June 17, 2021
California Federation of Republican Women
Sue Blair, President
Submitted by the CFRW Legislative Analyst Committee
Gretchen Cox, Elaine Freeman, Lou Ann Flaherty,
Val Emick, Theresa Speake, & Arlene Wolgomuth
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NEWSOM RECALL UPDATE
Hours after the Calif. Dept. of Finance released it’s estimate of the cost of a recall election, Democratic leaders of the state Legislature are proposing $215 million to be included in the state budget to cover costs related to the recall election to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom. The boost in funds, legislators said, would allow for an earlier recall election date, which the governor’s supporters believe could help keep him in office.
EDUCATION
AB 367– Menstrual Products- This bill would enact the Menstrual Equity for ALL Act of 2021, which would require a public school maintaining any combination of classes from grades 6 to 12, inclusive, to stock the school’s restrooms with an adequate supply of free menstrual product, in all women’s restrooms and all-gender restrooms and in at least one MEN’S restroom at all times on or before the start of the 2022-2023 school year.
INFRASTRUCTURE
AB 220- Smog check; exemption– Existing law establishes the smog check program and requires inspection of motor vehicles upon initial registration, biennially upon renewal of registration, transfer of ownership and other circumstances. Existing law exempts specified vehicles manufactured from being inspected prior to the 1976 model year. This bill would also exempt from the smog check inspection all motor vehicles manufactures after the 1976 model year but prior to the 1983 model year if the owner submits proof that the motor vehicle is insured as a collector motor vehicle.
ELECTION LAW
SB 503-Voting: ballots and signature verification.– Existing law requires an elections official, upon receiving a vote by mail ballot, to verify the signature on the identification envelope by comparing it with the signature on specified records within the voter’s registration record, and outlines various methods of verification.
This bill would (1) apply a presumption, for purposes of the comparison of signatures in the voter’s registration record, that the signature on an identification envelope, signature verification statement, unsigned ballot statement, or provisional ballot envelope, is the voter’s signature; (2) specify that an exact signature is not required for an elections official to determine that the signature is valid and the fact that signatures share similar characteristics is sufficient to determine the signature is valid; (3) permit an elections official to reject a ballot only if the official determines beyond a reasonable doubt that a voter’s signature does not compare to a signature in the voter’s registration record.
This bill would delete verifying addresses on the vote by mail ballot return envelopes from the procedures that the observers may observe and challenge. In essence, this bill reduces the requirements to verify signatures on ballots.
Status: Passed the Senate, in the Assembly & set for a hearing on June 30th.
MAIL-IN BALLOT UPDATE
AB 37– Mail-in Ballots– We previously wrote about SB 29, which has passed and been signed by the Governor, expanding mail-in ballots being sent to every registered voter until January 2022. This bill would extend the requirements to mail a ballot to every registered voter to ALL elections!
Status: Passed the Assembly, in the Senate and referred to committee on 6/9/21.
The More We Know…
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CLICK HERE to find/contact your local Legislators to inquire about or let them know your opinion about bills or issues.
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http://www.legislature.ca.gov/the_state_legislature/calendar_and_schedules/audio_tv.html
Questions? Please e-mail legislativeanalysts@cfrw.org
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