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Fire Prevention Fee Referendum Enters Circulation

Referendum to Overturn Law Requiring State to Establish Fire Prevention Fee.

SACRAMENTO - Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced today that the proponent of a proposed referendum measure may begin collecting signatures.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on referendum petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials, and the referendum may be circulated for signatures.

The Attorney General's official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

REFERENDUM TO OVERTURN LAW REQUIRING STATE TO ESTABLISH FIRE PREVENTION FEE. If signed by the required number of registered voters and filed with the Secretary of State, this petition will place on the statewide ballot a challenge to an existing state law. The law must be approved by voters at the next statewide election to remain in effect. The law calls for an annual fee up to $150 for each building located in areas where the state pays for fire services. The fee would fund fire services for such areas. (11-0024.)

The proponent for this measure, Ted Gaines, must collect signatures of 504,760 registered voters – the number equal to five percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2010 gubernatorial election – in order to qualify it for the next statewide ballot. The proponent has 90 days from the date the bill is chaptered to request and receive a title and summary from the Attorney General, and circulate petitions for a referendum. ABx1 29 (Chapter 8, Statutes of 2011, First Extraordinary Session) was chaptered on July 8, 2011. The proponent has until October 6, 2011, to submit petition signatures to county election officials.

The Secretary of State's tracking number for this measure is 1493 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 11-0024.

The referendum proponent can be reached at P.O. Box 984, Willows, California 95988. No phone number was provided by the proponent.

To sign up for regular ballot measure updates via email, RSS feed, or Twitter, go to www.sos.ca.gov/multimedia.

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