BILL NUMBER: SB 516 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 26, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 30, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 15, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 24, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 28, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 29, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Torlakson)
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to add Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 2200) to Division
2.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to the California
Youth Legislature.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 516, DeSaulnier. California Youth Legislature.
Existing law establishes the California Senior Legislature to
provide model legislation for older citizens and advocate for the
needs of seniors. This law establishes in the State Treasury the
California Fund for Senior Citizens to receive contributions from tax
return designations to support the sessions of the California Senior
Legislature. Existing law authorizes individual taxpayers to
contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support
of specified funds or accounts.
This bill would establish the California Youth Legislature,
composed of students ages 14 to 18 years, inclusive, and, subject to
specified considerations, to provide model legislation and advocate
for the needs of youth. The California Youth Legislature would be
charged with examining and discussing policy and fiscal issues
affecting the interests, needs, and conditions of the youth of
California and with formally advising and making recommendations to
the Legislature and the Governor on specific issues affecting youth.
The bill would create the California Youth Legislature Advisory
Committee, the members of which would serve without salary, and which
would be chaired by the chair of the Joint Committee on Rules and
composed of appointed representatives of organizations with expertise
on issues facing youths, which, among other duties, would appoint
members of the youth legislature. The bill would require the advisory
committee to enter into an interagency agreement with the Joint
Committee on Rules to carry out necessary administrative functions.
The advisory committee also would be charged with determining when
there are sufficient funds to support the program and if it
determines that there are insufficient funds to cover all costs, the
activities of the California Youth Legislature would cease.
The bill would provide that funds for the California Youth
Legislature would be allocated from the California Youth Leadership
Fund to be created by AB 2017 of the 2009-10 Regular Session, upon
appropriation by the Legislature. That fund would be supported by
taxpayer designations by individuals of specified amounts in excess
of their tax liability. The bill also would authorize the California
Youth Legislature to accept gifts and grants from any source to help
perform its functions.
The bill would provide that it would become operative only if it
and AB 2017 are both enacted and become effective on or before
January 1, 2011.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 2200) is added to
Division 2.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 4. CALIFORNIA YOUTH LEGISLATURE
2200. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the needs of
California's youth can best be assessed by California's youth.
(b) The Legislature recognizes that there are over 9,000,000
youths under the age of 19 years in California, and an additional
3,000,000 more young adults between the ages of 18 years and 24
years.
(c) The Legislature recognizes that all young people need five key
developmental resources in order to become productive citizens:
caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, an effective education,
and opportunities to help others. The Legislature further recognizes
that young people who receive more of these developmental resources
fare better than young people who receive fewer, and that those young
people are more likely to avoid violence, contribute to their
communities, and achieve high grades in school. The Legislature
further recognizes the significant number of California's youth who
live disadvantaged lives. Of those youths, an estimated 200,000
minors and thousands more youths ages 18 years to 24 years,
inclusive, experience homelessness each year. Another 80,000 youths
are in the foster care system, over 2,500 youths in California
currently occupy juvenile justice facilities, and more than 3,000
youths are on parole from those facilities. Youth who are homeless,
in the juvenile justice system, or in foster care have limited
opportunities to participate in the policy process that ultimately
impacts their well-being.
(d) The Legislature recognizes that there are limited civic
engagement opportunities for these disconnected and disadvantaged
youths, especially opportunities developed and designed for and with
them in mind.
(e) The Legislature is alarmed that hundreds of thousands of
California youth are among the two-thirds of America's children and
youth recently identified by the America's Promise Alliance as not
receiving sufficient developmental resources to safely put them on
the path to adulthood. The Legislature also is concerned that the
high school completion rate is less than 60 percent for low-income
students and students of color in California, that gang and youth
violence continue to be a concern and although birth rates to teen
mothers have decreased, "teen pregnancy and parenting" continues to
be a significant social problem in California. The Legislature is
encouraged, however, by research indicating that providing more of
the five developmental resources for more young people can help
prevent many of these problems, and that millions of dollars in later
prison, health, and welfare costs can be avoided by providing more
developmental resources for more young people now.
(f) The Legislature also agrees with the America's Promise
Alliance's call for greater collaboration and integration in working
to turn failure into action and improve the lives of young people at
risk and with the actions of the more than 20 states that have
committed their state resources for the creation of statewide
entities charged with improving the developmental well-being of their
children and youth.
(g) The California Youth Legislature shall be established through
this chapter and shall operate according to the procedures set forth
in this chapter to provide model legislation and advocate for the
needs of youth.
2201. (a) The California Youth Legislature shall be initially
composed of 40 members and shall be expanded to 120 members as
funding becomes available, at which time it shall be divided into two
houses, the California Youth Senate, composed of 40 members, and the
California Youth Assembly, composed of 80 members.
(b) Members of the California Youth Legislature shall serve
two-year terms.
(c) Members of the California Youth Legislature shall be ages 14
to 18, inclusive, and currently enrolled in a California junior high,
middle, or high school, or participating in a nonpublic, home-based
educational program or a general equivalency degree program.
2202. (a) The members of the California Youth Legislature shall
be appointed by the California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee.
(b) Members of the California Youth Legislature Advisory
Committee, in making their appointments, shall take into
consideration that the members of the California Youth Legislature
represent the racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, physical, and
educational diversity of California. Particular emphasis should be
placed on reaching out to at-risk or disadvantaged youth to serve as
members of the California Youth Legislature, as their participation
will provide keen insight into many of the issues that youth face in
their day-to-day lives.
2203. (a) The California Youth Legislature's main policy goal
will be to provide meaningful opportunities for actual civic
engagement to improve the quality of life for California's
disconnected and disadvantaged youth. Furthermore, youths involved
with the California Youth Legislature will make meaningful
recommendations regarding legislation and policies that impact their
own lives and the lives of the thousands of other youths in
California whose voices often go unheard.
(b) The California Youth Legislature shall do all of the
following:
(1) Examine and discuss policy and fiscal issues affecting the
interests, needs, and conditions of the youth of California.
(2) Formally advise and make recommendations to the Legislature
and the Governor on specific issues affecting youth, including, but
not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Education.
(B) Employment.
(C) Access to state and local government services.
(D) The environment.
(E) Behavioral and physical health.
(F) Safety.
(G) Technology.
(H) Criminal justice.
(I) Homelessness.
(J) Foster care.
(K) Child welfare.
(L) Emancipation.
(M) Financial literacy.
(N) Substance abuse.
(O) Driver's license requirements.
(P) Poverty.
(Q) Increased youth participation in state and local government.
(R) Any other policy or fiscal issues deemed appropriate by the
California Youth Legislature.
(3) Consult with any existing local level youth advisory
commissions and community-based, grassroots youth-led organizations
for input and potential solutions on issues related to youth.
(4) To complete its duties, the California Youth Legislature shall
convene and conduct meetings according to its bylaws, created by the
California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee to fulfill the
intentions of this chapter.
(c) The California Youth Legislature shall act as an information
center on California youth policy and fiscal issues, including, but
not limited to, the issues listed in subdivision (b). When available,
funds shall be allocated to enable individual youths to travel to
the State Capitol to learn the legislative process and, on occasion,
to testify at hearings on legislation.
2204. (a) The California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee
shall be established and shall serve as the advisory board to the
California Youth Legislature regarding the development,
implementation, and administration of the program as provided in this
chapter.
(b) (1) The California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee shall
be chaired by the chair of the Joint Committee on Rules, or his or
her designee. The Joint Committee on Rules shall appoint members of
the California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee.
(2) The California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee shall be
composed of, but not limited to, appointed representatives from
statewide nonprofit youth organizations, community-based nonprofit
organizations that serve youth or youth-related issues, and an
appointed representative of a local educational agency or school
district or its appointed designee. The California Health and Human
Services Agency may also, but is not required to, appoint a member of
the California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee.
(3) To ensure that members of the California Youth Legislature
have the support they may need given their unique situation, members
of the California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee must have
experience and training working with youths ages 14 to 18 years,
inclusive, on the issues described in subdivision (b) of Section 2203
and have special experience in civic engagement and advocacy and at
least one of the following issue areas affecting youth:
(A) Crisis prevention or intervention.
(B) Drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse prevention or intervention.
(C) Foster care.
(D) Juvenile justice.
(E) Homelessness.
(F) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights and social
justice.
(G) Mental health.
(c) (1) The California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee shall
determine the time, location, and number of annual meetings, but
shall meet no less than once each year.
(2) The California Youth Legislature shall enter into a mutually
agreed-upon interagency agreement with the Joint Committee on Rules
to carry out administrative duties related to its program.
(3) The California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee shall
submit an annual budget and report to the Joint Committee on Rules.
(d) (1) The California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee shall
determine when there are sufficient funds to support the program. If
the committee determines there are insufficient funds to cover all
costs, the activities of the California Youth Legislature shall
cease.
(2) State funds shall not be used to support the California Youth
Legislature except as provided in Article 4.5 (commencing with
Section 18736) of Chapter 3 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code.
(e) (1) The California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee shall
develop and provide applications for the California Youth Legislature
and collect applications from youths who would like to apply.
(2) The California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee shall
determine ways to promote the program and make applications
available.
(3) The California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee shall
establish criteria for the selection of youths, collect applications,
and make appointments based on the applications submitted and the
purposes of this chapter.
(4) The California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee shall not
discriminate based on race, religious creed, color, national origin,
age, gender, marital status, sex, or sexual orientation.
(f) The members of the California Youth Legislature Advisory
Committee shall serve voluntarily and shall not receive a salary.
2205. (a) The funds for the California Youth Legislature shall be
allocated from the California Youth Leadership Fund pursuant to
Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 18736) of Chapter 3 of Part 10.2
of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, or from private
funds directed to the Joint Committee on Rules and allocated to the
California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee for the purpose of
funding activities of the California Youth Legislature.
(b) The California Youth Legislature may accept gifts and grants
from any source, public or private, to help perform its functions,
pursuant to this chapter.
(c) No more than 10 percent of the funds allocated to the
California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee for the purpose of
funding activities of the California Youth Legislature may be used
for administrative costs.
(d) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c), the
California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee shall have the
authority to define its program and utilize its funds in any way
necessary to carry out the duties of this chapter, including
partnering with nonprofit groups or state agencies to perform various
duties required by this chapter, as long as the program or activity
is not in violation of a state law or regulation.
SEC. 2. This bill shall become operative only if this bill and
Assembly Bill 2017 of the 2009-10 Regular Session are both enacted
and become effective on or before January 1, 2011.