March 3, 2022
California Federation of Republican Women
Janet Price, President
Submitted by the CFRW Legislative Analyst Committee
Karen Contreras, Gretchen Cox, Elaine Freeman,
Theresa Speake, and Cheryl Sullivan
E-mail: legislativeanalysts@cfrw.orgSB-1100 – Open Meetings: Orderly Conduct
Existing law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a legislative body of a local agency be open and public and that all persons be permitted to attend and participate, and requires every agenda for regular meetings of a local agency to provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the legislative body on any item of interest to the public, before or during the legislative body’s consideration of the item. Existing law authorizes the members of the legislative body conducting the meeting to order the meeting room cleared and continue in session, as prescribed, if an individual or group(s) have willfully interrupted the orderly conduct of a meeting and order cannot be restored by the removal of individuals who are willfully interrupting the meeting.This bill would require removal to be preceded by a warning, either by the presiding member of the legislative body or a law enforcement officer, that the individual/group(s) is disrupting the proceedings and a request that they curtail their disruptive behavior or be subject to removal. The bill would define “willfully interrupting” to mean intentionally engaging in behavior during a meeting that substantially impairs or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting in accordance with the law. A new tool to remove dissenting opinions?
AB-2847 – Unemployment: Excluded Workers Pilot Program
Plain and simple, this bill seeks to provide unemployment benefits to undocumented workers. Existing law prohibits payment of unemployment compensation benefits for services performed by a person who is not a citizen or national of the United States unless that person is an individual who was lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time the services were performed, was lawfully present for purposes of performing the services, or was permanently residing in the United States under color of law at the time the services were performed, as specified.
This bill would establish, until January 1, 2025, the Excluded Workers Pilot Program, to be administered by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, for the purpose of providing income assistance to excluded workers who are not eligible for the state or federal benefits administered by the Employment Development Department and who are unemployed. The bill would make individuals eligible to receive $300 per week for each week of unemployment occurring between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, if the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development makes certain findings, as defined and specified.
The bill would appropriate $690,000,000 from the General Fund to the agency for purposes of carrying out, implementing, and administering the program.
SB-1353 – Homeless Population Census Information: Collection and Reporting
This bill will require a local government entity to develop and maintain a publicly available internet website homelessness dashboard. The bill would require a local government to collect specified homeless population census information for its jurisdiction, report that information to the California Interagency Council, and make it publicly available by posting it on its homelessness dashboard.
The bill would require a local government entity to report and post this information on a quarterly basis. This bill will require a local government entity to annually report to the State Council expenditures on homelessness programs and efforts provided to homeless persons within its jurisdiction, as well as related information regarding the funding of these services, and to post that information to its homelessness dashboard. It would also require the State Council to develop and maintain a publicly available internet website homelessness dashboard for prescribed purposes. The Council will have to report to the Legislature annually. All of this effort is to make local government more accountable.
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