On July 3, the California Assembly Elections Committee passed SB 408, by Senator Jenny Oropeza. It had already passed the Senate. Current law lets anyone circulate an initiative petition if he or she is eligible to register to vote, or is registered. The bill says that if the circulator is not registered to vote, he or she must have been eligible to vote at the last general election. This will make it impossible for people who weren’t old enough to vote in the last election to circulate a statewide initiative, unless they actually register. The bill seems to flaut the U.S. Supreme Court opinion from 1999 that states may not require initiative circulators to be registered voters.

The bill may receive a full vote in the Assembly on July 11.