BILL ANALYSIS �
SCR 83
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Date of Hearing: June 10, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
SCR 83 (Monning) - As Introduced: February 20, 2014
PROPOSED CONSENT
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : CALIFORNIA LAW REVISION COMMISSION: STUDIES
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD THE CALIFORNIA LAW REVISION COMMISSION BE
RE-AUTHORIZED TO CONTINUE STUDY OF CERTAIN DESIGNATED TOPICS?
SYNOPSIS
This resolution re-authorizes the California Law Revision
Commission (CLRC or commission) to study 23 specified topics
previously authorized or directed for study by the Legislature,
for its report and recommendations to the Legislature. As with
the previous authorizing resolution, SCR 83 requires that before
commencing work on any project within the list of topics
authorized for study by the Legislature, the commission shall
submit a detailed description of the scope of work not only to
the chairs and vice chairs of the Senate and Assembly Committees
on Judiciary, but also to the chair and vice chair of any policy
committee that has jurisdiction over the subject matter of the
study. The measure also expressly approves 2 long-standing
commission practices of providing copies of the recommendations
to members of a policy committee and having staff available at
hearings to explain recommendations and answer questions from
committee members. There is no known opposition.
SUMMARY : Re-authorizes the CLRC to study specific topics.
Specifically, this measure :
1)Re-authorizes the CLRC's study of specified topics (listed
below).
2)Requires that, before commencing work on any project within
the calendar of topics the Legislature has authorized or
directed the commission to study, the CLRC shall submit a
detailed description of the scope of work to the chairs and
vice chairs of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and the
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Senate Committee on Judiciary, and any other policy committee
that has jurisdiction over the subject matter of the study,
and if during the course of the project there is a major
change to the scope of work, submit a description of the
change.
3)Invites staff of the commission to appear and testify at any
committee hearing of a bill to implement a commission
recommendation, for the purpose of explaining the
recommendation and answering questions posed by committee
members, provided that the staff may not advocate for the
passage or defeat of the legislation.
4)Invites the commission to provide a copy of a commission
recommendation to each member of a policy committee that is
hearing a bill that would implement the recommendation.
EXISTING LAW authorizes the California Law Revision Commission
to study topics approved by concurrent resolution of the
Legislature. (Government Code Section 8293.)
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this measure is keyed
non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : The California Law Revision Commission was created in
1953 and given the responsibility for a continuing substantive
review of California statutory and decisional law. The
commission studies the law to discover defects and anachronisms
and recommends legislation to make needed reforms.
The commission's enabling statute recognizes two types of topics
the commission is authorized to study: (1) those that the
commission identifies for study and lists in the Calendar of
Topics that it reports to the Legislature, and (2) those that
the Legislature assigns to the commission directly, by statute
or concurrent resolution. In the past, the bulk of the
commission's study topics have come through the first route -
matters identified by the commission and approved by the
Legislature. Once the commission identifies a topic for study,
it cannot begin to work on the topic until the Legislature, by
concurrent resolution, authorizes the commission to conduct the
study. Direct legislative assignments have become much more
common in recent years. Many of the commission's recent studies
were directly assigned by the Legislature.
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Reauthorization of topics previously authorized for study . The
CLRC currently has a list of 23 topics that the Legislature has
previously authorized for study. This measure would reauthorize
the CLRC to study the following topics:
1.Creditors' Remedies
2.Probate Code
3.Real and Personal Property
4.Family Law
5.Discovery in Civil Cases
6.Rights and Disabilities of Minors and Incompetent Persons
7.Evidence
8.Arbitration
9.Administrative Law
10. Attorney's Fees
11. Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act
12. Trial Court Unification
13. Contract Law
14. Common Interest Developments
15. Legal Malpractice Statutes of Limitation
16. Coordination of Public Records Statutes
17. Criminal Sentencing
18. Subdivision Map Act and Mitigation Fee Act
19. Uniform Statute and Rule Construction Act
20. Place of Trial in Civil Cases
21. Implications of treating a charter school as a public entity
22. Fish and Game Code
23. The relationship between mediation confidentiality and
attorney malpractice
Promotion of communications between the commission and the
Legislature. This resolution will provide that prior to
commencing work on any project within the list of topics
authorized or directed for study by the Legislature, the CLRC
shall submit a detailed description of the scope of work to the
chairs and vice chairs of the Committees on Judiciary of the
Senate and Assembly as well as the chair and vice chair of any
policy committee that has jurisdiction over the subject matter
of the study, and if during the course of the project there is a
major change to the scope of work, submit a description of the
change.
Given the limited resources of the commission which has suffered
budget cuts in past years, early communication to the
Legislature of proposed topics of study would allow legislative
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input on whether a particular proposed topic would likely be
controversial and thus perhaps avoided by the commission so that
it may devote its limited resources to other, more productive
studies.
Prior Legislation : SCR 54 (Padilla), Res. Ch. 115, Stats. 2013
AB 567 (Wagner), Ch. 15, Stats. 2013
ACR 98 (Wagner), Res. Ch. 108, Stats. 2012
ACR 49 (Evans), Res. Ch. 98, Stats. 2009
ACR 35 (Evans), Res. Ch. 100, Stats. 2007
SCR 15 (Morrow), Res. Ch. 1, Stats. 2006
SCR 42 (Campbell), Res. Ch. 122, Stats. 2005
SCR 4 (Morrow), Res. Ch. 92, Stats. 2003
ACR 125 (Papan), Res. Ch. 167, Stats. 2002
ACR 123 (Wayne), Res. Ch. 166, Stats. 2002
SCR 13 (Morrow), Res. Ch. 78, Stats. 2001
ACR 17 (Wayne), Res. Ch. 81, Stats. 1999
SCR 65 (Kopp), Res. Ch. 91, Stats. 1998
SCR 3 (Kopp), Res. Ch. 102, Stats. 1997
SCR 43 (Kopp), Res. Ch. 38, Stats. 1996
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Law Revision Commission (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Drew Liebert / JUD. / (916) 319-2334