Amended in Assembly June 17, 2016

Amended in Senate June 9, 2016

Amended in Senate June 1, 2016

Senate Constitutional AmendmentNo. 14


Introduced by Senator Wolk

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(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Gordon)

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April 21, 2016


Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 14—A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Section 8 of, and by adding Section 7.3 to, Article IV thereof, relating to the Legislature.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCA 14, as amended, Wolk. Legislative procedure.

The California Constitution requires that the proceedings of each house of the Legislature and the committees thereof be open and public, except as specified.

This measurebegin delete, the California Legislature Transparency Act,end delete would require the Legislature, commencing January 1, 2018, to make audiovisual recordings of the open and public proceedings of each house of the Legislature and the committees thereof, asbegin delete prescribed.end deletebegin insert prescribedend insertbegin insert, and to authorize members of the public who attend those proceedings to make recordings of and to broadcast the proceedings, as prescribed.end insert The measure would require the Legislature to providebegin delete theseend deletebegin insert itsend insert recordings to the Legislative Counsel for purposes of making the recordings promptly available to the public and would require that the recordings remain reasonably accessible to the public for not less than 20 years. The measure would require the Legislature to enact laws to implement these provisions, provided that the bills enacting such laws would be required to be published in final form on the Internet for at least 12 days prior to the final vote in each house.

The California Constitution prohibits either house from passing a bill until certain requirements are met, includingbegin insert that a committee or house not hear or act on theend insertbegin insert bill until the 31st day after it is introduced andend insert that the bill with amendments has been printed and distributed to the Members of the Legislature.

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This measure would additionally prohibit the Legislature from passing a bill unless the bill has been published on the Internet in its final form for at least 72 hours prior to the final vote in the second house. This measure would require the house of origin to pass a bill by a second rollcall vote following the final vote in the second house if the bill, as first passed in the house of origin, had not been published on the Internet in its final form for at least 72 hours prior to that vote and was not amended thereafter in the second house. The

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begin insertThis measure would authorize a committee to hear or act on a bill on the 16th day after the bill is introduced. The measure would also prohibit a bill from being passed in either house until the bill, in the form to be voted on, has been made available to the public by publishing it on the Internet for at least 72 hours before the vote. Theend insert measure would authorize the Legislature to waive these requirements, as prescribed, if specified requirements are met with respect to a state of emergency declared by the Governor.

Vote: 23. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

P2    1Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
2Legislature of the State of California at its 2015-16 Regular
3Session commencing on the first day of December 2014, two-thirds
4of the membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to
5the people of the State of California that the Constitution of the
6State be amended as follows:

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7

First--  

This measure shall be known, and may be cited, as the
8“California Legislature Transparency Act.”

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9

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10
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The people of the State of California find and declare
11all of the following:

12(a) It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society
13that public business be performed in an open and public manner,
P3    1and highly desirable that citizens be given the opportunity to review
2fully every bill and express to their elected representatives their
3views regarding a bill’s merits before it is passed.

4(b) Morever, complex bills are often passed before Members
5of the Legislature have any realistic opportunity to review or debate
6them, resulting in ill-considered legislation.

7(c) Further, although the California Constitution currently
8provides that the proceedings of each house of the Legislature and
9the committees thereof shall be open and public, few citizens have
10the ability to attend legislative proceedings in person, and many
11legislative proceedings go completely unobserved by the public
12and press, often leaving no record of what was said.

13(d) Yet, with the availability of modern recording technology,
14there is no reason why public legislative proceedings should remain
15relatively inaccessible to the public.

16

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17
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In enacting this measure, the people of the State of
18California intend the following:

19(a) To enhance the ability of the people of the State of California
20to observe what is happening and has happened at the Legislature’s
21public proceedings so as to obtain the information necessary to
22participate in the political process.

23(b) To give the people of the State of California and their elected
24representatives the necessary time to evaluate carefully the
25strengths and weaknesses ofbegin delete the final version ofend delete a bill before a
26vote occurs by imposing a 72-hour public notice period between
27the time begin delete that the final version is published on the Internet for review
28by the Legislature and the public and the time that the final votes
29are taken, except in cases of a state of emergency declared by the
30Governor.end delete
begin insert the bill, in the form to be voted on, has been made
31available to the public by publishing it end insert
begin inserton the Internetend insertbegin insert and the time
32that the bill is passed in either house.end insert

33

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34
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That Section 7.3 is added to Article IV thereof, to read:

35

SEC. 7.3.  

(a) Commencing January 1, 2018, the Legislature
36shall do all of the following with respect to its open and public
37proceedings:

38(1) Cause audiovisual recordings to be made of all floor sessions
39of each house of the Legislature, the committee proceedings thereof
40at which a vote is taken or other action is recorded, and the
P4    1committee proceedings thereof held in the State Capitol Building
2regardless of whether a vote is taken or an action is recorded.

3(2) Make reasonable efforts to cause audiovisual recordings to
4be made of all committee proceedings held outside of the State
5Capitol Building at which no vote is taken and no action is
6recorded.

7(3) Make reasonable efforts to broadcast to the public, in real
8time, all proceedings of the Legislature and the committees thereof
9that are held in the State Capitol Building.

10
begin insert(4)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertAuthorize members of the public who attend the proceedings
11of the Legislature and the committees thereof to make recordings
12of those proceedings, subject to reasonable restrictions such as
13those necessary to ensure public safety and prevent disruption of
14the proceedings, and to broadcast those recordings.end insert

15(b) The Legislature shall provide allbegin insert of itsend insert audiovisual recordings
16made pursuant to this section to the Legislative Counsel, who shall
17make the recordings promptly available to the public. The
18recordings shall remain reasonably accessible to the public for not
19less than 20 years.

20(c) The Legislature shall enact laws to implement this section,
21provided that, notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of
22Section 8, after the 2015-16 Regular Session of the Legislature,
23a bill implementing this section shall not be passed or ultimately
24become a statute unless the bill is published in its final form on
25the Internet for at least 12 days prior to the final vote in each house.

26(d) (1) Expenditures made in furtherance ofbegin insert paragraphs (1) to
27(3), inclusive, ofend insert
subdivision (a) are not subject to Section 7.5.

28(2) The Legislature shall make sufficient funds available to
29carry out the purposes of this section.

30

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31
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That Section 8 of Article IV thereof is amended to
32read:

33

SEC. 8.  

(a) At regular sessions no bill other than the budget
34bill may be heard or acted on bybegin delete committee orend delete either house until
35the 31st day after the bill is introducedbegin delete unless the house dispenses end delete
36begin deletewith this requirementend deletebegin insert or by a committee thereof until the 16th day
37after the bill is introduced. The house may dispense with these
38requirementsend insert
by rollcall vote entered in the journal, three-fourths
39of the membership concurring.

P5    1(b) (1) The Legislature may make no law except by statute and
2may enact no statute except by bill. No bill may be passed unless
3it is read by title on three days in each house except that the house
4may dispense with this requirement by rollcall vote entered in the
5journal, two-thirds of the membership concurring.

6(2) No bill may be passed until it has been printed and
7distributed, with amendments, to the Members.

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8(3) (A) No bill may be passed until it has been published on
9the Internet in its final form for at least 72 hours prior to the final
10vote in the second house.

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11(B) If a bill is passed by the house of origin without having been
12published on the Internet in its final form for at least 72 hours prior
13to that vote and the bill is not amended thereafter in the second
14house, then the bill may not be passed except by a second rollcall
15vote in the house of origin following the final vote in the second
16house.

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17
(3) (A) No bill may be passed in either house until the bill, in
18the form to be voted on, has been made available to the public by
19publishing it on the Internet for at least 72 hours before the vote
20in that house.

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21(C)

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22begin insert(B)end insert Upon a rollcall vote, two-thirds of the membership
23concurring, the requirements of this paragraph may be waived for
24a bill if the Governor has declared a state of emergency, as defined
25in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 3 of Article XIII B,
26and has submitted a written statement to the Legislature identifying
27the bill as necessary to address the emergency.

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28(D)

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29begin insert(C)end insert No billbegin delete shall become a statuteend delete that fails to comply with the
30requirements ofbegin delete subparagraphsend deletebegin insert subparagraphend insert (A)begin delete and (B)end delete and for
31which no waiver is obtained pursuant to subparagraphbegin delete (C).end deletebegin insert (B)
32shall become a statute.end insert

33(4) No bill may be passed unless, by rollcall vote entered in the
34journal, a majority of the membership of each house concurs.

35(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this
36subdivision, a statute enacted at a regular session shall go into
37effect on January 1 next following a 90-day period from the date
38of enactment of the statute and a statute enacted at a special session
39shall go into effect on the 91st day after adjournment of the special
40session at which the bill was passed.

P6    1(2) A statute, other than a statute establishing or changing
2boundaries of any legislative, congressional, or other election
3district, enacted by a bill passed by the Legislature on or before
4the date the Legislature adjourns for a joint recess to reconvene in
5the second calendar year of the biennium of the legislative session,
6and in the possession of the Governor after that date, shall go into
7effect on January 1 next following the enactment date of the statute
8unless, before January 1, a copy of a referendum petition affecting
9the statute is submitted to the Attorney General pursuant to
10subdivision (d) of Section 10 of Article II, in which event the
11statute shall go into effect on the 91st day after the enactment date
12unless the petition has been presented to the Secretary of State
13pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 9 of Article II.

14(3) Statutes calling elections, statutes providing for tax levies
15or appropriations for the usual current expenses of the State, and
16urgency statutes shall go into effect immediately upon their
17enactment.

18(d) Urgency statutes are those necessary for immediate
19preservation of the public peace, health, or safety. A statement of
20facts constituting the necessity shall be set forth in one section of
21the bill. In each house the section and the bill shall be passed
22separately, each by rollcall vote entered in the journal, two-thirds
23of the membership concurring. An urgency statute may not create
24or abolish any office or change the salary, term, or duties of any
25office, or grant any franchise or special privilege, or create any
26vested right or interest.

27

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28
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In the event that this measure and another measure that
29imposes transparency requirements on the Legislature, such as
30requirements to make audiovisual recordings of legislative
31begin delete proceedingsend deletebegin insert proceedings, to authorize members of the public to
32record or broadcast legislative proceedings,end insert
or to specify the
33amount of time a bill must be publicly available before it may be
34passed, appear on the same statewide ballot, the provisions of the
35other measure or measures shall be deemed to be in conflict with
36this measure. In the event that this measure receives a greater
37number of affirmative votes than a measure deemed to be in
38conflict with it, the provisions of this measure shall prevail in their
P7    1entirety, and the other measure or measures shall be null and void
2in their entirety.



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