The scene that plays out daily inside the walls
of the California State Capitol is chaotic, to
say the least. On a bad day, the oft-maligned
legislative process is a merciless lesson in
futility. But on a good day, getting behind the
wheel of this well-oiled political machine is
both thrilling and well worth the effort. And
much like PPOA’s 25-year record of legislative
success, 2009 has once again proved that this
Association’s political perseverance pays off.
None of our legislative efforts would be
possible without Jim Vogts, PPOA’s legislative
director. Many of you know that Jim is also a
former PPOA president and served on the board of
directors for the better part of two decades.
His work as our full-time lobbyist is
invaluable. On that note, PPOA is proud to
report that eight of the bills we
supported this year have been signed into law by
the Governor.
The following is a partial list of bills of
interest that have been introduced in the 2009
legislative session, along with the position
PPOA has taken on each proposal:
ASSEMBLY BILLS
AB 32 – Lieu. Improves the current opt-out for
public safety officials who do not want their
home address or telephone number posted on the
internet by adding responsibility to vendors to
prevent transferring information to other
websites or data vendors. SUPPORT. Signed
into law.
AB 61 – Nava. This bill would list additional
sexual offenses for which a minor charged with
the commission thereof would become ineligible
for a deferred entry of judgment. SUPPORT.
Senate Public Safety. Failed.
AB 168 – Nava. Authorizes the petitioning
attorney and other reviewing agencies access to
sealed juvenile records involving Sexual Violent
Predator prior sex offenses, of a person 14
years or older. SUPPORT. Assembly
Appropriations suspense file.
AB 169 – Portantino. Adds Custody Assistants,
custodial officers and nonsworn uniformed
employees of a law enforcement agency whose job
entails the care or control of inmates in a
detention facility, to the list of persons who
may seek to have an arrestee’s blood tested when
exposed to the arrestee’s blood or bodily
fluids. SUPPORT. Signed into law.
AB 286 – Salas/Jones. Would extend the vehicle
license fee of $1 to 2015 which goes to vehicle
theft teams. SUPPORT. Signed into law.
AB 390 – Ammiano. This bill goes well beyond
the mere legalization of so-called “licensed”
marijuana. It would permit the unlimited sale
of marijuana and hashish at any store that has
an off-sale general license, virtually every
grocery store and liquor store in California.
OPPOSE. Assembly Public Safety & Health.
AB 532 – Lieu. Relative to search warrants and
firearms. SUPPORT. Signed into law.
AB 653 – Feuer. Would create a rebuttable
presumption that the marital privilege applies
in administrative discipline proceedings.
SUPPORT. VETOED.
AB 714 – Feuer. Makes changes in sections
dealing with “metal knuckles” (brass) to add
artificial composite type and hard wooden
knuckles and make possession illegal. These new
weapons are stronger than brass and undetectable
to metal detectors. Support. Signed into
law.
AB 1136 – Fong. County Employees Retirement:
Optional Settlements as described. SUPPORT.
VETOED.
AB 1376 – Bass. This bill would declare the
intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
that would create an independent,
multijurisdictional body to, among other things,
develop sentencing guidelines and provide a
nonpartisan forum for sentencing policy
development. WATCH. Passed Assembly to Senate
Rules Committee.
AB 1492 – Lowenthal. This proposal came from
LBPOA and would make it an infraction to use a
wireless communication device to communicate
with anyone outside of the vehicle during a
vehicle stop for a violation of the Vehicle Code
for a person in the vehicle that is stopped who
fails to comply with the officer’s direction to
stop using a wireless telephone or other
communication device. Co-Sponsor. Assembly
Public Safety.
AJR 10 – Torlakson. Would request the President
and the Congress of the United States to enact
the Social Security Fairness Act of 2009, which
would repeal the Government Pention Offset (GPO)
and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)
from the Social Security Act. SPONSOR.
Signed into law.
AB 14 XXX – Arambula. Budget – Corrections.
OPPOSE. Assembly Concurrence.
SENATE BILLS
SB 24 – Oropeza. Would extend the sunset on
Penal Code section 487h which pertains to cargo
theft. This section is used specifically to
tract statistics for cargo theft thereby
enhancing our ability to secure additional
federal funds. SUPPORT. Signed into law.
SB 145 – DeSaulnier. This measure would specify
that race, religious creed, color, national
origin, age, gender, marital status, sex, and
genetic predisposition shall not be considered a
cause or other factor of disability for
apportionment purposes. SUPPORT. Inactive
File.
SB 186 – DeSaulnier. Would remove the sunset so
that some injured workers could continue to
predesignate their treating physicians.
SUPPORT. Signed into law.
SB 373 – Walters. Would lower VLF from 1.15% of
market value to 0.65% as specified. OPPOSE.
Senate Rev. & Tax suspense file.
SB 484 – Wright. Would require a prescription
prior to the sale of products containing
pseudoephedrine. SUPPORT. Assembly Public
Safety. Failed
SB 490 – Maldonado. This bill would include
custodial officers in the County of San Luis
Obispo within the definition of peace officers.
WATCH. Signed into law.
SB 566 – Hollingsworth. Would serve as a
deterrent for parolees and probationers who are
subject to electronic monitoring by making it a
new and separate offense to tamper with or
disable a GPS device. SUPPORT. Senate Public
Safety. Held in Committee.
SB 711 – Leno. Would amend provisions of the
Brown Act regarding labor negotiations which
would expand public knowledge of the
negotiations and would require discussion and
approval of any agreement to be held in a
regular open meeting. OPPOSE. Senate Local
Govt.
SB 18 XXX – Ducheny. Budget – Corrections.
NEUTRAL. Signed into law.
PPOA’s position on bills can, and has,
changed as the legislative session progresses,
depending on amendments.
