Bill Text: CA AB2707 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Bill 2707 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Voter information Internet Web site.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Passed) 2018-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 920, Statutes of 2018. [AB2707 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB2707-Chaptered.html

Assembly Bill No. 2707

CHAPTER 920

An act to add Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 11898) to Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to voters.

[ Approved by Governor September 29, 2018. Filed with Secretary of State September 29, 2018. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2707, Mullin. Voter information Internet Web site.

Existing law requires the Secretary of State to compile, publish, and distribute a roster of the State and local public officials of California, whenever an appropriation is made by the Legislature for that purpose.

This bill would require the Secretary of State to request proposals to establish an Internet Web site that displays the names and contact information, including the office phone number, email address, and office address, of each voter’s specified local, state, and federal elected officials, which would be displayed upon a voter submitting his or her address information on the Internet Web site. The bill would specify criteria for the Internet Web site, including limits on the cost to establish and update it. The bill would authorize the Secretary to elect not to establish the Internet Web site if he or she does not receive qualifying proposals that meet those criteria, but would require the Secretary to establish the Internet Web site if he or she determines that the Internet Web site can be established using existing personnel at a lower cost than any qualified proposal.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

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

SECTION 1.

Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 11898) is added to Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:

CHAPTER 11. Voter Information Internet Web Site

11898.

(a) No later than July 1, 2019, the Secretary of State shall request proposals to establish a voter information Internet Web site for the purpose of providing a voter with information regarding the voter’s elected officials.

(b) The Secretary’s request for proposals shall specify the following criteria for the Internet Web site:

(1) Upon a voter submitting his or her address information, the Internet Web site shall display the names and contact information, including the office telephone number, email address, and office address, of the following elected officials for the voter:

(A) United States Senators and Representative in Congress.

(B) State officers elected on a statewide basis.

(D) Elective officers of a city, county, school district, and special district.

(2) The Internet Web site shall be accessible to voters in multiple languages, including, but not limited to, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Japanese.

(3) The cost to establish the Internet Web site shall not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) and the cost to update the Internet Web site shall not exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) per year.

(c) If the Secretary of State receives one or more qualifying proposals to his or her request pursuant to subdivision (a) that meet the criteria specified in subdivision (b), the Secretary shall, consistent with any method permitted by current law, including, but not limited to, the Public Contract Code, select a qualifying proposal and award a contract to establish the Internet Web site no later than July 1, 2020. If the Secretary of State does not receive qualifying proposals that meet the criteria specified in subdivision (b), the Secretary may decide to not establish the Internet Web site, in which case the Secretary shall publish the decision on the home page of the Secretary’s Internet Web site no later than December 1, 2019.

(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), if the Secretary of State determines after receiving proposals that he or she can use existing personnel to internally develop and establish the Internet Web site at a cost lower than any qualified proposal that meets the criteria specified in subdivision (b), the Secretary shall establish the Internet Web site no later than July 1, 2020, and shall reject the proposals that he or she has received. If applicable, the Secretary shall publish the decision to internally develop the Internet Web site on the home page of the Secretary’s Internet Web site no later than December 1, 2019.