Bill Text


Add To My Favorites | print page

AB-436 Elections: initiatives.(2009-2010)

SHARE THIS: share this bill in Facebook share this bill in Twitter
AB436:v96#DOCUMENT

Enrolled  September 16, 2009
Passed  IN  Senate  September 09, 2009
Passed  IN  Assembly  September 10, 2009
Amended  IN  Senate  September 04, 2009
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 14, 2009

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2009–2010 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 436

Introduced  by  Assembly Member Saldana
 (Coauthor(s): Assembly Member Huffman)

February 24, 2009

An act to add Section 9004.5 to the Elections Code, relating to elections.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 436, Saldana. Elections: initiatives.
Existing law requires that the proponents of an initiative measure submit a draft of the measure to the Attorney General for preparation of a summary of its chief purposes and points. Under existing law, the proponents are required to also submit at that time a $200 fee that is held in trust and refunded to the proponents if the measure qualifies for the ballot within a specified time period, but the fee is paid to the General Fund if the measure fails to qualify.
This bill would instead require that a new fee from $500 in 2010 to $2,000 in 2016 be paid in lieu of current fees. The bill would require the fee to be refunded if the measure qualifies for the ballot within 2 years and to be deposited into the General Fund if it does not qualify, to be used to reimburse the Attorney General for the costs of preparing the title and summary of proposed initiative measures. The bill would require in 2018 that the Attorney General biennially review the fee and increase it in accordance with an increase in the California Consumer Price Index.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 9004.5 is added to the Elections Code, to read:

9004.5.
 (a) Notwithstanding Section 9001 or 9004 or any other provision of law, on or after January 1, 2010, the proponents of an initiative measure, at the time of submitting the draft of the measure to the Attorney General, shall pay in lieu of all other fees, a fee to the Attorney General in accordance with the following schedule:
(1) Five hundred dollars ($500), beginning January 1, 2010.
(2) One thousand dollars ($1,000), beginning January 1, 2012.
(3) One thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), beginning January 1, 2014.
(4) Two thousand dollars ($2,000), beginning January 1, 2016.
(b) A fee received under subdivision (a) shall be placed into a trust fund in the office of the Treasurer and refunded to the proponents if the measure qualifies for the ballot within two years from the date the summary is furnished to the proponents. If the measure does not qualify within that period, the fee shall be paid into the General Fund of the state for reimbursement of the costs incurred by the Attorney General for preparing the title and summary of proposed initiative measures.
(c) Beginning in 2018, the Attorney General shall annually review the amount of the fee required by this section and every two years, beginning in 2018, shall increase the fee in an amount equaling an increase in the California Consumer Price Index as determined pursuant to Section 2212 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.