AB 1100 will adjust fee to prepare title and summary
SACRAMENTO –Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation authored by Assemblymembers Evan Low (D-Campbell) and Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) to increase the fee required to submit a ballot initiative to $2,000. AB 1100 is the first bill authored by Low that has been signed by Governor Brown.
“I thank the Governor for signing this historic legislation. It has been over 72 years since this aspect of the initiative process has been updated. This reform is overdue,” Assemblymember Low said. “We live in California, the cradle of direct democracy, but we also need a threshold for reasonableness. And this bill will do just that,” he added.
The current ballot initiative fee of $200 was first established in 1943 to deter frivolous proposals. The fee was also intended to cover some of the costs to analyze and process initiatives. According to the Consumer Price Index, the value of $200 today is the equivalent of $14.80 in 1943 dollars.
As of August 2015, 58 proposals have been submitted for the 2016 November ballot including the Sodomite Suppression Act, which brought attention to this issue. The Sacramento Superior Court has since ruled that the measure is unconstitutional and has been removed from the docket for next year’s election.
“The updated filing fee set by this bill will deter frivolous submissions,” Low said. “At the end of the day, if a proposal makes it to the ballot, the $2,000 fee would be refunded to the proponent. If a proponent feels strongly about a measure, a true grassroots campaign will find the means to pay the filing fee and get their proposal on the ballot,” he added.
