Bill Text: CA SCA14 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Legislative procedure.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From Assembly without further action. [SCA14 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SCA14-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SCA 14 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 17, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 9, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wolk
( Principal coauthor: Assembly Member
Gordon )
APRIL 21, 2016
A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California
an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Section 8
of, and by adding Section 7.3 to, Article IV thereof, relating to the
Legislature.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCA 14, as amended, Wolk. Legislative procedure.
The California Constitution requires that the proceedings of each
house of the Legislature and the committees thereof be open and
public, except as specified.
This measure , the California Legislature Transparency
Act, would require the Legislature, commencing January 1,
2018, to make audiovisual recordings of the open and public
proceedings of each house of the Legislature and the committees
thereof, as prescribed. prescribed
, and to authorize members of the public who attend those
proceedings to make recordings of and to broadcast the
proceedings, as prescribed. The measure would require the
Legislature to provide these its
recordings to the Legislative Counsel for purposes of making the
recordings promptly available to the public and would require that
the recordings remain reasonably accessible to the public for not
less than 20 years. The measure would require the Legislature to
enact laws to implement these provisions, provided that the bills
enacting such laws would be required to be published in final form on
the Internet for at least 12 days prior to the final vote in each
house.
The California Constitution prohibits either house from passing a
bill until certain requirements are met, including that a
committee or house not hear or act on the bill
until the 31st day after it is introduced and that the bill
with amendments has been printed and distributed to the Members of
the Legislature.
This measure would additionally prohibit the Legislature from
passing a bill unless the bill has been published on the Internet in
its final form for at least 72 hours prior to the final vote in the
second house. This measure would require the house of origin to pass
a bill by a second rollcall vote following the final vote in the
second house if the bill, as first passed in the house of origin, had
not been published on the Internet in its final form for at least 72
hours prior to that vote and was not amended thereafter in the
second house. The
This measure would authorize a committee to hear or act on a
bill on the 16th day after the bill is introduced. The measure would
also prohibit a bill from being passed in either house until the
bill, in the form to be voted on, has been made available to the
public by publishing it on the Internet for at least 72 hours before
the vote. Th e measure would authorize the
Legislature to waive these requirements, as prescribed, if specified
requirements are met with respect to a state of emergency declared by
the Governor.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2015-16 Regular Session
commencing on the first day of December 2014, two-thirds of the
membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of
the State of California that the Constitution of the State be
amended as follows:
First-- This measure shall be known, and may be
cited, as the "California Legislature Transparency Act."
Second-- First-- The people of the
State of California find and declare all of the following:
(a) It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society
that public business be performed in an open and public manner, and
highly desirable that citizens be given the opportunity to review
fully every bill and express to their elected representatives their
views regarding a bill's merits before it is passed.
(b) Morever, complex bills are often passed before Members of the
Legislature have any realistic opportunity to review or debate them,
resulting in ill-considered legislation.
(c) Further, although the California Constitution currently
provides that the proceedings of each house of the Legislature and
the committees thereof shall be open and public, few citizens have
the ability to attend legislative proceedings in person, and many
legislative proceedings go completely unobserved by the public and
press, often leaving no record of what was said.
(d) Yet, with the availability of modern recording technology,
there is no reason why public legislative proceedings should remain
relatively inaccessible to the public.
Third-- Second-- In enacting this
measure, the people of the State of California intend the following:
(a) To enhance the ability of the people of the State of
California to observe what is happening and has happened at the
Legislature's public proceedings so as to obtain the information
necessary to participate in the political process.
(b) To give the people of the State of California and their
elected representatives the necessary time to evaluate carefully the
strengths and weaknesses of the final version of a
bill before a vote occurs by imposing a 72-hour public notice period
between the time that the final version is published on the
Internet for review by the Legislature and the public and the time
that the final votes are taken, except in cases of a state of
emergency declared by the Governor. the bill, in the
form to be voted on, has been made available to the public by
publishing it on the Internet and the time that
the bill is passed in either house.
Fourth-- Third-- That Section 7.3 is
added to Article IV thereof, to read:
SEC. 7.3. (a) Commencing January 1, 2018, the Legislature
shall do all of the following with respect to its open and public
proceedings:
(1) Cause audiovisual recordings to be made of all floor sessions
of each house of the Legislature, the committee proceedings thereof
at which a vote is taken or other action is recorded, and the
committee proceedings thereof held in the State Capitol Building
regardless of whether a vote is taken or an action is recorded.
(2) Make reasonable efforts to cause audiovisual recordings to be
made of all committee proceedings held outside of the State Capitol
Building at which no vote is taken and no action is recorded.
(3) Make reasonable efforts to broadcast to the public, in real
time, all proceedings of the Legislature and the committees thereof
that are held in the State Capitol Building.
(4) Authorize members of the public who
attend the proceedings of the Legislature and the committees thereof
to make recordings of those proceedings, subject to reasonable
restrictions such as those necessary to ensure public safety and
prevent disruption of the proceedings, and to broadcast those
recordings.
(b) The Legislature shall provide all of its
audiovisual recordings made pursuant to this section to the
Legislative Counsel, who shall make the recordings promptly available
to the public. The recordings shall remain reasonably accessible to
the public for not less than 20 years.
(c) The Legislature shall enact laws to implement this section,
provided that, notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of
Section 8, after the 2015-16 Regular Session of the Legislature, a
bill implementing this section shall not be passed or ultimately
become a statute unless the bill is published in its final form on
the Internet for at least 12 days prior to the final vote in each
house.
(d) (1) Expenditures made in furtherance of paragraphs (1) to
(3), inclusive, of subdivision (a) are not subject to Section
7.5.
(2) The Legislature shall make sufficient funds available to carry
out the purposes of this section.
Fifth-- Fourth-- That Section 8 of
Article IV thereof is amended to read:
SEC. 8. (a) At regular sessions no bill other than the budget
bill may be heard or acted on by committee or
either house until the 31st day after the bill is introduced
unless the house dispenses with this requirement
or by a committee thereof until the 16th day after the
bill is introduced. The house may dispense with these requirements
by rollcall vote entered in the journal, three-fourths of the
membership concurring.
(b) (1) The Legislature may make no law except by statute and may
enact no statute except by bill. No bill may be passed unless it is
read by title on three days in each house except that the house may
dispense with this requirement by rollcall vote entered in the
journal, two-thirds of the membership concurring.
(2) No bill may be passed until it has been printed and
distributed, with amendments, to the Members.
(3) (A) No bill may be passed until it has been published on the
Internet in its final form for at least 72 hours prior to the final
vote in the second house.
(B) If a bill is passed by the house of origin without having been
published on the Internet in its final form for at least 72 hours
prior to that vote and the bill is not amended thereafter in the
second house, then the bill may not be passed except by a second
rollcall vote in the house of origin following the final vote in the
second house.
(3) (A) No bill may be passed in either house until the bill, in
the form to be voted on, has been made available to the public by
publishing it on the Internet for at least 72 hours before the vote
in that house.
(C)
(B) Upon a rollcall vote, two-thirds of the membership
concurring, the requirements of this paragraph may be waived for a
bill if the Governor has declared a state of emergency, as defined in
paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 3 of Article XIII B, and
has submitted a written statement to the Legislature identifying the
bill as necessary to address the emergency.
(D)
(C) No bill shall become a statute
that fails to comply with the requirements of subparagraphs
subparagraph (A) and (B) and
for which no waiver is obtained pursuant to subparagraph
(C). (B) shall become a statute.
(4) No bill may be passed unless, by rollcall vote entered in the
journal, a majority of the membership of each house concurs.
(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this
subdivision, a statute enacted at a regular session shall go into
effect on January 1 next following a 90-day period from the date of
enactment of the statute and a statute enacted at a special session
shall go into effect on the 91st day after adjournment of the special
session at which the bill was passed.
(2) A statute, other than a statute establishing or changing
boundaries of any legislative, congressional, or other election
district, enacted by a bill passed by the Legislature on or before
the date the Legislature adjourns for a joint recess to reconvene in
the second calendar year of the biennium of the legislative session,
and in the possession of the Governor after that date, shall go into
effect on January 1 next following the enactment date of the statute
unless, before January 1, a copy of a referendum petition affecting
the statute is submitted to the Attorney General pursuant to
subdivision (d) of Section 10 of Article II, in which event the
statute shall go into effect on the 91st day after the enactment date
unless the petition has been presented to the Secretary of State
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 9 of Article II.
(3) Statutes calling elections, statutes providing for tax levies
or appropriations for the usual current expenses of the State, and
urgency statutes shall go into effect immediately upon their
enactment.
(d) Urgency statutes are those necessary for immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety. A statement of
facts constituting the necessity shall be set forth in one section of
the bill. In each house the section and the bill shall be passed
separately, each by rollcall vote entered in the journal, two-thirds
of the membership concurring. An urgency statute may not create or
abolish any office or change the salary, term, or duties of any
office, or grant any franchise or special privilege, or create any
vested right or interest.
Sixth-- Fifth-- In the event that
this measure and another measure that imposes transparency
requirements on the Legislature, such as requirements to make
audiovisual recordings of legislative proceedings
proceedings, to authorize members of the public to record or
broadcast legislative proceedings, or to specify the amount of
time a bill must be publicly available before it may be passed,
appear on the same statewide ballot, the provisions of the other
measure or measures shall be deemed to be in conflict with this
measure. In the event that this measure receives a greater number of
affirmative votes than a measure deemed to be in conflict with it,
the provisions of this measure shall prevail in their entirety, and
the other measure or measures shall be null and void in their
entirety.
