Bill Text: CA SB1345 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: State government: Commission on the Status of Women.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-06-26 - From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 3.) (June 26). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. [SB1345 Detail]

Download: California-2011-SB1345-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1345	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 11, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Evans

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Sections  8241, 8242,  8244  , 8245,
 and 8246 of,  to add Section 8250.5 to,  and
to repeal  Sections 8240 and 8245   and add
Section 8240  of, the Government Code, relating to state
government  , and making an appropriation therefor 
.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1345, as amended, Evans. State government: Commission on the
Status of Women.
   Existing law creates within state government the Commission on the
Status of Women, consisting of 17 members  , including certain
Members of the Legislature  . Existing law sets forth the powers
and duties of the commission  , and authorizes the commission to
study certain topics  . 
   This bill would revise and recast the duties of the commission.
The bill would require the commission to advise the Governor and the
Legislature on the gender impact of the state's proposed budget. The
bill would annually appropriate $465,000 from the General Fund to the
Commission on the Status of Women, thereby making an appropriation.
 
   This bill would authorize the members of the commission who are
also Members of the Legislature to vote by proxy. The bill would
provide that various powers and duties of the commission shall be
carried out only to the extent that funds are available. The bill
would authorize the commission to study additional topics. The bill
would authorize the Legislature to recommend that the commission
study additional topics relevant to women. The bill would authorize
the commission to review the implementation of any law to ensure that
the law is not discriminating against women or creating an
inequitable environment for women. 
   Vote:  2/3   majority  . Appropriation:
 yes   no  . Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
   
  SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares
all of the following:
   (a) Governor Pat Brown initially established the Commission on the
Status of Women as an advisory committee in 1965. The committee was
made a permanent commission by the Legislature and Governor Ronald
Reagan in 1971.
   (b) The commission is an independent voice within state government
for California women and girls. The commission serves as an
important link between many communities and the government, including
working families, incarcerated women, immigrant women, women of
color, and those with least access to state government and services.
   (c) The commission facilitates the development of coalitions of
diverse organizations around various issues, such as reproductive
rights, paid family leave, and incarcerated women.
   (d) The commission is an important source of information and data
on women and girls for the Legislature, private organizations,
individuals, and state and local entities.
   (e) Eighteen million seven hundred thousand women and girls call
California home, comprising over half of all its residents. More than
12 percent of the women and girls in the United States live in
California.
   (f) Women have made tremendous progress in the years since the
commission was created, but full equality has not yet been achieved.
   (g) The current budget crisis and the economy are having a
disparate impact on women and their families, making the work of the
commission even more important as the state moves forward.
   (h) This economic downturn is the first in recent history in which
women experienced substantial job loss.
   (i) Although there are signs that California's job market is
slowly recovering, recent data suggests that women have not shared
equally in the state's modest employment gains.
   (j) In response to sizeable budget shortfalls, California
lawmakers have repeatedly targeted programs that low-income women
rely on to support their families, gain the education and skills they
need, find and retain jobs, and remain safely in their own homes as
they age.
   (k) Budget cuts have also affected women with disabilities, as
well as women who work in child care, in-home care, teaching, and
other professions that rely on public funds.
   (l) Women make up a majority of the workers in local government, a
sector that has continued to lose jobs even as the labor market, as
a whole, has begun to slowly make gains.
   (m) For these reasons, it is necessary that the commission be
funded pursuant to this act. 
   SEC. 2.   SECTION 1.   Section 8240 of
the Government Code is repealed.
   SEC. 2.    Section 8240 is added to the  
Government Code   , to read:  
   8240.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) Governor Pat Brown initially established the Commission on the
Status of Women as an advisory committee in 1965. The committee was
made a permanent commission by the Legislature and Governor Ronald
Reagan in 1971.
   (b) The commission is an independent voice within state government
for California women and girls. The commission serves as an
important link between many communities and the government, including
working families, women of color, and those with least access to
state government and services.
   (c) The commission is an important source of information and data
on women and girls for the Legislature, private organizations,
individuals, and state and local entities.
   (d) Eighteen million seven hundred thousand women and girls call
California home, comprising over one-half of the state's residents.
More than 12 percent of the women and girls in the United States live
in California.
   (e) Women have made tremendous progress in the years since the
commission was created, but full equality has not yet been achieved.
   (f) The current budget crisis and the economy are having a
disparate impact on women and their families, making the work of the
commission even more important as the state moves forward.
   (g) For these reasons, it is necessary that the commission
continue to be funded pursuant to this chapter. 
   SEC. 3.    Section 8241 of the   Government
Code   is amended to read: 
   8241.  There is in the state government the Commission on the
Status of Women. The commission shall consist of 17 members: three
Members of the Senate and one public member appointed by the Senate
Committee on Rules, three Members of the Assembly and one public
member appointed by the Speaker, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, the Chief of the Division of Industrial Welfare in the
Department of Industrial Relations, and seven public members
appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Senate. The
Members of the Legislature shall serve at the pleasure of the
appointing powers.  The Members of the Legislature may vote by
proxy. 
   Public member appointees of the Speaker and the Senate Committee
on Rules, and appointees of the Governor shall serve four-year terms.
All persons appointed pursuant to Section 2 of Chapter 1378 of the
Statutes of 1965, as amended by Chapter 382 of the Statutes of 1973,
shall continue in office until the expiration of their term and the
appointment of their successors. The appointing powers may reappoint
a member whose term has expired, and shall immediately fill any
vacancy for the unexpired portion of the term in which it occurs.
   All appointees shall hold office until the appointment of their
successors.
   SEC. 4.    Section 8242 of the   Government
Code   is amended to read: 
   8242.  (a) Public members of the commission shall receive one
hundred dollars ($100) per diem while on official business of the
commission, not to exceed 12 days per year. Each member of the
commission shall also be entitled to receive his or her actual
necessary traveling expenses while on official business of the
commission.  This subdivision shall be carried out only to the
extent funds are available. 
   (b) The commission shall select annually from its membership, a
chairperson and vice chairperson.
   SEC. 3.   SEC. 5.   Section 8244 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
   8244.  The commission shall have the powers and authority
necessary to carry out the duties imposed upon it by this chapter,
including, but not limited to, the following: 
   (a) To advise the Governor and the Legislature on the gender
impact of the state's proposed budget. The committee shall report its
findings during legislative budget subcommittee hearings. 

   (b) 
    (a)  To employ  such   , to the
extent funds are available, any  administrative, technical and
other personnel as may be necessary for the performance of its powers
and duties. 
   (c) 
    (b)  To hold hearings, make and sign any agreements and
to do or perform any acts which may be necessary, desirable, or
proper to carry out the purposes of this chapter. 
   (d) 
    (c)  To cooperate with, and secure the cooperation of,
any department, division, board, bureau, commission, or other agency
of the state to facilitate it properly to carry out its powers and
duties hereunder. 
   (e) 
    (d)  To appoint  , to the extent funds are
available,  advisers or advisory committees from time to time
when the commission determines that the experience or expertise of
 such   those  advisers or advisory
committees is needed for projects of the commission. Section 11009 is
applicable to advisers or advisory committees. 
   (f) 
    (e)  To accept any federal funds granted, by act of
Congress or by executive order, for all or any of the purposes of
this chapter. 
   (g) 
    (f)  To accept any gifts, donations, grants, or bequests
for all or any of the purposes of this chapter. 
  SEC. 4.    Section 8245 of the Government Code is
repealed. 
   SEC. 6.    Section 8245 of the   Government
Code   is amended to read: 
   8245.  (a) The commission shall  , to the extent funds are
available,  study  all of  the following: 
   (1) Women's educational and employment problems, needs, and
opportunities.  
   (2) State laws in regard to the civil and political rights of
women, including pensions, tax requirements, property rights,
marriage and dissolution of marriage provisions, and similar matters.
 
   (3) The effect of social attitudes and pressures and economic
considerations in shaping the roles to be assumed by women in the
society.  
   (4) Any laws, practices, or conditions concerning or affecting
women which impose special limitations or burdens upon them or upon
society, or which limit or tend to limit opportunities available to
women.  
   (1) Educational needs of women and girls.  
   (2) Women's economic opportunities and employment rights. 
   (3) Needs of working women, including, but not limited to, leave,
child care, and pay equity. 
   (4) The effect that the state budget has on women and children.
 
   (5) Violence against women, including, but not limited to, human
trafficking.  
   (6) The Legislature may recommend that the commission study
additional current issues relevant to women. 
   (b) The commission shall  , to the extent funds are available,
 act as an information center on the status of women and women'
s educational, employment, and other related needs.
   (c) The commission shall  , to the extent funds are available,
 recommend, develop, prepare, or coordinate materials,
projects, or other activities, and shall give technical and
consultative advice to public or private groups or persons concerned
with any of the  following:   topics described
in subdivision (a).  
   (1) Preventing or minimizing problems brought about by the
changing roles and responsibilities of women.  
   (2) Developing programs to encourage and enable women to be fully
contributing members of society. 
   (d) A prime function of the commission  to the extent funds
are available,  shall  ,  be to encourage women's
organizations and other groups to institute local self-help
activities designed to meet women's educational, employment, and
related needs. The commission shall make reports on its activities,
findings, and recommendations to the Legislature from time to time,
but not less often than every odd-numbered year.
   SEC. 5.   SEC. 7.   Section 8246 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
   8246.  (a) The commission is expressly authorized to inform the
Legislature of its position on any legislative proposal pending
before the Legislature and to urge the introduction of legislative
proposals to correct inequities provided in the State Budget.
   (b) The commission is expressly authorized to state its position
and viewpoint on issues as they relate to the State Budget developed
in the performance of its duties and responsibilities as specified in
this chapter. 
   (c) This section is declaratory of existing law.  
   (c) The commission is expressly authorized to review the
implementation of any law to ensure that the law does not
discriminate against women or create an inequitable environment for
women.  
  SEC. 6.    Section 8250.5 is added to the
Government Code, to read:
   8250.5.  Notwithstanding Section 13340, there is hereby annually
appropriated, on a fiscal year basis, four hundred sixty-five
thousand dollars ($465,000) from the General Fund to the Commission
on the Status of Women for purposes of implementing this chapter.