(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 the identity of a common employer shared by major donors 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 3rd 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, which would be known as the California Disclose Act, 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 or committee from sending a mass mailing unless the name, street address, and city of the candidate or committee are shown on the outside of each piece of mail in the mass mailing, as specified. This bill would additionally require the name of such an entity to be disclosed in a mass electronic mailing, as defined, that the entity sends. The bill would provide that these disclosure requirements do not apply if the mass mailing or mass electronic mailing is paid for by an independent expenditure. (4) 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 apply these requirements 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. The bill would provide that these disclosure requirements do not apply if the telephone call is paid for by an independent expenditure. (5) 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. The bill would revise the definition of "advertisement" to exclude a number of communications, including communications that involve wearing apparel, sky writing, and certain electronic media communications, as specified. 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 that committee. 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. (6) The act imposes, in addition to other penalties, a fine of up to triple the amount of the cost of an advertisement on a person who violates the disclosure requirements for advertisements. This bill would revise the scope of violations subject to that fine by specifying that it applies to certain disclosure requirements and intentional violations. (7) 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 prohibit a person from making a contribution to a committee or candidate that is earmarked 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. The bill would impose additional disclosure requirements in connection with earmarked contributions from one committee to another. (8) 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. (9) 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 of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law establishes the California State University, the California Community Colleges, and the University of California as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law exempts specified students from paying nonresident tuition at the California State University and the California Community Colleges, as specified. This bill would express legislative findings and declarations relating to persons provided with special immigrant visa status due to their displacement because of wars taking place in their home countries. The bill would exempt students who have been granted special immigrant visas pursuant to a specified federal statute, or are refugees admitted to the United States under a specified federal statute, and who, upon entering the United States, settled in California, from paying nonresident tuition at the California Community Colleges. The bill would also authorize a community college district to report a student, who is exempt from nonresident tuition under this bill and who is enrolled as a student of that district, as a full-time equivalent student for apportionment purposes. To the extent that this bill would place additional requirements on community college districts to exempt those students from nonresident tuition, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative statute enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, imposes a 1% tax on that portion of a taxpayer's taxable annual income that exceeds $1,000,000 and requires that the revenue from that tax be deposited in the Mental Health Services Fund. Existing law specifies the manner in which counties are to use the funds distributed from the Mental Health Services Fund, including using the majority of the funds for services provided by county mental health programs. Existing law specifies a target population for these programs, including seriously emotionally disturbed children or adolescents and adults or older adults who have a serious mental disorder. This bill would clarify that counties may spend MHSA moneys on housing assistance, as defined, for people in the target population. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 5892 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 1688 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1688 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
This measure would recognize September 11, 2017, as a day of solemn commemoration and extend the Legislature's deepest sympathies to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Existing law provides for apprenticeship programs within the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, which is 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. This bill would require the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, in collaboration with the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee (CAL-JAC) , to develop a statewide firefighter preapprenticeship program designed to recruit candidates from underrepresented groups. This bill would require the preapprenticeship program to meet specified objectives. This bill would also require CAL-JAC to deliver the pilot classes established by the preapprenticeship program using existing facilities and training models. This bill would require CAL-JAC to provide the program model to fire protection agencies, and would authorize a fire protection agency to then use that model and related resources to establish a local preapprenticeship program for recruiting candidates from underrepresented groups. This bill would reference an appropriation made in the Budget Act of 2017–18 to the division to establish the preapprenticeship program and would require the division to use those funds for specified purposes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to not enact S. 446, H.R. 38, or any other similar "concealed carry reciprocity" legislation that would require the State of California to recognize the concealed carry standards of every other state.
This measure would recognize the importance of civic engagement across the State of California.
Existing law defines "tour bus" for purposes of regulation under the Vehicle Code. Existing law requires an operator of a tour bus to use a safety belt and to report any accidents involving the tour bus to the Department of the California Highway Patrol. This bill would provide that the definition includes a tour bus that has had its roof substantially structurally modified or removed. The bill would authorize local authorities to adopt rules and regulations to restrict the routes or streets upon which a modified tour bus may be operated, as specified. The bill would authorize local authorities to adopt rules and regulations to prohibit the use of loudspeakers or public address systems by a modified tour bus and instead require the use of headphones or similar devices by passengers for any information or presentation provided for the passengers.
Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families using federal, state, and county funds. Existing law requires a recipient of CalWORKs to participate in certain welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility and requires the county to assign a CalWORKs recipient who lacks a high school diploma or its equivalent to participate in adult basic education, if the recipient has completed job search activities but did not find employment and the education is needed to become employed. Existing law also requires, in order for a recipient to engage in adult basic education in satisfaction of welfare-to-work requirements, the county to perform an assessment and develop a welfare-to-work plan that includes participation in the educational activity. This bill would instead provide that after the county determines that a CalWORKs recipient has received specified services, but has not received his or her high school diploma or its equivalent, the recipient may participate in a high school equivalency program in order to complete a high school equivalency test recognized by the State Department of Education. The bill would prohibit a county from requiring the recipient to participate in an assessment before the recipient may engage in a high school equivalency program in satisfaction of welfare-to-work requirements under those circumstances. The bill would require a recipient who has not received his or her high school diploma or its equivalent to be offered a welfare-to-work plan to participate in a high school education program or high school equivalency program, as specified. If the recipient declines to participate in the specified educational activities, and chooses instead to participate in job club or job search activities, or other activities, the bill would require the recipient to make that election, in writing, on the welfare-to-work plan. By imposing additional administrative duties on counties, this bill would create 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
This measure would proclaim the month of September 2017 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and state the commitment of the Legislature to support efforts to find cures for, and achieve prevention of, childhood cancer.