Posted on August 19, 2015 by the Legislative Committee

The Peace and Freedom Party has taken positions for or against a number of bills in the 2015-2016 session of the California legislature, and is watching several more. We may take positions for or against bills on our "watch list" as time goes on. This article lists our current positions with links to relevant documents.

The information below was last updated on October 19, 2015.

AB 44 (Mullin) - Requires automatic recounts of close elections - SUPPORT

AB 44 requires recounts of statewide elections when the winner and runner-up are within a very small percentage of the vote (currently, recounts only happen when the runner-up can afford to pay for them). Because recounts are an important part of election integrity, and because election results should not depend on the ability of candidates to pay for recounts, we support this bill.

When introduced, AB 44 included language about Presidential primary elections that was unfair to small parties and had other problems as well. We initially took a position of "oppose unless amended". The bill was amended to meet our most important concerns and we now support it.

Documents

Status as of October 10: passed and signed by the Governor

AB 82 (Cristina Garcia) - Requires DMV to register eligible men with Selective Service - OPPOSE

AB 82 requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to send to the Selective Service System information on all draft-eligible persons who apply for drivers licenses. Although it was amended in the Senate to include an opt-in provision, we still oppose it. There is no legitimate reason to have a Selective Service System in the first place, and California has no reason to do its business for it.

Documents

Status as of October 9: passed but vetoed by the Governor

AB 372 (Bigelow) - Make June write-in winners pay filing fees - OPPOSE

Documents

Status as of May 6: in Assembly Appropriations Committee, deferred until 2016 ("two year bill")

AB 477 (Mullin) - Green Party elections - SUPPORT

As amended in the Senate, AB 477 gives the Green Party its own sections of the California Elections Code governing its presidential primaries and party governance. In the absence of these provisions, it has been operating under the Peace and Freedom Party sections. This change is long overdue and we support it. All political parties should have input, independently of the other parties, into the rules under which they govern themselves and nominate candidates.

Documents

Status as of October 10: passed and signed by the Governor

AB 529 (Jones-Sawyer) - Firearms - deny drivers license and vehicle registration - OPPOSE

Status as of April 20: in Assembly Transportation Committee, deferred until 2016 ("two year bill")

AB 1020 (Ridley-Thomas) - Voter registration procedures and lists - OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED

Although AB 1020 includes some needed technical changes to voter registration procedures, it also makes the voter registration lists provided to candidates, parties and campaigns significantly less useful. We oppose it unless these provisions are removed.

Documents

Status as of October 10: passed and signed by the Governor

AB 1100 (Low, Bloom) - Increase filing fee for initiatives - OPPOSE

Status as of September 1: passed and signed by the Governor.

AB 1461 (Gonzalez) - automatic voter registration - SUPPORT

Once needed data systems are in place, AB 1461 will require the Secretary of State to register as voters all eligible persons who apply for or renews drivers licenses. This is an important step toward universal voter registration.

The Peace and Freedom Party has watched this bill since its introduction, with concerns about the side effects of greatly expanding voter registration on the registration test for ballot access for political parties. We worked with the author's staff and the Secretary of State's office on an amendment to correct this problem. This amendment was adopted on September 4, and we now support AB 1461.

Status as of October 10: passed and signed by the Governor

SB 3 (Leno) - Minimum wage increase and COLA - SUPPORT

Documents

Status as of August 27: passed the Senate, in Assembly Appropriations Committee, deferred until 2016 ("two year bill").

SB 49 (Walters) - unopposed candidates in special elections - OPPOSE

SB 49 changes the procedure for filling vacancies in congressional and legislative offices, declaring a candidate elected and canceling a special election when there is only one candidate in the primary. We oppose this bill because this process will not allow other candidates to run as write-ins.

Documents

Status as of August 27: passed the Senate, in Assembly Appropriations Committee, deferred until 2016 ("two year bill").

SB 124 (Leno) - Solitary confinement in juvenile facilities - SUPPORT

SB 124 restricts the use of solitary confinement in juvenile facilities to specific situations, requires inspections of the quarters used, and requires public reports on the use of solitary confinement. This bill addresses a real problem with the treatment of juvenile offenders and we support it.

Documents

Status as of August 24: passed the Senate, in Assembly Appropriations Committee, deferred until 2016 ("two year bill")

SB 242 (Monning) - Surplus military equipment - restrictions on public schools - SUPPORT

SB 242 requires any school district with a police department to schedule an open public meeting before authorizing acceptance of any surplus military equipment. It also requires that the district insure that its officers are fully trained in the safe use and handling of that equipment, and that a safe, secure storage place be provided. We support this bill as a way of insuring that the public be fully informed and involved in any school district decisions about surplus military equipment.

Status as of July 13: passed and signed by the governor

SB 411 (Lara) - Citizens can photograph police activity - SUPPORT

Status as of August 11: passed and signed by the governor

SB 608 (C. Liu) - Homelessness is not a crime - SUPPORT

Documents

Status as of April 8: in Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, deferred until 2016 ("two year bill")

SCA 8 (Mendoza) - District elections in counties - OPPOSE

SCA 8 amends the state constitution to (1) require all counties to elect their boards of supervisors from districts rather than at large and (2) require all large counties to have at least seven members of their boards of supervisors. We have no quarrel with the second point, but the first would prevent counties from adopting proportional representation. As advocates for proportional representation for all legislative bodies, we believe this is a step in the wrong direction.

Documents

Status as of September 10: failed to received the necessary two-thirds vote on the Senate floor.

Watch List

  • AB 14 (Waldron) - Creates panel to study use of drones
  • AB 36 (Campos) - Requires public vote to accept surplus military equipment
  • AB 56 (Quirk) - Regulates use of drones by public agencies
  • AB 66 (Weber) - Requires that police use body cameras
  • AB 69 (Rodriquez) - Regulates police useof body cameras
  • AB 71 (Rodriquez) - Requires reporting of all injuries of or by police
  • AB 86 (McCarty) - Requires Department of Justice review of all police shootings
  • AB 242 (Salas) - Classifies attacks on police as hate crimes
  • AB 246 (Hernandez, Salas) - Classifies attackes on police as hate crimes
  • AB 619 (Weber) - Requires reports on police use of force and deaths in police custody
  • AB 700 (Gomez, Levine) - The California DISCLOSE Act
  • AB 1007 (McCarty, Stone) - Links minimum wage to the Supplemental Poverty Level
  • AB 1246 (Quirk) - Sets limits on disclosure of recordings made by police body cameras
  • AB 1497 (Chau) - Requires written policies on police use of deadly force
  • ABX2 15 (Eggman, Alejo, Stone) - End Of Life Option Act
  • AJR 3 (Alejo) - Urges Congress to end the Cuban embargo
  • SB 128 (Wolk) - End Of Life Option Act (see ABX2-15)
  • SB 142 (Jackson) - Restricts trespass and invasion of privacy by drones
  • SB 170 (Gaines) - Prohibits drones over grounds of prisons and jails
  • SB 175 (Huff, Gaines) - Requires written policies governing use of body cameras by police
  • SB 227 (Mitchell) - Prohibits grand jury investigations of police killings
  • SB 262 (Galgiani, Anderson) - Regulates use of drones by police, including need for search warrants
  • SB 271 (Gaines)- Prohibits drones over grounds of K-12 public schools
Professional Joomla Support by IDL Web Inc.