Amended in Senate June 1, 2016

Amended in Assembly May 5, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 22, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 6, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 884

Introduced by Assembly Member begin delete Rendon end delete begin insert Gordon end insert

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(Principal coauthor: Senator Wolk)

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February 26, 2015

An act to amend Section begin delete 9004 of the Elections Code, relating to initiatives. end delete begin insert 10248 of, and to repeal and add Section 9026.5 of, the Government Code, relating to the Legislature, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 884, as amended, begin delete Rendon end delete   begin insert Gordon end insert . begin delete Initiative petitions: title and summary. end delete begin insert Legislature: legislative proceeding: audiovisual recordings. end insert

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Existing law prohibits a television signal generated by the Assembly from being used for any political or commercial purpose, including, but not limited to, any campaign for elective public office or any campaign supporting or opposing a ballot proposition submitted to the electors. Existing law provides that a person or organization who violates this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor.

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Existing law requires the Legislative Counsel, with the advice of the Assembly Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules, to make certain information available to the public in electronic form, including, among other things, the text of each bill introduced in each current legislative session, including each amended, enrolled, and chaptered form of each bill.

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This bill would repeal the prohibition against using Assembly-generated television signals for political or commercial purposes. The bill would require the Legislature to cause audiovisual recordings to be made of all open and public proceedings of each house of the Legislature and the standing committees thereof. The bill would require those recordings to be posted on the Internet by the Legislative Counsel within one business day after the proceeding being recorded has been recessed or adjourned for the day. The bill would require a posted recording to be retrievable in a perceivable format for the duration of the biennial session in which the recording is made and the biennial session immediately following. The bill would require the Legislative Counsel to preserve and secure these recordings in an electronic form and store them in an archive for not less than 20 years. The bill would also authorize the televised or other audiovisual recordings of the public proceedings of each house of the Legislature and the standing committees thereof to be used for any lawful purpose and without the imposition of any fee due to the State or any public agency or public corporation thereof.

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This bill would specify that it is contingent upon voter approval of a specified constitutional amendment at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election.

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This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

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Existing law requires the Attorney General to provide a ballot label and a ballot title for each measure to be submitted to the voters at a statewide election, and requires the Attorney General to prepare as part of the ballot title a summary of the chief purposes and points of each statewide ballot measure that does not exceed 100 words.

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This bill would require the Attorney General, if he or she determines during preparation of the circulating title and summary for a statewide initiative measure that the measure would likely result in a violation of an individual’s constitutional rights, to include a specified statement in the title and summary. The bill would specify that the statement does not count toward the 100-word limit and would authorize any elector to seek a writ of mandate challenging the inclusion of the statement.

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Vote:  begin delete majority end delete begin insert ²⁄₃ end insert . Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 9026.5 of the end insert begin insert Government Code end insert begin insert is
repealed. end insert

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9026.5.  

(a) No television signal generated by the Assembly
shall be used for any political or commercial purpose, including,
but not limited to, any campaign for elective public office or any
campaign supporting or opposing a ballot proposition submitted
to the electors.

As used in this section, “commercial purpose” does not include
either of the following:

(1) The use of any television signal generated by the Assembly
by an accredited news organization or any nonprofit organization
for educational or public affairs programming.

(2) As authorized by the Assembly, the transmission by a third
party to paid subscribers of an unedited video feed of the television
signal generated by the Assembly.

(b) Any person or organization who violates this section is guilty
of a misdemeanor.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Section 9026.5 is added to the end insert begin insert Government Code end insert begin insert , to
read: end insert

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begin insert 9026.5. end insert   

(a) (1) Commencing on January 1 of the second
calendar year after this section is operative, the Legislature shall
cause audiovisual recordings to be made of all open and public
proceedings of each house of the Legislature and the standing
committees thereof.

(2) The Legislative Counsel shall post all recordings made
pursuant to subdivision (a) on the Internet within one business
day after the proceeding being recording has been recessed or
adjourned for the day. Posted recordings shall be retrievable in
a perceivable format for public use for the duration of both the
biennial session of the Legislature in which the recording is made
and the biennial session immediately following.

(3) The Legislative Counsel shall preserve and secure all
recordings made pursuant to subdivision (a) in an electronic form
and store them in an archive for not less than 20 years. Archived
recordings shall be reasonably available for use by the public in
the medium in which the recording was originally made.

(b) Televised or other audiovisual recordings of the public
proceedings of each house of the Legislature and the standing
committees thereof may be used for any lawful purpose and without
the imposition of any fee due to the state or any public agency or
public corporation thereof.

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begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

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begin insert Section 10248 of the end insert begin insert Government Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

10248.  

(a) The Legislative Counsel shall, with the advice of
the Assembly Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on
Rules, make all of the following information available to the public
in electronic form:

(1) The legislative calendar, the schedule of legislative
committee hearings, a list of matters pending on the floors of both
houses of the Legislature, and a list of the committees of the
Legislature and their members.

(2) The text of each bill introduced in each current legislative
session, including each amended, enrolled, and chaptered form of
each bill.

(3) The bill history of each bill introduced and amended in each
current legislative session.

(4) The bill status of each bill introduced and amended in each
current legislative session.

(5) All bill analyses prepared by legislative committees in
connection with each bill in each current legislative session.

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(6) All audiovisual recordings of legislative proceedings that
have been caused to be made by the Legislature in accordance
with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 9026.5.

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(6)

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begin insert (7) end insert  All vote information concerning each bill in each current
legislative session.

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(7)

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begin insert (8) end insert  Any veto message concerning a bill in each current
legislative session.

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(8)

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begin insert (9) end insert  The California Codes.

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(9)

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begin insert (10) end insert  The California Constitution.

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(10)

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begin insert (11) end insert  All statutes enacted on or after January 1, 1993.

(b) The information identified in subdivision (a) shall be made
available to the public by means of access by way of the largest
nonproprietary, nonprofit cooperative public computer network.
The information shall be made available in one or more formats
and by one or more means in order to provide the greatest feasible
access to the general public in this state. Any person who accesses
the information may access all or any part of the information. The
information may also be made available by any other means of
access that would facilitate public access to the information. The
information that is maintained in the legislative information system
that is operated and maintained by the Legislative Counsel shall
be made available in the shortest feasible time after the information
is available in the information system. The information that is not
maintained in the information system shall be made available in
the shortest feasible time after it is available to the Legislative
Counsel.

(c) Any documentation that describes the electronic digital
formats of the information identified in subdivision (a) and is
available to the public shall be made available by means of access
by way of the computer network specified in subdivision (b).

(d)  Personal information concerning a person who accesses the
information may be maintained only for the purpose of providing
service to the person.

(e) No fee or other charge may be imposed by the Legislative
Counsel as a condition of accessing the information that is
accessible by way of the computer network specified in subdivision
(b).

(f) The electronic public access provided by way of the computer
network specified in subdivision (b) shall be in addition to other
electronic or print distribution of the information.

(g) No action taken pursuant to this section shall be deemed to
alter or relinquish any copyright or other proprietary interest or
entitlement of the State of California relating to any of the
information made available pursuant to this section.

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begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

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This act shall become operative only if Senate
Constitutional Amendment No. 14 of the 2015-16 Regular Session
is approved by the voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide
general election.

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begin insert SEC. 5. end insert   

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This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

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Because of the importance of ensuring public access to all
legislative proceedings, it is necessary that this bill take effect
immediately.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 9004 of the Elections Code is amended
to read:

9004.  

(a) Upon receipt of the text of a proposed initiative
measure, and after the public review period provided for in Section
9002, the Attorney General shall prepare a circulating title and
summary of the chief purposes and points of the proposed measure.
The circulating title and summary shall not exceed 100 words. The
Attorney General shall also provide a unique numeric identifier
for each proposed initiative measure. The circulating title and
summary shall be prepared in the manner provided for the
preparation of ballot titles and summaries in Article 5 (commencing
with Section 9050), the provisions of which, in regard to the
preparation, filing, and settlement of ballot titles and summaries,
apply to the circulating title and summary.

(b) (1) If, during his or her preparation of the circulating title
and summary for a proposed initiative measure, the Attorney
General determines that the measure would likely result in a
violation of an individual’s constitutional rights, he or she shall
include the following statement in the circulating title and
summary:

“The Attorney General has determined that this initiative
measure, if approved by the voters, would likely result in a
violation of an individual’s rights under the United States
Constitution or the California Constitution.”

(2) If the Attorney General includes the statement described in
paragraph (1) in the circulating title and summary, that statement
does not count toward the 100-word limit on the length of the
circulating title and summary, as provided in subdivision (a).

(3) If the Attorney General includes the statement described in
paragraph (1) in the circulating title and summary, any elector may
seek a writ of mandate pursuant to Section 13314 challenging the
inclusion of the statement.

(c) The Attorney General shall provide a copy of the circulating
title and summary and its unique numeric identifier to the
proponents and to the Secretary of State within 15 days after receipt
of the fiscal estimate or opinion prepared by the Department of
Finance and the Legislative Analyst pursuant to Section 9005. The
date the copy is delivered or mailed to the proponents is the
“official summary date.”

(d) Upon receipt of the circulating title and summary from the
Attorney General, the Secretary of State shall, within one business
day, notify the proponents and county elections official of each
county of the official summary date and provide a copy of the
circulating title and summary to each county elections official.
This notification shall also include a complete schedule showing
the maximum filing deadline, and the certification deadline by the
counties to the Secretary of State.

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