Election wrap-up: low voter turnout, AB 2415 and CPA-PAC.

AuthorAllen, Bruce C
PositionCapitol

The June elections saw the lowest voter turnout in California's history with less than 20 percent of those registered casting their votes for state and local elections.

The results for the state offices convey that Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will most likely win and be sworn into their offices again in January. The closer races will be for secretary of state and controller. Sen. Alex Padilla is in the lead (as of press time) for secretary or state, with republican candidate Pete Peterson less than hall a percentage point behind him.

The race for controller is even closer. with republican candidate Amy Swearengin in the lead with 25 percent of the vote, and democrats John Perez (former Assembly speaker) and Board of Equalization member Betty Yee tied for second with approximately 21.6 percent. These races are too close to call. and must wait lur all the mailed-in ballots to be counted before any confinnation can be made as to who will be on the ballot this November.

Furthermore, if this voter turnout is indicative of what we can expect in November, it's possible that the Republican Party in Califbrnia will pick up enough swing seats to undo the Democrats' supermajority in the Senate and Assembly.

Taxpayer Representation Registration

AB 2415 (Ting) has moved from the Assembly 1.0 the Senate, where CalCPA's Gityernment Relations team -as well growing number of CalCPA members-have been actively engaging in the political process to make sure this detrimental bill does not continue to move through the legislative process.

CalCPA continues to strongly oppose the duplicative registration in the bill. and the California Board of Accountancy also has taken an "oppose unless amended position" unless it's amended to exempt CPAs from this superfluous registration.

AB 2415 states that anyone kyho represents a taxpayer and communicates directly with any county official must register with the Secretary of State's office

Legislators have received numerous phone calls, letters and faxes from CPAs expressing their opposition to the bill for a multitude of reasons. Thank you to all who have written letters and made phone calls expressing your opposition as this bill has moved through the legislative process. 'The voices of CalCPA's mernbers have Continued to resonate with legislators, and it's because of ellbrts such as these that CalCPA continues to be a strong presence in Sacramento.

However. more can be done. Its vital CalCYNs success as an...

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