BILL NUMBER: SB 1345 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Evans
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Sections 8244 and 8246 of, to add Section 8250.5
to, and to repeal Sections 8240 and 8245 of, the Government Code,
relating to state government, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1345, as introduced, Evans. State government: Commission on the
Status of Women.
Existing law creates within state government the Commission on the
Status of Women, consisting of 17 members. Existing law sets forth
the powers and duties of the commission.
This bill would revise and recast the duties of the commission.
The bill would require the commission to advise the Governor and the
Legislature on the gender impact of the state's proposed budget. The
bill would annually appropriate $465,000 from the General Fund to the
Commission on the Status of Women, thereby making an appropriation.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Governor Pat Brown initially established the Commission on the
Status of Women as an advisory committee in 1965. The committee was
made a permanent commission by the Legislature and Governor Ronald
Reagan in 1971.
(b) The commission is an independent voice within state government
for California women and girls. The commission serves as an
important link between many communities and the government, including
working families, incarcerated women, immigrant women, women of
color, and those with least access to state government and services.
(c) The commission facilitates the development of coalitions of
diverse organizations around various issues, such as reproductive
rights, paid family leave, and incarcerated women.
(d) The commission is an important source of information and data
on women and girls for the Legislature, private organizations,
individuals, and state and local entities.
(e) Eighteen million seven hundred thousand women and girls call
California home, comprising over half of all its residents. More than
12 percent of the women and girls in the United States live in
California.
(f) Women have made tremendous progress in the years since the
commission was created, but full equality has not yet been achieved.
(g) The current budget crisis and the economy are having a
disparate impact on women and their families, making the work of the
commission even more important as the state moves forward.
(h) This economic downturn is the first in recent history in which
women experienced substantial job loss.
(i) Although there are signs that California's job market is
slowly recovering, recent data suggests that women have not shared
equally in the state's modest employment gains.
(j) In response to sizeable budget shortfalls, California
lawmakers have repeatedly targeted programs that low-income women
rely on to support their families, gain the education and skills they
need, find and retain jobs, and remain safely in their own homes as
they age.
(k) Budget cuts have also affected women with disabilities, as
well as women who work in child care, in-home care, teaching, and
other professions that rely on public funds.
(l) Women make up a majority of the workers in local government, a
sector that has continued to lose jobs even as the labor market, as
a whole, has begun to slowly make gains.
(m) For these reasons, it is necessary that the commission be
funded pursuant to this act.
SEC. 2. Section 8240 of the Government Code is repealed.
8240. The Legislature finds and declares that despite the fact
that women apparently have greater equality in California than in
many states, they still are not able to contribute to society
according to their full potential. With a view to developing
recommendations which will enable women to make the maximum
contribution to society, the Legislature has created the Commission
on the Status of Women.
SEC. 3. Section 8244 of the Government Code is amended to read:
8244. The commission shall have the powers and authority
necessary to carry out the duties imposed upon it by this chapter,
including, but not limited to, the following:
(a) To advise the Governor and the Legislature on the gender
impact of the state's proposed budget. The committee shall report its
findings during legislative budget subcommittee hearings.
(a)
(b) To employ such administrative, technical and other
personnel as may be necessary for the performance of its powers and
duties.
(b)
(c) To hold hearings, make and sign any agreements and
to do or perform any acts which may be necessary, desirable, or
proper to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
(c)
(d) To cooperate with, and secure the cooperation of,
any department, division, board, bureau, commission, or other agency
of the state to facilitate it properly to carry out its powers and
duties hereunder.
(d)
(e) To appoint advisers or advisory committees from
time to time when the commission determines that the experience or
expertise of such advisers or advisory committees is needed for
projects of the commission. Section 11009 is applicable to advisers
or advisory committees.
(e)
(f) To accept any federal funds granted, by act of
Congress or by executive order, for all or any of the purposes of
this chapter.
(f)
(g) To accept any gifts, donations, grants, or bequests
for all or any of the purposes of this chapter.
SEC. 4. Section 8245 of the Government Code is repealed.
8245. (a) The commission shall study the following:
(1) Women's educational and employment problems, needs, and
opportunities.
(2) State laws in regard to the civil and political rights of
women, including pensions, tax requirements, property rights,
marriage and dissolution of marriage provisions, and similar matters.
(3) The effect of social attitudes and pressures and economic
considerations in shaping the roles to be assumed by women in the
society.
(4) Any laws, practices, or conditions concerning or affecting
women which impose special limitations or burdens upon them or upon
society, or which limit or tend to limit opportunities available to
women.
(b) The commission shall act as an information center on the
status of women and women's educational, employment, and other
related needs.
(c) The commission shall recommend, develop, prepare, or
coordinate materials, projects, or other activities, and shall give
technical and consultative advice to public or private groups or
persons concerned with any of the following:
(1) Preventing or minimizing problems brought about by the
changing roles and responsibilities of women.
(2) Developing programs to encourage and enable women to be fully
contributing members of society.
(d) A prime function of the commission shall be to encourage women'
s organizations and other groups to institute local self-help
activities designed to meet women's educational, employment, and
related needs. The commission shall make reports on its activities,
findings, and recommendations to the Legislature from time to time,
but not less often than every odd-numbered year.
SEC. 5. Section 8246 of the Government Code is amended to read:
8246. (a) The commission is expressly authorized to inform the
Legislature of its position on any legislative proposal pending
before the Legislature and to urge the introduction of legislative
proposals to correct inequities provided in the state budget
.
(b) The commission is expressly authorized to state its position
and viewpoint on issues as they relate to the state budget
developed in the performance of its duties and responsibilities as
specified in this chapter.
(c) This section is declaratory of existing law.
SEC. 6. Section 8250.5 is added to the Government Code, to read:
8250.5. Notwithstanding Section 13340, there is hereby annually
appropriated, on a fiscal year basis, four hundred sixty-five
thousand dollars ($465,000) from the General Fund to the Commission
on the Status of Women for purposes of implementing this chapter.