BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 283 Hearing Date: 4/21/15
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|Author: |Nielsen |
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|Version: |3/26/15 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Frances Tibon Estoista |
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Subject: Elections: ballot titles and summaries
DIGEST
This bill requires the Legislative Analyst (LAO), instead of the
Attorney General (AG), to prepare the ballot label and the
ballot title and summary for all measures submitted to the
voters of the state.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1. Requires, pursuant to both the Constitution and specified
statutes, the proponent of a proposed initiative or
referendum to submit the proposal to the AG who must prepare
a circulating title and summary of its chief points and
purposes. The AG must provide a copy of the circulating
title and summary to the Secretary of State (SOS) within 15
days after receipt of the fiscal estimate or opinion prepared
by the Department of Finance (DOF) and the LAO. The date the
copy is delivered is the "official summary date." The fiscal
estimate prepared by the DOF and the LAO are required to be
delivered to the AG within 50 days of the date of receipt of
the proposed initiative measure by the AG.
2. Requires the AG to provide a copy of the circulating title
and summary of a proposed referendum measure to the
proponents of the measure and the SOS within 10 days after
receipt of the proposed referendum. The circulating title
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and summary of a proposed statewide ballot measure must
appear on the measure's petitions.
3. Requires the AG to provide a ballot label and a ballot title
for each measure to be submitted to the voters at a statewide
election for inclusion in the state ballot pamphlet and the
actual ballots.
Helpful Definitions . "Ballot title" is the name of a statewide
measure included in the ballot label and the ballot title and
summary (e.g., Widget Manufacturing Standards. Initiative
Statute.). "Ballot label" means that portion of the ballot
containing the statement of a measure. For statewide measures,
the ballot label shall contain no more than 75 words and shall
be a condensed version of the ballot title and summary including
the fiscal impact summary prepared.
This bill:
1. Requires the LAO, instead of the AG, to prepare the ballot
label and the ballot title and summary for all measures
submitted to the voters of the state. This bill does not
affect the existing role of the AG in preparing the
circulating title and summary of proposed ballot measures.
2. Makes other conforming changes.
BACKGROUND
The DOF and the LAO . The California DOF serves as the
Governor's chief fiscal policy advisor in fiscal matters of the
state. The LAO is overseen by the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee (JLBC), a 16-member bipartisan joint committee of the
Legislature. According to their website, the LAO's analytical
staff covers several budget and policy areas: Criminal Justice,
State Finance, Education (including K-12 and Higher Education),
Health and Human Services, Natural Resources and Environment,
General Government (including Local Government), Transportation,
and Capital Outlay and Infrastructure.
Historically, one of the most important responsibilities of the
LAO has been to analyze the annual Governor's budget. More
generally, the office is a staff resource to all legislators.
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The LAO also performs the following functions:
Budget "Control." The LAO reviews requests by the
administration to make changes to the budget after it is
enacted. These reviews are used primarily by members of the
JLBC and the fiscal committees.
Special Reports. Throughout the year, the office prepares
special reports on the state budget and topics of interest to
the Legislature.
Initiatives and Ballot Measures. The office estimates the
fiscal effect on state and local government of all proposed
initiatives (prior to circulation) and prepares analyses of
all measures that qualify for the statewide ballot.
Forecasting. The LAO forecasts the state revenues and
expenditures.
COMMENTS
1. According to the Author : To avoid potential misuse and
abuse of the titles and summary process for partisan
advantage, the authority to draft initiative title and
summaries should be given to a governmental entity that is
charged to provide non-partisan analysis. The Legislative
Analyst's Office has a reputation as an independent and
non-partisan, and it is trusted by both sides of the aisle.
It is the entity best suited to draft the title and summaries
for initiatives. Further, it is already tasked with the job
of writing a fiscal analysis for each initiative, therefore,
is a nominal added task to draft the title and summaries.
In a recent lawsuit, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed accused Attorney
General Kamala Harris of writing a title and summary that
"uses false and misleading words and phrases which argue for
the measure's defeat, is argumentative, and creates prejudice
against the measure, rather than merely informing voters of
its chief purposes and points ..."
The initiative process is a tool of direct democracy and a way
for citizens to directly engage in state policy; its
integrity must be preserved. To maintain good governance and
impartiality in California's initiatives process, the duty of
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drafting title and summary should be moved from the Attorney
General and placed under the jurisdiction of the Legislative
Analyst's Office.
The LAO is a non-partisan organization that provides credible
and impartial analysis for the Legislature. The LAO
currently provides an unbiased analysis of each initiative.
With this new duty, the LAO will create an objective ballot
title and summary for each initiative.
2. Constitutional Ties : Article II §10(d) of the Constitution
requires the AG to prepare a title and summary of an
initiative or referendum prior to circulation; as such does
it make sense, fiscal or otherwise to have two state
governmental entities oversee similar tasks? Despite this
bill's intent to move this titling task to the LAO, the bill
does not specifically state nor require the title and summary
used by the LAO to be different than that of the circulating
title and summary, so in theory the same title could very
possibly be used.
RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION
SB 1253 Ch. 697, Statutes of 2014 (Steinberg), imposes
additional requirements on the AG when preparing ballot titles
and summaries.
SB 1294 (Huff) of 2014, was substantively similar to this bill,
but failed passage in this committee.
AB 2394 (Gorell) of 2014, died in the Assembly (without a
hearing) would have required the SOS, instead of the AG, to
prepare the ballot label and the ballot title and summary for
all state measures submitted to the voters and the circulating
title and summary for initiative and referendum measures.
SCA 19 (Fuller) and SB 1296 (Fuller) of 2012 would have
transferred the duty of preparing the title and summary for
proposed initiative or referendum measures from the AG to the
LAO. SCA 19 and SB 1296 failed passage in this committee.
AB 1968 (Niello) 2010, among other provisions would have
required the LAO, instead of the AG to prepare a circulating
title and summary of the chief purpose and points of a proposed
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state initiative or referendum measure. That bill failed
passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 319 (Niello) 2009, was substantively similar to AB 1968
(Niello) above in that it would have required the LAO, instead
of the AG to prepare a circulating title and summary of the
chief purpose and points of a proposed state initiative or
referendum measure. AB 319 failed passage in the Assembly
Elections and Redistricting Committee.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: Coalition for Fair and Sustainable Pensions
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
League of Women Voters of California
Oppose: California Labor Federation
California School Employees Association, AFL-CIO
California State Council of the Service Employees
International Union
Glendale City Employees Association
Organization of SMUD Employees
San Bernardino Public Employees Association
San Diego County Court Employees Association
San Luis Obispo County Employees Association
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