Just as newly elected Gov. Jerry Brown announced his intention to hold another special election this summer, new legislation is being introduced to address some of the fiscal concerns of a ballot-weary electorate.
Last summer’s two special elections to fill the seat vacated by former State Sen. Abel Maldonado cost Santa Barbara County $438,000, according to Deputy Chief Registrar Billie Alvarez.
But former Republican Assemblyman and Minority Leader Sam Blakeslee wants to fulfill a campaign pledge and recover costs to county governments incurred from the elections that brought him to office.
Senate Bill 106, introduced to the state legislature by Blakeslee on Jan. 12, seeks to reimburse counties across the state for costs incurred from participation in special elections held between January 2009 and April 2011.
Blakeslee couldn’t be reached for comment as of press time, but in a written statement, he noted that the state required 26 counties to hold 23 special elections in the past two years, costing taxpayers more than $17 million.
“The state should be paying its bills for the costs imposed on our counties,” Blakeslee said in the release.
California law used to require the state reimburse counties for holding special elections until that law was repealed in January 2008.
The legislation is being introduced as the state learned Brown’s plan to hold another special election in March 2011, this one seeking voter approval for an extension of billions of dollars in sales, income, and vehicle taxes.
Brown is asking voters to extend a quarter-cent surcharge on state income taxes, and to maintain the half-percent increase in vehicle license fees and a one-cent increase in state sales tax. The governor’s office said those extensions would provide an estimated $9 billion in the 2011-12 budget year.
State voters rejected a three-year extension of those taxes in the May 2009 special election called for by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Brown is hoping voters will reconsider promising to use the money to fund a major decentralization of state government power, shifting some key state services to cities and counties.
The proposed 2011 special election also holds importance to voters in the 4th State Assembly District, who will also address the seat left vacant when Republican Assemblyman Ted Gaines was elected to the State Senate. Gaines was the winner in a runoff to replace the late Sen. Dave Cox, who died after a battle with prostate cancer in July 2010.
On Jan. 18, to find relief for some of the costs local governments will have to endure in the upcoming election, Gaines also introduced a bill, SB 109. It aims to give smaller counties with populations of less than 400,000 the option to hold elections exclusively by mail, eliminating a mandate that local governments open and hire staff for public polling places.
“I have spoken to several county election officials who support the option to conduct all-mail ballot special elections,” Gaines said in a written statement. “My measure will lower the costs they face and streamline the special election process.”
This article appears in Jan 20-27, 2011.
