a
district, and imposes that same requirement on all general law
counties.
Background
Affected counties. 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 million),
and San Bernardino (2.1 million).
Are some supervisorial districts too large? In large counties,
some observers complain that the size of the supervisorial
districts result in unrepresentative democracy. Each Los
Angeles County Supervisor represents nearly two million
constituents, which is larger than the countywide population in
53 of California's 58 counties. The extreme ratio between
constituents and supervisors can lead to political alienation
and a lack of political responsiveness. Some observers also
suggest that five-member boards of supervisors provide few
opportunities to increase the diversity of the members to better
represent demographic changes in California's most populous
counties.
Although voters can amend their county's charter to expand the
number of supervisors, there are no recent successes:
1)On November 6, 1962, Los Angeles County voters rejected
Proposition D, which would have expanded the Board of
Supervisors from five members to seven members.
2)At the November 2, 1976 General Election, Los Angeles County
voters rejected Proposition B, which would have expanded the
Board of Supervisors from five members to nine members.
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3)Proposition C on the November 3, 1992 ballot, would have
increased the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from
five to nine members, failed by a margin of about two-to-one.
4)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 members to nine members.
5)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.
Comments
1)According to the author, SCA 8 is a bipartisan measure that
will require that any county that has two million or more
residents based upon the 2020 Census, to add two seats to
their board of supervisors. While counties have the ability
to address the issue of adequate representation on county
boards, only a few such ballot attempts have been made in the
last 150 years - all unsuccessfully. Since the 1950s, four of
them have taken place in Los Angeles and once in Orange County
and rejected each time for inadequate cost controls. SCA 8
has strong and effective cost control by requiring funding of
the expanded board at the 2020-21, pre-expansion levels.
As a statewide measure, SCA 8 reduces the historic ability of
individual incumbents or groups of incumbents to kill local
measures to expand a board, as in 2000 when Los Angeles County
Supervisors responded to SCA 7 (Polanco) that sought to expand
the Los Angeles County Board. They instead placed County
Measure A on the ballot to expand to nine members and insisted
on a vacuous cost control mechanism. Once on the ballot, the
majority of the five board incumbents raised funds and
campaigned against Measure A - using the lack of effective
cost control and the near doubling of the members as a
platform - to ensure its defeat.
SCA 8 is designed to have the most minimal impact on a
county's authority to manage itself as it restricts itself to
expanding the board by two members if the population of the
county exceeds two million people. The affected county
retains all of its existing powers.
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Expanding the number of supervisorial seats for the state's
largest counties will provide the opportunity for these bodies
to be more responsive and reflective of the needs of the
people they represent and serve. This constitutional
amendment is about increasing representation and
accountability in the county governments by bringing them a
little closer to home and to the people they represent.
County boards of supervisor members carry out legislative and
executive branch responsibilities for their constituents.
They oversee a majority of vital services to our residents
including healthcare, public safety, traffic, social services,
public works, parks, and libraries among others. However,
although elected, the number of members on county board of
supervisors has not changed since their creation more than 150
years ago, despite dramatic changes in the state's population,
demographics and their increased responsibilities for the
services they oversee for their constituents. These types of
services require constant attention to the concerns of their
constituents in the delivery of these services.
SCA 8 will bring about better delivery of services for
residents and accountability to make sure the services are
fairly and efficiently provided.
SCA 8 currently covers five counties, Los Angeles, San
Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego. Santa Clara may
join the list if its population exceeds two million in 2020.
Is this the best approach? Some observers note that
increasing the size of a county governing board addresses only
part of the problem when discussing the ability of county
governments to properly function. As the author notes,
members of county boards of supervisors carry out legislative
and executive branch responsibilities for their constituents.
Since San Francisco is both a city and county, it is the only
county in California with an elected mayor or county
executive. However, some or all of the counties in 25 other
states also have elected county executives or mayors. An
elected county executive relieves the governing board from the
responsibility of overseeing the day-to-day operations of
administrative agencies and allows them to function more like
a traditional legislative body. Furthermore, an elected
county executive is accountable to the voters in the entire
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county rather than just those within a supervisorial district.
Related/Prior Legislation
SCA 7 (Polanco, 1999), which was held in the Assembly Elections,
Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee, would
have expanded the minimum number of supervisors for Los Angeles
County from five to nine.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time costs in the range of $275,000 to $330,000 to the
Secretary of State in 2015-16 for printing and mailing 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)
SUPPORT: (Verified9/4/15)
American GI Forum of California
Los Amigos of Orange County
Los Angeles County Chicano Employees Association
Los Angeles County Hispanic Managers Association
UDW/AFSCME Local 3930
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/4/15)
California State Association of Counties
County of San Bernardino
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Orange County Board of Supervisors
Urban Counties Caucus
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the Los Angeles County
Chicano Employees Association, SCA 8 is about increasing
representation and accountability in the county governments by
bringing them a little closer to home, protecting the integrity
of the board by keeping its core functions intact, without
increasing costs for the operations of board member offices.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:According to the California State
Association of Counties, current law already provides citizens
of a charter county with the tools needed to expand their county
board of supervisors if they so choose. This can be done
through either a local ballot initiative or through a charter
proceeding. Each time that this change has been sought by ballot
initiatives in Los Angeles and Orange County the voters rejected
the expansion.
Prepared by:Darren Chesin / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
9/10/15 23:23:41
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