California Repeal the Sanctuary State Law Initiative (2020)

California Repeal the Sanctuary State Law Initiative
Election date November 3, 2020
Topic Immigration
Status Not on the ballot
Type State statute	Origin Citizens
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The California Repeal the Sanctuary State Law Initiative (#18-0002) was not on the ballot in California as an initiated state statute on November 3, 2020.

The measure would have repealed California's sanctuary jurisdiction law, which was designed to prohibit state law enforcement agencies from using state and local resources for the purposes of reporting, investigating, detaining, or arresting an individual, except those who had committed certain criminal acts, to enforce federal immigration laws. The measure would have instead required the state to fully cooperate with the federal government regarding persons who had been arrested and were suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws.

The measure would have also prohibited persons in the U.S. in violation of federal immigration laws from obtaining state driver's licenses or identification cards. The measure would have prohibited the use of automatic voter registration in California.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The official ballot title was as follows:

“

Requires Use of State and Local Law-Enforcement Resources for Federal Immigration Purposes. Restricts Voter Registration Process. Initiative Statute.

”

Petition summary

The summary provided for inclusion on signature petition sheets was as follows:

“

Requires state and local law enforcement to attempt to verify the immigration status of arrestees suspected of being in United States without documentation and notify federal and state agencies when arrestees appear to be undocumented. Prohibits local governments and law-enforcement agencies from preventing or limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Sets criminal penalties and minimum $10,000 fines for noncompliance. Prohibits automatic voter registration; requires an affidavit for voter eligibility. Prohibits issuing driver’s license or identification card without verifying citizenship or immigration status.

”

Fiscal impact

The fiscal impact statement was as follows:

“

Net increase in state and local law enforcement costs, potentially reaching the low tens of millions of dollars annually, related to cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. One-time and ongoing costs—each potentially reaching several million dollars annually—to state and local governments for the verification and retention of proof of citizenship prior to individuals voting in their first election.

”

Full text

The full text is available here.

Background

Senate Bill 54

California's sanctuary jurisdiction law was known as Senate Bill 54 (SB 54). Senate President Kevin de León (D-24) was the lead author of the SB 54 in the California State Legislature. SB 54 was introduced on December 5, 2016. Sen. de León, mentioning the incoming presidential administration of Donald Trump, said, "To the millions of undocumented residents pursuing and contributing to the California dream, the state of California will be your wall of justice should the incoming administration adopt an inhumane and overreaching mass-deportation policy."

On April 3, 2017, the California Senate passed SB 5. On August 6, 2017, Gov. Brown (D) appeared on NBC News and addressed his views on SB 54. Gov. Brown told host Chuck Todd that while SB 54 was still going through the legislative process, there were unspecified changes he would want to make. Brown also objected to using the word sanctuary to describe the bill and described the goal of the bill as "to not collaborate with abuse of federal power." On September 11, 2017, the Assembly Appropriations Committee voted to amend the bill with some changes offered by Gov. Brown.

On September 15, 2017, the California Assembly voted 50-26 in favor of SB 54. On September 16, the state Senate approved the lower chamber's amendments, passing the bill 27-11. Gov. Brown signed SB 54 on October 5, 2017.

Vote in the California State Assembly September 15, 2017
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 40  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	51	26	2
Total percent	64.56%	32.91%	2.53%
Democrat	51	2	1
Republican	0	24	1

Vote in the California State Senate September 16, 2017
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 21  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	27	11	2
Total percent	67.50%	27.50%	5.0%
Democrat	27	0	0
Republican	0	11	2

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in California

In California, the number of signatures needed to qualify a measure for the ballot is based on the total number of votes cast for the office of governor. For an initiated state statute, petitioners must collect signatures equal to five percent of the most recent gubernatorial vote. To get a measure on the 2020 ballot, the number of signatures required will be tied to voter turnout in 2018. In California, initiatives can be circulated for 180 days. Signatures needed to be certified at least 131 days before the 2020 general election, which was around June 25, 2020. As the signature verification process can take several weeks, the California secretary of state issues suggested deadlines for several months before the certification deadline.

The following is the timeline for the initiative:

• Donald Rosenberg submitted a letter requesting a title and summary on April 18, 2018.
• A title and summary was issued by the California attorney general's office on June 22, 2018.
• Proponents of the initiative needed to submit 365,880 valid signatures by December 19, 2018, in order for it to make the ballot.
• On January 3, 2019, the secretary of state's office reported that proponents failed to file signatures.

See also

• 2020 ballot measures
• California 2020 ballot propositions
• California ballot measures

External links

• Initiative Petition