Asm. Matthew Dababneh

The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission, with jurisdiction over all public utilities. The California Constitution grants the commission certain general powers over all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature, and, among other things, authorizes the Legislature, unlimited by the other provisions of the Constitution, to confer additional authority and jurisdiction upon the commission that is cognate and germane to the regulation of public utilities, to establish the manner and scope of review of commission action in a court of record, and to enable the commission to fix just compensation for utility property taken by eminent domain. The Public Utilities Act and other provisions of the Public Utilities Code set forth the structure, funding, and responsibilities of the commission. This measure would authorize the Legislature to reallocate or reassign all or a portion of the functions of the commission to other state agencies, departments, boards, or other entities, consistent with specified purposes. The measure would direct the Legislature to adopt appropriate structures to provide greater accountability for the public utilities of the state and provide the necessary guidance to the commission to focus its regulatory efforts on safety, reliability, and ratesetting and to implement statutorily authorized programs for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. This measure would repeal the provisions of the California Constitution pertaining to the commission effective January 1, 2019, while specifying that a statute that was valid at the time the statute was enacted is not invalid by virtue of the repeal of those constitutional provisions.

Existing law, the California Finance Lenders Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of finance lenders and brokers, which includes any person who is engaged in the business of making consumer loans, by the Commissioner of Business Oversight and makes a willful violation of its provisions a crime. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to investigate at any time the loans and business, and examine the books, accounts, records, and files used in the business of every person engaged in the business of a finance lender or broker for the purpose of discovering violations or securing information required by the commissioner in the administration and enforcement of the California Finance Lenders Law, as provided. This bill would require the commissioner to examine at least every 48 months the affairs of every person engaged in the business of a finance lender or broker for compliance under that law, and would authorize the commissioner to examine those persons as often as the commissioner deems necessary and appropriate for those purposes. The California Finance Lenders Law regulates the terms and conditions under which a licensee under that law may make consumer loans, including, but not limited to, the maximum rate and administrative fee a borrower may be charged for specific loan amounts. This bill would revise and impose additional terms and conditions under which a licensee may make unsecured consumer loans of a maximum principal balance upon origination of $3,000 or less, including, among other things, the term of the loan, maximum rates that a licensee may charge for a loan, and restrictions on refinancing, as specified. The bill would allow a licensee, with prior approval from the commissioner, to use the services of one or more referral partners with respect to those loans that the licensee may make or negotiate, if specified conditions and requirements are met. By imposing new requirements under the California Finance Lenders Law, the violation of which would be a crime, 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.

This act would declare June 10, 2016, as Portugal Day to celebrate Portuguese national heritage.

This measure would recognize May 24, 2016, as Slavic Heritage Day.

This bill would call a special election to be consolidated with the November 8, 2016, statewide general election. The bill would require the Secretary of State to submit to the voters at the November 8, 2016, consolidated election a voter instruction asking whether California's elected officials should use all of their constitutional authority, including proposing and ratifying one or more amendments to the United States Constitution, to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) 558 U.S. 310, and other applicable judicial precedents, as specified. The bill would require the Secretary of State to communicate the results of this election to the Congress of the United States. The bill would require the Secretary of State, if prohibited by court order from submitting the voter instruction to the voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, as specified, to submit the voter instruction to the voters at the next occurring election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an act calling an election.

This measure would proclaim that Monday, January 18, 2016, be observed as the official memorial of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth and his work in the Civil Rights Movement.

This measure would recognize May 2016 as Celiac Disease Awareness Month.