Asm. Marc Levine

This measure would declare Friday, October 7, 2016, as California Manufacturing Day.

This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to support President Obama's initiative to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba and to move forward with legislation to help increase trade with Cuba.

Existing law establishes the California Coastal Commission in the Natural Resources Agency and designates the commission as the state coastal zone planning and management agency for all purposes. Existing law prohibits a commission member or an interested person, as defined, from conducting an ex parte communication unless the commission member fully discloses and makes public that communication within 7 days after the communication or, if the communication occurs within 7 days of the next commission hearing, to the commission on the record of the proceeding at that hearing. This bill would require a commission member to fully disclose in writing 24 hours before a commission hearing any ex parte communication conducted within 7 days of the commission hearing relating to a matter that will be discussed at the hearing, and would prohibit a commission member or an interested person from conducting such an ex parte communication within 24 hours before the commission hearing. The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the regulation of the lobbying industry, including defining the term "lobbyist" and regulating the conduct of lobbyists. Among its provisions, the act prohibits lobbyists from engaging in certain activities, including accepting or agreeing to accept any payment in any way contingent upon the defeat, enactment, or outcome of any proposed legislative or administrative action. Under the act, a lobbyist is, among others, an individual whose principal duties as an employee are to communicate with, among others, any agency official for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action. For these purposes, "administrative action" is defined as the proposal, drafting, development, consideration, amendment, enactment, or defeat by a state agency of any rule, regulation, or other action in any ratemaking or quasi-legislative proceeding and "agency official" is defined as any member, officer, employee, or consultant of any state agency who participates in any administrative action in other than a ministerial capacity. This bill would revise the definition of "administrative action" to include, with regard to proceedings before the California Coastal Commission, specified actions relating to the review, approval, and appeal of certain permit actions and coastal plans and programs. The bill would, however, exclude from these provisions relating to lobbyists an employee of a local government agency seeking, within the scope of his or her employment, to influence quasi-judicial decisions of the commission. The bill would also, for purposes of those matters before the California Coastal Commission, limit the definition of "agency official" to a member of the commission. Existing law makes a knowing and willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding those crimes. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes with a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

(1) Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing and activities. The act requires a committee that supports or opposes ballot measures to name and identify itself using a name or phrase that clearly identifies the economic or other special interests of its major donors of $50,000 or more. The act also requires that if the major donors share a common employer, the identity of the employer be disclosed. This bill would repeal these provisions. (2) The act defines "expenditure" as a payment, a forgiveness of a loan, a payment of a loan by a third party, or an enforceable promise to make a payment, unless it is clear from the surrounding circumstances that it is not made for political purposes. This bill would describe circumstances in which a payment would be made for political purposes within the meaning of the definition of "expenditure." (3) The act prohibits a candidate, committee, or slate mailer organization from expending campaign funds to pay for specified telephone calls that advocate support of, or opposition to, a candidate, ballot measure, or both, unless the name of the organization that authorized or paid for the call is disclosed to the recipient of the call during the course of each call. This bill would instead make these requirements applicable to a candidate, a candidate controlled committee established for an elective office for the controlling candidate, a political party committee, and a slate mailer organization that expends campaign funds to pay for such telephone calls. (4) The act also requires advertisements, as defined, to include prescribed disclosure statements, including, among others, a requirement that the disclosure statements include the names of the persons who made the 2 highest cumulative contributions, as defined, to the committee paying for the advertisement. This bill would repeal and recast provisions of the act relating to advertisement disclosure statements. Among those changes, this bill would revise the definition of "advertisement" to exclude a number of communications, including communications paid for by a person who is not a committee and communications that involve wearing apparel, sky writing, and certain electronic media communications, as specified. The bill would prohibit specified entities from sending a mass electronic mailing, as defined, unless the name of the candidate or committee are shown in the electronic mailing preceded by the words "Paid for by" in at least the same size font as a majority of the text in the mass electronic mailing. The bill would also replace existing advertisement disclosure statements with newly prescribed disclosure statements that identify the name of the committee paying for the advertisement and the top contributors to the committee paying for the advertisement. The bill would define "top contributors" for purposes of these provisions as the persons from whom the committee paying for the advertisement received its 3 highest cumulative contributions, as specified. The bill would exempt certain committees, including committees that make independent expenditures totaling $1,000 or more in a calendar year, from the requirement to disclose the top contributors in advertisement disclosure statements. The bill would also prescribe location and format criteria for the disclosure statements that are specific to radio and telephone, television and video, print, and electronic media advertisements. (5) The act prohibits a person from making a contribution as an intermediary on behalf of another person without disclosing to the recipient of the contribution specified information about both the intermediary and the source of the contribution. The act also prohibits a person from making a contribution to a committee on the condition or with the agreement that it will be contributed to a particular candidate unless the contribution is disclosed in compliance with those requirements for contributions made by an intermediary. This bill would revise the latter provision to prohibit a person from making a contribution to a committee or candidate that is earmarked for a contribution to another committee, ballot measure, or candidate, unless the contribution is disclosed in compliance with the requirements for contributions made by an intermediary. The bill would also describe circumstances in which a contribution is deemed to be earmarked. (6) Because a violation of the act is punishable as a misdemeanor, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (7) The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.

(1) Existing law generally prohibits the possession or transfer of assault weapons, except for the sale, purchase, importation, or possession of assault weapons by specified individuals, including law enforcement officers. Under existing law, "assault weapon" means, among other things, a semiautomatic centerfire rifle or a semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and has any one of specified attributes, including, for rifles, a thumbhole stock, and for pistols, a 2nd handgrip. This bill would revise this definition of "assault weapon" to mean a semiautomatic centerfire rifle or a semiautomatic pistol that does not have a fixed magazine but has any one of those specified attributes. The bill would also define "fixed magazine" to mean an ammunition feeding device contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action. By expanding the definition of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law makes any person who, within this state, possesses an assault weapon, except as otherwise provided, guilty of a misdemeanor or a felony. This bill would exempt from punishment under that prohibition a person who possessed an assault weapon prior to January 1, 2017, if specified requirements are met. (3) Existing law requires that, with specified exceptions, any person who, prior to January 1, 2001, lawfully possessed an assault weapon prior to the date it was defined as an assault weapon, and which was not specified as an assault weapon at the time of lawful possession, register the firearm with the Department of Justice. Existing law permits the Department of Justice to charge a fee for registration of up to $20 per person but not to exceed the actual processing costs of the department. Existing law, after the department establishes fees sufficient to reimburse the department for processing costs, requires fees charged to increase at a rate not to exceed the legislatively approved annual cost-of-living adjustment for the department's budget or as otherwise increased through the Budget Act. Existing law requires those fees to be deposited into the Dealers' Record of Sale Special Account. Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, establishes the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies. This bill would require that any person who, from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2016, inclusive, lawfully possessed an assault weapon that does not have a fixed magazine, as defined, including those weapons with an ammunition feeding device that can be removed readily from the firearm with the use of a tool, register the firearm with the Department of Justice before January 1, 2018, but not before the effective date of specified regulations. The bill would permit the department to increase the $20 registration fee as long as it does not exceed the reasonable processing costs of the department. The bill would also require registrations to be submitted electronically via the Internet utilizing a public-facing application made available by the department. The bill would require the registration to contain specified information, including, but not limited to, a description of the firearm that identifies it uniquely and specified information about the registrant. The bill would permit the department to charge a fee of up to $15 per person for registration through the Internet, not to exceed the reasonable processing costs of the department to be paid and deposited, as specified, for purposes of the registration program. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations for the purpose of implementing those provisions and would exempt those regulations from the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill would also make technical and conforming changes. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (5) This bill would become operative only if SB 880 of the 2015–16 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2017.

This measure would urge the United States Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, and the Office of Management and Budget to expedite the rulemaking and implementation processes for federal safety regulations governing the transport by rail of flammable and combustible liquids, including crude oil, and would also urge the President and the Congress of the United States to pass specified federal legislation mandating public safety measures regulating the transport by rail of those liquids.

The California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 provides the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the Department of Industrial Relations with the power, jurisdiction, and supervision over all employment and places of employment necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and to protect employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, an independent entity within the department, has the exclusive authority to adopt occupational safety and health standards within the state. This bill would require the board, by June 1, 2017, to adopt a standard that requires an employer performing corrosion prevention work on industrial and infrastructure projects to use trained and certified personnel, as specified. Because certain violations of these new requirements would be a misdemeanor, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law provides for apprenticeship programs within the Division of Apprenticeship Standards within the Department of Industrial Relations, sponsored by specific entities and employers, and requires the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to perform various functions with respect to apprenticeship programs and the welfare of apprentices. Existing law also establishes the California Apprenticeship Council within the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, and requires the council to aid the director in formulating policies with respect to apprentice regulation. Existing law requires the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards and the California Apprenticeship Council to report annually through the Director of Industrial Relations on the activities of the division and the council, and further requires that the report include specified information with respect to apprenticeship programs in this state. This bill would require the report to include an analysis of any apprenticeship standards or regulations that were proposed or adopted in the previous year. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

This measure would proclaim August 8, 2016, to August 12, 2016, inclusive, as Concrete Pipe Week.