BILL NUMBER: AB 7 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 14, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 14, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Huffman
DECEMBER 1, 2008
An act to amend Sections 84506 and 84508 of the
Government add and repeal Section 35179.4 of the
Education Code, relating to the Political Reform Act
of 1974 interscholastic athletics .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 7, as amended, Huffman. Political Reform Act of 1974.
Interscholastic athletics: High School Baseball Safety
Act of 2010.
Existing law gives the governing board of a school district
general control of, and responsibility for, all aspects of
interscholastic athletic policies, programs, and activities in its
district, and requires the governing board to ensure that all
interscholastic policies, programs, and activities in its district
are in compliance with state and federal law.
Existing law prohibits participants in high school interscholastic
football from wearing football helmets that are not certified for
use by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic
Equipment or another recognized certifying agency in the field.
This bill would enact the High School Baseball Safety Act of 2010.
The bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature
regarding the safety implications of the use of nonwooden bats in
high school baseball. The bill, until July 1, 2014, would prohibit
the use of a nonwood baseball bat at a private or public high school
competitive baseball game or practice or during a physical education
class or activity conducted at a private or public high school.
(1) The Political Reform Act of 1974 requires a broadcast or mass
mailing advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot
measure, if paid for by an independent expenditure, to include a
disclosure statement that identifies the name of the committee making
the independent expenditure and the names of the persons from whom
the committee making the independent expenditure has received its 2
highest cumulative contributions of $50,000 or more during the
12-month period prior to the expenditure. However, if the committee
is able to show that contributions from those 2 highest cumulative
contributions were spent for other purposes, then the act requires
the committee to disclose the names of the contributors making the
next largest cumulative contributions of $50,000 or more. A violation
of the act is subject to criminal penalties.
The bill would require, with specified exceptions, a broadcast or
mass mailing advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate or
ballot measure that is paid for by an independent expenditure to
include a statement or phrase that clearly identifies the economic or
other special interest of the major donors of $50,000 or more,
listing the economic or other special interest in descending order
based on the amount of contributions made by the respective donor to
the committee, except for a general interest committee. The bill
would also require a committee that files electronically with the
Secretary of State to list the Secretary of State's Internet Web site
in its disclosure statement. A committee not required to file
electronically would be required to disclose the Uniform Resource
Locator for its Internet Web site and to list the committee's
principal officer and specified information regarding each donor to
the committee who contributed at least $100.
(2) Existing law makes a violation of the act subject to
administrative, civil, and criminal penalties.
The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by placing
these penalties on persons who violate the bill.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
(4) The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure,
provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's
purposes upon a 2/3 vote of each house and compliance with specified
procedural requirements.
This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Vote: 2/3 majority . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes no .
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be
cited, as "the High School Baseball Safety Act of 2010.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of
the following:
(a) On March 11, 2010, 16-year-old Gunnar Sandberg, a pitcher for
Marin Catholic High School in Marin County, was struck in the head by
a line-drive hit from a metal bat, and suffered severe head injuries
that required emergency brain surgery.
(b) The recent tragedy involving Gunnar Sandberg is not an
isolated incident. In recent years, there have been numerous
incidents of serious injury and even death involving baseball
pitchers who were struck in the head by balls hit with metal bats.
(c) Historically, and continuing to the present day at the
professional level, baseball has been played with wooden bats.
Beginning in approximately the 1970s, aluminum bats began to appear
as a popular alternative to wood bats, and in recent years nonwooden
bats have become commonplace at these levels of competition. Advances
in baseball bat design, including the materials and technology used,
have resulted in bats that far outperform traditional wood bats.
(d) There is substantial evidence that baseballs struck with these
advanced nonwooden bats travel at faster velocities, leaving
pitchers less time to respond to balls that are hit at them and
increasing the likelihood of serious injury. In 2009, the NCAA
enacted a moratorium on the use of composite barreled bats until
2011. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA), this moratorium is necessary to protect the integrity of the
game and to enhance the safety of the studentathletes.
(e) In California and throughout the country, there are growing
concerns that these advanced nonwooden bats present an unacceptable
safety risk to pitchers. These concerns are especially acute at the
high school level. Many members of the baseball community, as well as
independent experts, have called for a ban on nonwooden bats. Some
also suggest that protective headgear for pitchers should be
required.
(f) In response to the Sandberg tragedy, the Marin County Athletic
League voted on March 25, 2010, to suspend the use of nonwooden bats
for the rest of the 2010 baseball season, and called on other high
school athletic officials to do the same.
(g) A statewide moratorium on the use of nonwooden bats in high
school baseball for three years is an appropriate precautionary
measure. The sport of baseball will not be harmed or compromised by
the use of traditional wood bats during this period. It is the intent
of the Legislature that, during this three-year moratorium, sports
officials and members of the baseball community should actively
consider and evaluate strategies to ensure player safety, including,
but not limited to, the materials and performance standards for
baseball bats and the possibility of protective headgear.
(h) The Legislature notes that nonwooden bats are prohibited at
the major and minor league levels, and baseball is a game of
traditions, which suggests that consideration should be given to
whether the use of nonwooden bats is consistent with the traditions
and highest standards of the game.
SEC. 3. Section 35179.4 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
35179.4. (a) A nonwood baseball bat shall not be used at a
private or public high school competitive baseball game or practice
or during a physical education class or activity conducted at a
private or public high school.
(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2014, and, as
of January 1, 2015, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2015, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SECTION 1. Section 84506 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
84506. (a) A broadcast or mass mailing advertisement, including a
radio advertisement, supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot
measure, that is paid for by an independent expenditure, shall
include a disclosure statement that contains all of the following:
(1) The name of the committee making the independent expenditure.
(2) The names of the persons from whom the committee making the
independent expenditure has received its two highest cumulative
contributions of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more during the
12-month period prior to the expenditure. If the committee can show,
on the basis that contributions are spent in the order they are
received, that contributions received from the two donors who made
the highest cumulative contributions of fifty thousand dollars
($50,000) or more to the committee have been used for expenditures
unrelated to the candidate or ballot measure featured in the
communication, the committee shall disclose the contributors making
the next largest cumulative contributions of fifty thousand dollars
($50,000) or more.
(3) A statement or phrase that clearly identifies the economic or
other special interest of the major donors of fifty thousand dollars
($50,000) or more. If any of those donors is a committee other than a
candidate-controlled committee, the donor shall be identified by the
economic or other special interest who made the highest cumulative
contributions of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more to that
committee. The statement or phrase shall list each economic or other
special interest in descending order based on the amount of the
contributions made by the respective donor to the committee. The
requirements of this paragraph do not apply to a general purpose
committee.
(4) The Uniform Resource Locator for an Internet Web site that
lists the committee's principal officer and information about each
donor to the committee who has contributed a cumulative amount of one
hundred dollars ($100) or more. For a committee filing
electronically with the Secretary of State, the disclosure statement
shall list "www.sos.ca.gov" as the Uniform Resource Locator. For a
committee that is not required to file electronically with the
Secretary of State, the statement shall include a Uniform Resource
Locator for an Internet Web site address that lists the committee's
principal officer and the following information about each donor who
has contributed a cumulative amount of one hundred dollars ($100) or
more to the committee making the independent expenditure: name of the
donor, payment type, city and state, contribution amount,
transaction date, and filing date. The Internet Web site shall be
updated to reflect filing updates. If the local agency with which the
committee files does not maintain an Internet Web site with the
donor information, the committee shall create one. The requirements
of this paragraph do not apply to radio advertisements.
(b) If an acronym is used to identify any committee names required
by this section, the names of any sponsoring organization of the
committee shall be printed on print advertisements or spoken in
broadcast advertisements.
SEC. 2. Section 84508 of the Government Code is
amended to read:
84508. If disclosure of two major donors is required by Sections
84503 and 84506, the committee shall be required to disclose, in
addition to the committee name, only its highest major contributor in
any advertisement that is any of the following:
(a) An electronic broadcast of 15 seconds or less.
(b) A radio broadcast of 30 seconds or less.
(c) A newspaper, magazine, or other public print media
advertisement that is 20 square inches or less.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.
SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that
this bill furthers the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974
within the meaning of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the
Government Code.