May 4, 2023
Golden State Republican Women
Janet Price, President
Submitted by the GSRW Legislative Analyst Committee
Karen Contreras, Lou Ann Flaherty and Elaine Freeman,
AB 710, as amended, State Department of Public Health: pregnancy care and abortion services awareness campaign.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of clinics and health facilities, including, but not limited to, primary care and specialty clinics, by the State Department of Public Health. Under existing law, the department is also responsible for the statewide administration of various programs and policies relating to personal health, including maternal, child, and adolescent health.
Existing law requires the department to develop a coordinated state strategy for addressing the health-related needs of women, including implementation of goals and objectives for women’s health, as specified.
This bill would require the department to conduct an awareness campaign to communicate with local health departments, health care providers, and the public regarding facilities that provide health care services, including, but not limited to, primary care and specialty clinics. The bill would require the awareness campaign to include information about the services the facilities offer, and the activities of the department, relating to pregnancy care and abortion.
The bill would require the campaign to make that information available to, among others, health care professional associations and societies and health care employers. The bill would authorize the department to award grants or enter into contracts to perform the functions required to conduct the awareness campaign, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2025.
This bill was originally called the “Crisis pregnancy centers” bill. Although this bill reads well, it is intended to force elimination of the Pregnancy help centers that represent an alternative to abortion centers.
AB 881, Jury duty.
Existing law, the Trial Jury Selection and Management Act, requires all persons be selected for jury service at random, from a source or sources inclusive of a representative cross section of the population of the area served by the court.
The act further requires a juror in a civil or criminal superior court case to be paid a fee of $15 a day for each day’s attendance as a juror after the first day, except as specified, plus reimbursement for mileage. Existing law also establishes the Trial Court Trust Fund for the purpose of funding trial court operations. For purposes of those provisions, court operations are defined to include, among other things, juror expenses such as per diem fees and mileage.
Existing law authorizes the Superior Court of San Francisco to conduct a pilot program to analyze and determine whether paying certain low-income trial jurors $100 per day for each day they are required to report for service as a trial juror in a criminal case promotes a more economically and racially diverse trial jury panel that more accurately reflects the demographics of the community.
This bill would require a juror in a civil or criminal case to be paid a fee of not less than $15 a day for each day’s attendance as a juror after the first day, except as specified, but would increase the daily fee to $100 a day for qualifying low-income trial jurors for criminal cases in the superior court in all counties.
Hearing: May 3 @ 9:00 am in 1021 O Street, Room 1100
SB 846, Voter registration: California New Motor Voter Program.
Existing law requires, in conformance with federal law, that the Secretary of State and the Department of Motor Vehicles establish and implement the California New Motor Voter Program for the purpose of increasing opportunities for voter registration for qualified voters.
Existing law requires the department to transmit to the Secretary of State specified information related to a person’s eligibility to vote, which the person provides when applying for a driver’s license or identification card or when the person notifies the department of an address change.
Existing law requires that if this information transmitted to the Secretary of State constitutes a completed affidavit of registration, the Secretary of State must register or preregister the person to vote, as applicable, unless the person affirmatively declines to register or is ineligible to vote, as specified.
This bill would additionally require the Department of Motor Vehicles to transmit specified information to the Secretary of State for a person submitting a driver’s license application who provides documentation demonstrating United States citizenship and that the person is of an eligible age to register or preregister to vote.
The bill would deem this information to constitute a completed affidavit of registration for such persons, and require the Secretary of State to register or preregister the person to vote, unless the Secretary of State determines they are ineligible.
The bill would require, if a person is registered or preregistered to vote in this manner, that the county elections official send a notice to the person advising that they may decline to register or preregister to vote, designate a party preference, or select a language preference.
This bill would prohibit the department from providing a person the opportunity to attest to meeting voter eligibility requirements when they submit a driver’s license application, if the person provides a document to the department during the transaction demonstrating that the person is not a United States Citizen.
This bill would make these provisions operative on the earlier of January 1, 2026, or 5 days after the Secretary of State certifies that the information technology infrastructure to substantially implement the bill is functional.
Hearing: May 8 @ 10:00 am in 1021 O Street, Room 2200
SB 447, as amended, GO-Biz.
(1) Existing law establishes the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to serve the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth.
This bill would further authorize GO-Biz to establish the Building and Reinforcing Inclusive, Diverse, Gender-Supportive Equity Project (BRIDGE Project) to promote social equity, civil rights, and antidiscrimination through marketing and advertising campaigns.
The bill would provide that any media campaign funded pursuant to this project may, among other things, be on a national scale and, to the extent possible, may target audiences in a state or states, or a media market that includes a state or states that have enacted a law that voids or repeals, or has the effect of voiding or repealing, an existing state or local protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, or have enacted a law that authorizes or requires discrimination against same-sex couples or their families or on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, including any law that creates an exemption to antidiscrimination laws in order to permit discrimination against same-sex couples or their families or on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
(2) Existing law prohibits a state agency and the Legislature from requiring any of its employees, officers, or members to travel to, or from approving a request for state-funded or state-sponsored travel to, any state that has enacted a law that voids or repeals, or that has the effect of voiding or repealing, existing state or local protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression or that has enacted a law that authorizes or requires discrimination against same-sex couples or their families or on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, as specified.
This bill would repeal those provisions prohibiting a state agency and the Legislature from requiring travel to specified states and would make a conforming change.
Hearing: May 1 @ 10:00 am in 1021 O Street, Room 2200
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