AB 4

Bill Subjects

Abstract

The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature, by rollcall vote entered in the journal, 23 of the membership of each house concurring, to submit at a general election the question whether to call a convention to revise the Constitution. If a majority vote yes on that question, the Legislature is required, within 6 months, to provide for the convention. Delegates to the convention are required to be voters elected from districts as nearly equal in population as may be practicable. This bill would provide for the selection of 56 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, with 14 delegates selected from each of the State Board of Equalization districts, as specified. The bill would prohibit a delegate to the Convention from holding a specified office or position, including an elective or appointed federal, state, county, or city office, for 4 years following the date of his or her appointment as a delegate to the Convention. The term of each delegate would expire at the time the Convention submits its proposal to the Secretary of State to be voted on at the next statewide election. The bill would further prohibit a voter from being eligible to serve as a delegate to the Convention if the voter or his or her immediate family member held a specified office or position, including an elective or appointed federal, state, county, or city office, for the 10 years preceding the date of his or her application. The bill would require the Convention to convene in the Assembly Chambers at the Capitol in the City of Sacramento and would specify the rules for the Convention. The delegates to the Convention would be paid $300 for each day he or she engaged in Convention business. The bill would further provide for the removal of a delegate by the Governor with the concurrence of ¾ of the Members of the Senate after the delegate has been served with written notice and provided an opportunity for a response. Any vacancy of a delegate shall be filled within 30 days from the date of the vacancy by an applicant for the Convention who is of the same voter registration category and the same State Board of Equalization district as the vacating delegate. The bill would provide that no employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, coerce, or retaliate against any employee by reason of the employee's scheduled attendance at any meeting of the Constitutional Convention. The bill would become operative only if ACR ____ is approved by the voters at a statewide general election.