In our prior posting regarding the California Public Records Act (CPRA), we noted that as a budget trailer bill to this year's state budget bill, Assembly Bill 76 would make compliance with certain provisions of the CPRA optional for public agencies. The latest reports this afternoon state that the state legislature is changing its action because of popular criticism opposing this weakening of the CPRA. The Legislature will promote Senate Bill 71, which is also a budget trailer bill but does not contain the CPRA changes promoted in Assembly Bill 76. It is now up to Gov. Jerry Brown to decide if he will sign Assembly Bill 76 or Senate ... Read More >
Jun 19
California Public Records Act (CPRA) Amendment Limits Access to Public Records
The California budget package for the coming fiscal year included Assembly Bill 76, a budget trailer bill that would make compliance with certain provisions of the California Public Records Act (CPRA) optional for local agencies. A “budget trailer bill” is a measure carrying substantive law changes to implement the fiscal decisions reached in a particular year’s budget bill. Assembly Bill 76, carried by the Assembly Budget Committee, enacts various provisions to support the 2013 Budget Act. Under existing California law, CPRA requires state and local agencies to make their public records available to residents upon receipt of a request ... Read More >
Jun 18
California may lower threshold for voter approval of local taxes
There are six bills before the California Legislature that seek to change the way local governments levy taxes. Currently, the California Constitution states that taxes levied by local governments are either general taxes, subject to majority approval of its voters, or special taxes, subject to 2/3 vote (Article XIII C). Proposition 13 of 1978 required a 2/3 vote of each house of the Legislature for state tax increases, and 2/3 vote of local voters for local special taxes. Proposition 62 of 1986 prohibited local agencies from imposing general taxes without majority approval of local voters, and a 2/3 vote for special taxes. Proposition ... Read More >
Jun 7
Freedom to Fish Act 2013
U.S. Senate Bill 982 was introduced on May 16, 2013 by Senator Lamar Alexander to enact the “Freedom to Fish Act” and signed into law less than one month later without amendments to the bill as Public Law 113-13. The Freedom to Fish Act requires the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers (“Chief”) to: (1) cease implementing and enforcing, until two years after enactment of this Act, any restricted area for hazardous waters at dams and other civil works structures in the Cumberland River Basin that the Chief established or modified between August 1, 2012, and the day before the enactment of this Act; and (2) remove any permanent physical ... Read More >
Jun 5
Tracing your statute’s language — Yes, you can!
A statute’s language may have a fairly complicated history and the annotations accompanying the major code books published may not provide you with the specific changes that were legislated for each of the bills identified in the annotations for the statute. At this point, it becomes necessary to “trace” your language to find out which one legislative measure brought in your language of interest within the statute in question. The Statutes at Large for California go back to 1850 and you should be able to find these chapter books at your local law library. When the governor signs any bill into law, the secretary of state will assign a ... Read More >
May 31
California Gun Bills 2013
California legislators representing the northern, southern and central geographic areas of the state introduced and had passed in the Senate seven senate bills intended to toughen gun laws in this state. These gun bills are: Senate Bill 47 (Leland Yee of San Francisco) to update California’s regulation of assault weapons as follows: Amends the definition of assault weapon to refer to a firearm that has one of several specified military-style features and does not have a "fixed magazine" rather than a firearm that has one of those features and "has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine" Defines "fixed magazine" as "an ... Read More >