Four New Initiatives Look to Regulate Actions of Local Government Officials

Four new initiatives concerning government officials have been cleared by the Secretary of State, which means proponents can begin collecting signatures. Each of the four proposals would have an impact on state and local officials and if they are to qualify for a future ballot, 504,760 signatures must be collected from registered voters by March 8, 2012. In addition, if they were to pass, they would likely increase local government costs. Below are the official ballot titles and descriptions from the Attorney General’s office:

STATE AND LOCAL LEGISLATION AND POLICIES. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Prohibits candidates for office, government officials, and government advisors from giving themselves exemptions from legislation they pass or policy decisions they make, and from giving themselves special benefits by legislation or policy decision. Applies retroactively to all legislation not enacted by majority popular vote. Creates new state agency to monitor proposed laws and policies for compliance and to enforce penalties, including imprisonment, fines, forfeiture, and ineligibility for public office. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Increased state or local government costs to administer a new oversight agency, potentially in the tens of millions of dollars annually.

GIFTS TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. DISQUALIFICATION. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Prohibits candidates for office, government official, judges, arbitrators, and government advisors from voting on, deciding, or influencing any matter of government business that would disproportionately benefit themselves or any individual or entity that has given them an excessive contribution. Defines excessive contribution as any amount exceeding a 40-hour week’s pay at federal minimum wage. Creates new state agencies to monitor compliance and impose penalties, including vote nullification, forfeiture of contributions, salary, and retirement and other benefits, and ineligibility for public office, and to distribute seized assets among registered voters. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Increased state or local government costs to administer two new oversight agencies, potentially totaling $700 million annually. Potential additional fiscal effects depending on how the provisions of the measure are interpreted by the courts and implemented.

STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. PERSONAL LIABILITY. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Requires candidates for office, government officials, and government advisors to use personal funds to pay any damages and their own legal expenses arising from claims of unscrupulous behavior. Defines unscrupulous behavior to include negligence, ethics violations, direction to subordinates that is contrary to or expands beyond existing law, breach of contract, and unfulfilled campaign promises. Imposes penalties for unscrupulous behavior, or for improper use of public funds to defend against claims of unscrupulous behavior, including imprisonment, fines, forfeiture, punitive damages, nullification of unscrupulous acts, and ineligibility for public office. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Potential increase in state and local government costs in the range of millions of dollars annually.

STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. RETIREMENT BENEFITS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Limits retirement benefits for candidates for office, government officials, and government advisors, to the benefits provided to workers at lowest benefit level in same agency. Limits basis for calculation of such retirement benefits to years of service with government agency in which last served. Applies retroactively to any retirement benefits government officials set for themselves, unless enacted by majority popular vote. Imposes penalties for actions contrary to its terms, including forfeitures and ineligibility for public office. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Possible reductions in state and local pension and retiree health costs. The magnitude of the savings would depend on a variety of legal and implementation uncertainties and would be offset to an unknown extent by increases in other state and local employee compensation costs.

Comments

[Officials special treatment]

This is the best legislation I have heard so far. No one should be able to vote themselves raises or benefits enhancements. Government officials or higher level management should not have better benefits that the rest of the membership and their pay should be within a reasonable range of the membership.

[j sharkey]

"Applies retroactively" --- so do I lose the 20 years I've been paying into my retirement account?

[Venturacole]

As always with initiatives, a key question is: who is behind them?

[Art Brown]

As with all initiative's they will cost a lot of money to enforce and to set up a new bureau to enforce and due not provide any means of finance. And fines will never cover the costs. There go more tax money.