Capitol Briefs: Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines…and a PAGA deal

Governor, lawmakers running out of time: Longtime Capitol lobbyist, McGeorge law professor and Capitol Weekly columnist Chris Micheli notes, Thursday, June 27, is an important day for the California Legislature on several fronts. That day is when the 12 days expire for the Governor to act on AB 107 (Gabriel), the Budget Bill, which also means it is the de facto deadline for having the Budget Bill Junior to the Governor’s Desk. With the 72 hours in print rule, it also means that the BBJ will need to be in print by the morning of June 24.

In addition, we know the following from the Legislative Calendar that June 27^th is the last day for a legislative measure to qualify for the Nov. 5 General Election ballot (Elections Code Sec. 9040). So, if the Legislature wants to place a measure, such as a climate bond, on the November ballot, this is the last day to do so. Such a measure will also have to be in print the morning of June 24^th.

We also know from the Secretary of State’s office that eligible initiative measures will become qualified for the ballot on the 131st day prior to the next Statewide General Election unless withdrawn by the proponents prior to its qualification by the Secretary of State. So, if a November ballot measure proponent wants to pull their measure from the statewide ballot, this is last day to notify the SOS to do so.

At this time of year, therefore, there is lots of chatter about which November ballot measure(s)  – retail theft and other Prop 47 reform, financial literacy, MCO tax – will or won’t be pulled because of a legislative deal to replace them.

One measure we know has beaten the deadline is the effort to reform the Private Attorney General’s Act, or PAGA. The governor and labor and business groups jointly announced on Tuesday that an agreement has been reached to reform the law and keep a proposition proposal off the November ballot. The agreement, among several things, will impose harsher penalties on employers who knowingly violate labor laws and cap penalties on those who quickly fix violations. Other tenets include a requirement that the employee filing a suit actually be the one who suffered from the violation and an allowance for the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) to expedite hiring and filling vacancies to better ensure violations are dealt with in a timely manner.

Thursday, June 27 is also the last day for the Legislature to act (and for the Governor to sign the bill) so that an initiative measure’s proponents can notify the Secretary of State to withdraw their ballot measure, but such a bill must be in print for 72 hours prior to the vote. That means the bill containing any legislative deal must be posted on the Internet at least by noon or so on Monday, June 24. And the attorneys at the Office of Legislative Counsel will need time to finish drafting the bill(s) prior to then.

CROWN Act moves ahead in one more state: It has taken six years, but the Ohio House last week passed the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act, a measure that would bar Buckeye State K-12 schools from discriminating against students for wearing their hair in dreadlocks, twists or any other culturally expressive way. So what does this have to do with California? You might recall that in 2019 our Golden State became the first to enact the CROWN Act when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 188, authored by then-state Senator and now Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles). Since then 25 more states and dozens of municipalities have followed suit. The Ohio bill is now in the Senate.

CA leads nation in LGBTQ+ population: A new U.S. Census Bureau poll shows that California has the highest LGBTQ+ in the nation, with 2.8 million residents identifying as such. That equates to 9.5 percent of the California population. Texas comes in second with 1.8 million LGBTQ+ residents. Vermont and Oregon have the highest percentages of LGBTQ+ residents at 11.9 and 11.7 percent respectively. Mississippi has the lowest tally at 5.1 percent.