BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 2704|
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 2704
          Author:   Gipson (D), et al.
          Amended:  4/26/16 in Assembly
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE:  13-0, 6/28/16
           AYES:  Hall, Berryhill, Bates, Block, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer,  
            Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Lara, McGuire, Vidak

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  67-0, 5/27/16 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote

           SUBJECT:   State Capitol:  Mervyn Dymally bust


          SOURCE:    Author
          
          DIGEST:    This bill authorizes the construction and maintenance  
          of a bust in the State Capitol Building Annex to honor Mervyn M.  
          Dymally.

          ANALYSIS:
          
          Existing law:
          
          1)Grants the Department of General Services (DGS) general  
            authority for planning, leasing, managing, disposing of state  
            property including maintenance of the park around the State  
            Capitol Building.

          2)Provides for the placement of certain memorials on the grounds  








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            of the State Capitol. 

          3)Grants the Joint Rules Committee exclusive authority to  
            allocate space in the State Capitol Building Annex except for  
            the first floor of the building which is under the control of  
            DGS.  The State Capitol Building Annex is the annex to the  
            historic State Capitol, constructed to the east of the  
            original building, situated in the area bounded by 10th, L,  
            15th and N Streets in the City of Sacramento.  The east Annex  
            was completed in 1952 to house the Governor and the Lieutenant  
            Governor and to provide additional office space and committee  
            rooms for the Legislature.

          This bill:

          1)Authorizes the Mervyn Dymally Memorial Capitol Foundation  
            (Foundation), upon establishment, and in consultation with  
            DGS, to plan a bust of Mervyn Dymally to be placed in the  
            State Capitol Building Annex.

          2)Requires DGS, in consultation with the Foundation, to review  
            preliminary designs, ensure compliance with the Americans with  
            Disabilities Act, review and approve California Environmental  
            Quality Act documents, review final construction documents,  
            prepare the right-of-entry permit as specified, prepare a  
            maintenance agreement and inspect the construction performed  
            by the contractor selected by the Foundation.

          3)Requires the bust design and any other aspect of the bust be  
            approved by DGS and the Foundation.

          4)Requires that the planning, construction and maintenance of  
            the bust be funded exclusively through private donations to  
            the Foundation.

          5)Makes it explicit that construction of the bust shall not  
            begin until the Joint Committee on Rules has approved and  
            adopted the plan for the bust and the Joint Committee on Rules  
            and the Department of Finance have determined sufficient  
            private funding is available to construct and maintain the  
            bust.

          6)Requires the Foundation, if it elects to undertake  
            responsibility for construction of the bust, to sign a  







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            maintenance agreement with the state to maintain the bust with  
            private contributions.

          7)Contains legislative findings and declarations relative to Mr.  
            Dymally's historic contributions as a leader, not only in the  
            African American Community, but for California as a whole.

          Background

          Mervyn Malcolm Dymally, born May 12, 1926, died October 7, 2012.  
           Mervyn Dymally was born in Cedros, Trinidad, and moved to  
          California when he was 19 years old.  Mr. Dymally was elected to  
          the California State Assembly in 1962, becoming the first  
          foreign-born person of African descent to ever hold a state  
          office in California, and served until 1966.  He then served in  
          the California State Senate from 1966 to 1974.  Mervyn Dymally  
          served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975-1979, and was  
          California's first African American to hold this statewide  
          office.  Mr. Dymally continued his public service as a United  
          States Congressman for 12 years from 1981-1993.  He finished his  
          political career in the California State Assembly, serving six  
          years from 2002-2008.  Mr. Dymally is widely recognized as a  
          significant and effective figure in California politics.  In  
          fact, throughout his career of public service he was considered  
          the "Dean of Black Politicians," and for almost half a century  
          he impacted the political environment not only in California and  
          Washington, D.C., but in Africa, the Caribbean, and as a mentor  
          to a generation of elected officials.
           
           Purpose of the bill.  According to the author's office, placing  
          a bust in the State Capitol will memorialize Mervyn Dymally as  
          the first African American Lieutenant Governor in California and  
          commemorate his legacy of public service to this state.  The  
          author's office states that this bust will serve to inspire  
          African Americans and all Californians as a model of community  
          and political leadership.

          The author's office references the fact that there are busts of  
          Mr. Dymally at the following locations: Charles R. Drew  
          University of Medicine and Science (Mervyn Dymally School of  
          Nursing); California State University Dominguez Hills; Mervyn M.  
          Dymally High School (Los Angeles); Mervyn M. Dymally African  
          American Political and Economic Institute; Cedros, Trinidad; the  
          African American Museum of California; and, the National African  







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          American Museum in Washington D.C.

          Related/Prior Legislation
          
          AB 2358 (Hagman, Chapter 682, Statutes of 2012) authorized the  
          construction of a memorial in the State Capitol Building Annex  
          to honor former Governor and United States President, Ronald  
          Reagan.

          FISCAL EFFECT:                 Appropriation:  No    Fiscal  
          Com.:             Yes          Local:          No


          SUPPORT:  (Verified 8/1/16)

          California State Conference of the NAACP
          Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
          Watts Labor Community Action Committee

          OPPOSITION:  (Verified 8/1/16)

          None received

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  67-0, 5/27/16
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,  
            Bigelow, Bonilla, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,  
            Chávez, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Eggman,  
            Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gatto,  
            Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Harper, Roger  
            Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,  
            Lopez, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin,  
            Nazarian, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas,  
            Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond,  
            Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bloom, Brough, Brown, Chiu, Dodd, Eduardo  
            Garcia, Grove, Hadley, Jones-Sawyer, Low, Melendez, O'Donnell,  
            Ting

          Prepared by:Arthur Terzakis / G.O. / (916) 651-1530
          8/3/16 19:11:02


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