Capitol Alert

The California state Senate today approved a bill 23-13 to create a statewide retirement program for private workers who do not contribute to a different retirement savings plan.

The retirement plan envisioned by Senate Bill 1234 would be voluntary and help "that population that has been very hard to reach," according to Sen. Kevin de León, D- Los Angeles, the bill's author.

De León said private employees who make less than $50,000 a year do not usually participate in the market and retirement packages. This bill, he said, would "try to create savings for this population."

"This is a population that is the most vulnerable," de León said. "This is a population that has been ignored by Wall Street and the private sector financial services."

The bill came under fire from both sides of the aisle.

The California Senate today voted 23-13 to prohibit minors from receiving therapy aimed at changing their sexual orientation.

Senate Bill 1172 by Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, now heads to the Assembly. Groups representing psychiatrists and psychologists still oppose the measure, but two mental health groups that originally opposed the bill came on board after Lieu made key changes.

Lieu agreed to remove one provision that allowed lawsuits against therapists who have used the therapy and another that required therapists to receive written informed consent before using reparative therapy on an adult.

"This bill seeks to ban a form of junk science known as reparative therapy," Lieu said. He added that the therapy often caused permanent harm and thoughts of suicide.

Many senators spoke in support of the bill, but asked that Lieu continue to work with mental health groups on the definition of sexual orientation change efforts, the term used to describe the therapy the bill seeks to ban.

Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, supported the bill, but said some mental health professionals told him the bill's definition of the therapy "may limit open conversations on sexuality."

The California state Senate passed a bill Wednesday to require public companies to release the names of their five most highly compensated retirees.

Senate Bill 1208, by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, fell one vote short Tuesday, before passing on a 21-15 vote on Wednesday.

Leno said his measure was "just about disclosure," not an attempt to change the way businesses operate.

Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Rocklin, argued that the bill fueled "a political agenda" and would harm businesses.

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It's official: The proposal is in writing and set for a vote -- a 5 percent pay cut for Gov. Jerry Brown, legislators, and for state constitutional officers from controller to treasurer to Board of Equalization member.

Charles Murray of the California Citizens Compensation Commission said Wednesday that he will bring his written proposal to Thursday's meeting of the pay panel but may step aside if another commissioner has a similar plan.

"I think they should lead by example," Murray said of state officeholders, noting that his 5 percent pay cut proposal mirrors the percentage that Brown is seeking from state workers.

Asked about prospects for a vote Thursday, Murray said simply, "We're going to force one."

A bill that prohibits the regulation of Voice over Internet Protocol by the Public Utilities Commission passed 30-6 in the state Senate today.

Senate Bill 1161, by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, bans state departments from regulating VoIP unless required to by federal law.

"It ensures that California will not become the first state in the nation to regulate the internet," Padilla said.

Consumer groups have opposed the bill, saying they fear it will cause phone providers to move away from traditional land lines, which could cut off older consumers.

Padilla stressed that any existing consumer protections will be maintained, but new ones will not be added.

Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Oakland, said that she did not support the bill because she felt it was wrong for the "California legislature to voluntarily give away power."

"VoIP is doing well under the current law," Hancock added. "I don't think there is a pressing problem."

Padilla and Sen. Juan Vargas, D-Chula Vista. countered that the bill was necessary and would ensure that many Internet companies stayed in California.

"These are some of our best companies," Vargas said. He added that California was working to "grow" these companies and this bill would help to do so.

Legislation to require nurses, doctors and other hospital staff who decline to get a flu shot to wear a mask while working passed 23-9 in the California Senate today.

Supporters of Senate Bill 1318 argue that the proposal would protect patients by pushing more medical professionals to get the influenza vaccines and reduce the potential of exposure from those who decline the vaccinations.

"The problem is that too many in health care choose not to get the flu shot, thus putting patients at risk," said Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, the bill's author.

But the bill, which is co-sponsored by the California Medical Association, ran into opposition from the California Nurses Association the California Labor Federation and Service Employees International Union, which represents some nurses and support staff.

Opponents believe employees "should not be forced to wear the 'Scarlett Letter' of a mask just because they've chosen not to get a flu shot," a Senate analysis says. They also have raised concerns that the policy would be confusing at hospitals and clinics that already have anti-flu measures in place.

Amendments to allow facilities to opt out of the mask policy if they meet high influenza vaccine compliance rates failed to appease the opposition. 

Wolk said that only 64 percent of health care workers get vaccinated and that her bill would raise that figure to 90 percent.

Hannah Madans contributed to this report.

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Legislation to provide nearly a billion dollars in middle-class college and university scholarships passed the Assembly on Wednesday, but lawmakers have not yet taken up a companion bill to provide funding.

The funding measure, Assembly Bill 1500, is fiercely opposed by most Republicans, branded a tax hike by business opponents, and faces far tougher sledding getting the required two-thirds super-majority vote in the Legislature.

Middle-class scholarships will not be provided unless both bills pass the Legislature and are signed into law.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez touted his scholarship measure, Assembly Bill 1501, as a vital way to provide much-needed relief to middle-class families slapped by skyrocketing college and university fees the past five years. The final vote was 55-17.

Legislation to expand workers' right to take unpaid leave to care for seriously ill family members was passed Wednesday by the Assembly..

Assembly Bill 2039 passed largely along party lines, with opposition from Republicans who said it would place an additional burden on businesses that are struggling to survive hard economic times.

Proposed by Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, D-Alameda, the bill measure would require the state, cities and businesses with 50 or more employees to provide unpaid leaves of absences for workers to care for siblings, grandparents, grandchildren or parents-in-law with serious health conditions.

Call it deja vu all over again.

Taking a page from the past, the Assembly approved legislation Wednesday that would allow motorists to obtain state-issued license plates that replicate those from the 1950s, '60s, '70s and '80s.

The measure, Assembly Bill 1658, passed without a dissenting vote, 70-0. It now goes to the Senate.

Proposed by Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, the bill would price the replica plates at $50 initially, then $40 for annual renewal.

Even if AB 1658 is passed by the Legislature and signed into law, the replica plates would not be issued until 7,500 people had applied for them. If that threshold is not reached by Jan. 1, 2014, motorists who had ordered them would be refunded their fees or deposits.

AB 1658 calls for the replica plates to come in a minimum of three styles -- yellow background with black lettering, black background with yellow lettering, and blue background with yellow lettering.

Gatto contends his measure would provide classic car collectors a risk-free way to acquire plates that match the vintage of their vehicle. Such motorists sometimes are victimized now by unscrupulous sellers of vintage plates who pass off counterfeits as genuine, he says.

A package of bills aimed at expanding access to free digital textbooks for California college students advanced in the state Senate today.

The bills, by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, would create an online library of open-source course materials for use at California's public colleges and universities. Students could purchase a hard copy of the texts for about $20.

Steinberg says his measure is meant to lower the financial burden for students who can now pay $200 or more for a single book. Using an "Open Education Resources" system, he said on the floor today, would provide students with the "highest quality textbook at a fraction of the cost."  

"This is going to happen sooner or later, but as policy makers we have the ability to expedite this and to begin saving students and their families money in these most difficult times," the Sacramento Democrat said.  

Senate Bill 1052 starts the process of developing open-source college course materials for the 50 most widely taken lower division courses. A panel of faculty members from the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges systems would be tasked with selecting the courses and launching a competitive bid process for contracts to produce the open-source course materials..

The bill was approved with bipartisan support, by a vote of 32-2. A companion measure creating the digital library for the materials also cleared the Senate, 33-2.  Both bills now advance to the Assembly.

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Barbara Ortega is putting her money where her mouth is in her race for a Sacramento County Assembly seat.

The Sacramento Republican has contributed $95,000 in loans to her own campaign, state records show.

Ortega's infusion of campaign cash, through five separate payments, comprised the bulk of the money she raised from Jan. 1 through May 19 in her bid for an 8th District Assembly seat.

Ortega's opponents include Republicans Peter Tateishi and John Thomas Flynn and Democrat Ken Cooley in the race for a newly drawn district stretching from Citrus Heights to south of Wilton. Democrats hold a razor-thin edge in voter registration in the district, 39.3 percent to 38.4 percent.

A former lobbyist who now owns a consulting firm, Ortega had raised $134,248 this year through May 19.

Major donors to Ortega's campaign include Eli Lilly and Co., $3,900; Linda Halderman for Assembly, $3,900; Perry Communications Group, a $2,500 in-kind contribution; and Abbott Laboratories, Reynolds America, Occidental Oil and Gas, and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, all $1,500.

Tateishi, chief of staff to Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren of Gold River, collected $76,941 this year through May 19, records show. He collected an additional $41,000 in 2012.

Tateishi's major donors this year include Pacific Coast Companies, C.C. Yin, Hagman for Assembly, Sacramento Valley Lincoln Club, Food 4 Less, Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and Linda Halderman for Assembly, all $3,900 donors.

Tateishi also stands to benefit from independent campaigns opposing Ortega by the California Chamber of Commerce's Jobs Political Action Committee, $70,000, and by Defending the Republic, whose donors include Stockton/Lodi Food 4 Less, the California Grocers Association, California Medical Association, Jobs PAC, and the Small Business Action Committee.

Cooley had raised $197,831 this year through May 19, with top donations of $7,800 apiece from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, California Teachers Association, Service Employees International Union Local 1000, California State Council of Service Employees, Northern California Carpenters Regional Council and a committee sponsored by the California Faculty Association.

Flynn, a technology company president, had raised about $6,000 this year through May 19. Much of the money, $3,500, consisted of loans made by Flynn to his Assembly campaign coffers.

* Updated at 12:20 p.m. Thursday to clarify that the Perry Communications Group's $2,500 contribution to Barbara Ortega's campaign was for services rendered, making it an in-kind donation.

Gov. Jerry Brown is scheduled to take his pitch for his compromise tax measure to the California State Association of Counties, whose members are in Sacramento today and Thursday for a legislative conference.

Brown is also expected to discuss his revised budget proposal at a luncheon scheduled at the Hyatt Regency across L Street from the Capitol, according to the program agenda for the event.

County supervisors will also be talking about realignment of health and human services as well as the end of redevelopment agencies.

Other listed speakers at the CSAC conference include Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Senate Republican leader Bob Huff, and Brown adviser Diane Cummins, all of whom address a general session starting at 8:30 a.m.

Under the dome, both the Assembly and the Senate meet at 10 a.m. for their second day of floor sessions this week to work through bills.

The Board of Equalization, meanwhile, is holding a public hearing on implementing last year's Assembly Bill 155, the compromise legislation on collecting sales tax from Amazon.com and other Internet retail operations.

Alert readers will remember that Amazon agreed to drop its efforts to put a measure on the ballot in exchange for the state delaying collection of that tax until Sept. 15 of this year -- that is, unless Congress comes up with a deal by July 31. (Capitol Alert is not holding its breath.) The meeting starts at 10 a.m. at 450 N St. Click here to read the agenda.

LIVE CHAT: Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, and Jon Fleischman, conservative FlashReport blogger and co-chairman of Californians for Term Limits, mix it up on a ballot proposal to change legislative term limits. Proposition 28 would shorten the amount of time legislators could serve from 14 years to 12 years but allow them to serve all of them in one house. The chat runs from noon to 1 p.m. at sacbee.com/live. Bring your questions.

CAPITOL STEPS: Advocates for the disabled rally on the west steps at 11 a.m. for their 9th annual Disability Capitol Action Day sponsored by the Disability Action Coalition. Listed speakers include Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Sens. Ellen Corbett, Loni Hancock, Mark Leno and Michael Rubio as well as Assembly members Bonnie Lowenthal and Wesley Chesbro.

PRIMARY: Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is hitting the California ATM again with fundraisers scheduled today and Thursday in both Northern and Southern California. Here's the Hollywood Reporter's take on his latest visit, which comes just days before the state's presidential primary.