California, like all other states and the federal government, have a system for the employment of individuals, our public employee system. Many of the provisions for California’s public employee system are spelled out in our state’s constitution.

Article VII was added to the California Constitution by Proposition 14 on the June 8, 1976, ballot. It contains eleven sections.

• Section 1 – Civil Service includes every officer and employee of the state except for those provided for elsewhere in the Constitution. Permanent appointment and promotion in civil service must be made under a general system based on merit by use of competitive examinations.
• Section 2 – establishes the State Personnel Board
• Section 3 – requires the State Personnel Board to enforce civil services statutes, and gives the Board other duties
• Section 4 – Exempts from civil service individuals who are employed or appointed by the Legislature; employed by council or commissions in the judicial branch; elected by the people of California; members of Boards and Commissions; selected by Boards and Commissions or appointed by the Governor; state officers appointed by the Governor; employees of the Governor’s or Lieutenant Governor’s office; and many others.
• Section 5 – Temporary civil service appoints may be made to a position where there is not an employment list, but no person may serve in such a role for more than nine months in a twelve consecutive month period.
• Section 6 – The Legislature may provide preferences for veterans and surviving spouses of veterans
• Section 7 – Prohibits a person holding a lucrative office under the United States or another power from holding a civil office
• Section 8 – Every person who has been convicted of having given or offered a bribe to procure personal election or appointment is prohibited from holding any office of profit in California.
• Section 9 – any person or organization that advocates for the overthrow of the government of the US by force or other illegal means, or who advocates support of a foreign government against the United States can’t hold office or employment.
• Section 10 – No person who is found liable in a civil action for making libelous or slanderous statements against an opposing candidate at the state or local level can retain the seat to which they’ve been elected if the libel or slander was a major contributing cause in the defeat of an opposing candidate.
• Section 11 – Prohibits the Legislature’s retirement system from paying any retirement allowance to any person who entered office after January 1, 1987.

You can find the transcript of the audio in today’s post here.

The California Air Resources Board, also known by its acronym, CARB, has a number of roles. Those roles include protecting the public from harmful effects of air pollution, as well as developing programs and actions to fight climate change in the state of California.

CARB is part of a coordinated three tier approach to cleaning up air pollution in California. The US EPA sets nationwide air quality and emission standards, as well as oversees state efforts and enforcement. Then CARB focuses on California’s unique air quality challenges. It sets the state’s own, stricter emission standards for a wide range of statewide pollution sources, including vehicles, fuels and consumer products. And then there are 35 local air pollution control districts that regulate emissions from businesses and stationary facilities. And these range from oil refineries to auto body shops and even dry cleaners.

CARB is governed by a 16 member board. 12 of those members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate. Of those 12 only one, the Chair of CARB, server on the board full-time. As far as the other eleven members are concerned five must serve on local air districts, four are experts in fields that shape air quality rules, and two are members of the public. The Governor can choose any of the members to serve as Chair of the board. The remaining four CARB members include two people representing environmental justice, or EJ, communities – one of whom is appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules and one by the Speaker of the Assembly – and two non-voting members are appointed for legislative oversight – one each appointed by Senate Rules and the Assembly Speaker.

CARB is established in Health and Safety Code Division 26, Part 2. It’s found in quite a few sections, from section 39500 to 39961. These sections cover many of the Air Resources Board’s duties, which include permit assistance, goods movement, emission reduction program, cruise ships and ocean-going ships, school bus idling, and idling at schools, toxic air contaminants, coordination with federal acts, identification of toxic air contaminants, control of these toxic air contaminants, special provisions for infants and children, its scientific review panel, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Investment Plan and Communities Revitalization Act, global warming, and many other critical projects to reduce air pollution and protect public health.

You can read the transcript of the audio in today’s post here.

One way to determine the legislative intent behind a particular bill is to review a letter to the Daily Journal for that measure. While you may find the same letter for a bill in the Daily Journal of both houses, generally a letter related to an Assembly Bill is found in the Assembly Daily Journal and a letter related to a Senate Bill is found in the Senate Daily Journal. These letters are used by the author of the bill to, among other things, explain ambiguity in the measure or explain the purpose of the particular changes in the law that are being done by the bill.

In either house, the process of submitting a letter is a pretty formal matter. The letter has to be on the legislator’s letterhead and signed by the legislator. The general custom and practice of both houses of the California Legislature is to have the respective leadership staff, meaning both the majority and minority party staff, review the contents of these proposed letters to the Journal and determine whether either party has an objection. If staff and leadership on both sides of the aisle approve of the contents, then the letter is published. But what happens is approval is not received by folks on both sides of the aisle?

In this case, the author of the letter, the legislator, can request that the letter be printed by a roll call vote of the house. If such a request is made, then it only takes a simple majority of those present and voting to approve the printing of that letter in the respective house’s Daily Journal. And while only a simple majority is necessary, usually letters to the Journal are passed with unanimous consent.

California courts can use these letters to help determine the intent of the Legislature. Although different versions of the bill, committee analyses, floor analyses, and other items of extrinsic evidence are generally given greater weight than these letters to the Journal. Nonetheless, for advocates and practitioners, these journal letters may frankly be the best indicator that’s available regarding the intent of the bill’s author.

You can find the transcript of the audio in today’s podcast here.

The judicial branch of government is generally reluctant to review the record-keeping practices of the Legislature that is used to determine the validity of statutes. This limitation on judicial inquiry is known as the enrolled bill rule. It’s a legal doctrine that holds that if an act in the Legislature is “properly enrolled, authenticated, and filed,” then it is presumed that all of the required and necessary steps for passage of legislation were in fact properly taken by the Legislature. Interestingly, the courts have generally said even the Daily Journal of the Assembly and Senate can’t be utilized to impeach that authentication process. More on that later.

The rule comes from the enumerated separation of powers doctrine in Article III, Section 3 of the California Constitution. While there has been some criticism of this legal principle, the courts have ruled as recently as 2009 that the enrolled bill rule is still in full force and effect in California.

As far as I can tell, the enrolled bill rule dates back to 1866, in the case of Sherman v. Story. In its decision, the Court refused to consider any uncontradicted legislative journals as well as oral testimony that alleged that certain proposed amendments that were rejected by the California Assembly, we mistakenly incorporated into the final version of the bill that passed the State Senate. In 1901, in the case of County of Yolo v. Colgan, the Court rejected a claim based on an entry in the Senate Daily Journal that noted the bill did not have enough votes to pass. Despite the bill in question not having the necessary 21 votes, the Court ruled that the separation of powers doctrine vested the powers to determine whether or not the appropriate formalities of passing a bill had been complied with in the Legislature. In Planned Parenthood Affiliates v. Swoap in 1985, the matter at hand was a section of the budget bill, Section 33.35 to be precise, was removed in conference committee. However, in the final signed version of the budget bill Section 33.35 was included by mistake. Its inclusion was challenged but because of the enrolled bill rule, the Court determined that it lacked the power to strike the erroneously included section.

There is one narrow exception to the enrolled bill rule. That exception is found in the Levin decision. Basically, the Levin decision stated that the exception to the enrolled bill rule applies when there is a procedural defect in the adoption of local charter amendments that could be evidenced on the face of the resolution that was adopted by the Legislature.

You can find the transcript of the audio in today’s blog post here.

The Department of General Services, known by its acronym of DGS, is a centralized business management hub where the state government can utilize specialized techniques and skills as necessary to ensure a high level of efficiency and economy. These services include, but are not limited to, planning, acquisition, construction, and maintenance of state buildings and property; purchasing; printing; architectural services; administrative hearings; government claims; and accounting services. The Department of General Services shall develop and enforce policy and procedures as it deems proper to ensure effective operation of all functions performed by the department and to conserve the rights and interests of the state.

DGS has the following divisions and offices, including Procurement Division, Real Estate Services, Facilities Management Division, the State Architect, the Office of Administrative Hearings, the Interagency Support Division, including Fleet and Asset Management, the Office of State Publishing, the Building Standards Commission, and the Commission on Disability Access. In the DGS Administration Division, there is Enterprise Technology Solutions, the Office of Fiscal Affairs, Human Resources, Business Acquisition Services, and Risk and Insurance Management. There is also the DGS’s Director’s Office which includes Sustainability, Audit Services, Legal Services, Planning and Research, Legislative Affairs, and Public Affairs.

DGS is responsible for government claims duties, state property, buildings and grounds, state projects, state burial grounds, state land settlement, state building energy retrofits, Rector dam, integrated pest management, administration of state records, state forms management, the California State Contracts Register, small business procurement and contracting, the Office of the State Printer, the Golden State Financial Marketplace Program, the Office of the State Architect, purchasing of prescription drugs for government agencies, and the Commission on Disability Access. It’s a pretty wide variety of roles and responsibilities that have been placed on the Department of General Services by way of California’s Government Code.

You can find the full transcript of the audio in today’s podcast here.

In 1994, California created the Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, more commonly known as Ibank. The IBank is California’s only general purpose financing authority. It helps finance public infrastructure and private development that promotes a healthy climate for jobs, contributes to a strong economy, and improves the quality of life in California communities.

The IBank is part of the GO-Biz office, which is short for the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. The IBank is governed by a five-member board of directors. A full-time executive director runs day-to-day operations. The IBank issues a number of different bonds to finance its programs. There are also a number of different programs within the IBank, including the Infrastructure State Revolving Fund Program.

The IBank also issues loan guarantees in partnership with seven different collaborating financial development corporations, or FDCs, in California. According to the IBank, since its inception it has financed more than $55 billion in infrastructure and economic development projects in California.

You can find the full transcript of the audio in today’s podcast here.

California’s Department of Consumer Affairs, more commonly known as DCA, is responsible for protecting California consumers. The DCA does this through oversight enforcement and licensure of professions. By regulating the professional licenses, DCA protects consumers from unscrupulous and unqualified professionals and professionals from unfair competition by unlicensed practitioners.

The DCA is comprised of 37 different boards, bureaus, and commissions, which are found in Business and Professions Code § 100. All of these different boards, bureaus, and commissions ensure private businesses and professionals engaged in these activities are properly licensed. Each of these boards or bureaus are required by statute to meet twice per year, once in Northern California and once in Southern California. These meetings are open to the public, including licensed professionals the board or bureau regulates.

These boards, bureaus and commissions are required to establish minimum qualifications and levels of competency for licensure. Most importantly, these DCA boards, bureaus, and commissions are responsible for addressing any grievances that are filed by consumers regarding alleged unprofessional conduct or even incompetence fraud or unlawful activity.

You can find the full transcript of the audio in today’s podcast here.

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission (“CRC”) is charged with completing the decennial job of drawing district lines for state Senators, state Assemblymembers, members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the California State Board of Equalization (“BOE”) members. Article XXI of the California Constitution established the CRC. Article XXI describes the redistricting of the Senate, Assembly, Congressional, and BOE districts every 10 years. In 2008, Proposition 11 amended Article XXI, which now has three major sections.

Section 1 states the year after the national census is taken, the Citizens Redistricting Commission must adjust the boundary lines of the Congressional, state Senate, Assembly, and Board of Equalization. This ensures district conform with the standards and process set forth in this Article XXI of the California Constitution.

Section 2 explains the CRC must conduct an open and transparent process, which enables full public consideration and comments concerning the drawing of district lines. The CRC draws district lines according to the redistricting criteria specified in Article XXI. Also according to Section 2, each commissioner must be a registered voter in California for at least five years with the same political affiliation.

Section 3 provides that the CRC is the sole legal standing to defend any action regarding a certified final map. The commission must inform the Legislature if funds or other resources are not adequate, the Legislature then must provide adequate funding to defend any action regarding any of the certified maps.

You can find the full transcript of the audio in today’s podcast here.