{"id":3369,"date":"2020-06-22T09:30:30","date_gmt":"2020-06-22T16:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369"},"modified":"2020-06-22T12:10:09","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T19:10:09","slug":"amendment-to-allow-state-legislators-to-work-remotely-during-emergencies-passes-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369","title":{"rendered":"Amendment to Allow State Legislators to Work Remotely During Emergencies Passes Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Julianne Foster<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Assemblyman Kevin Mullin has introduced the <\/span>Assembly Constitutional Amendment 25<\/span><\/a> in hopes of returning representation for California citizens to the government\u2019s meetings and decisions. The purpose of ACA 25 is to allow remote attendance and proxy voting at legislative proceedings solely during declared states of emergency, such as the current COVID-19 situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Legislature\u2019s recess due to COVID-19 was unprecedented in California\u2019s history and on top of recent social unrest, lawmakers had been prevented from meeting in Sacramento and conducting state business for several months. Especially since the Legislature\u2019s use of technology is “stuck in the past,” according<\/a> to<\/span> Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron<\/span>, who represents the 75th Assembly District.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Remote hearings must receive two-thirds approval from Members, and will be allowed only during the emergency when Members are unavailable or cannot safely attend,” Waldron explained. “Any deviations from normal procedures will be subject to judicial review with the burden of proof on the Legislature to prove the deviations are necessary.”<\/span><\/p>\n

There is some <\/span>opposition<\/span> to the proposal, however, claiming that ACA 25 would allow lawmakers to work in secret and behind the backs of California citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n

“This would cut everyone off from the legislative process: lobbyists and the public,” argues<\/a> Katy Grimes of\u00a0California Globe<\/em>. “Only chosen special interests would have access. Lawmakers would not have to take calls from anyone they would rather not hear from.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Opponents are concerned with what legislators may be planning to do in secret that might only support their special interest groups. However, Waldron feels it does the opposite, as “recent amendments to ACA 25 protect public access by requiring hearings to be open and public.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Waldron, along with Assemblymembers Mullin, Cooley, and Ting, is concerned with the 40 million Californians without representation during such a critical time. They “lack clear authority to conduct remote hearings and almost no official business can be conducted during emergency shutdowns.” The State Assembly, with its two-year terms, is the chamber that is most subject to the people with important responsibilities such as oversight over the executive branch of California’s government.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ACA 25 proposal passed in the State Assembly 60-13, but it must also pass with a two-thirds majority vote in the State Senate. If it passes the Senate, it will appear on the November ballot where a simple majority of voters would make it amended to the California Constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo by GotCredit via Flickr<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Julianne Foster Assemblyman Kevin Mullin has introduced the Assembly Constitutional Amendment 25 in hopes of returning representation for California citizens to the government\u2019s meetings and decisions. The purpose of ACA 25 is to allow remote attendance and proxy voting at legislative proceedings solely during declared states of emergency, such as the current COVID-19…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nAmendment to Allow State Legislators to Work Remotely During Emergencies Passes Assembly - San Diego News Desk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amendment to Allow State Legislators to Work Remotely During Emergencies Passes Assembly - San Diego News Desk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Written by Julianne Foster Assemblyman Kevin Mullin has introduced the Assembly Constitutional Amendment 25 in hopes of returning representation for California citizens to the government\u2019s meetings and decisions. The purpose of ACA 25 is to allow remote attendance and proxy voting at legislative proceedings solely during declared states of emergency, such as the current COVID-19...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"San Diego News Desk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-22T16:30:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-22T19:10:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Emergency.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"San Diego News Desk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/\",\"sameAs\":[],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Logo-SanDiegoNewsDesk-Article.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Logo-SanDiegoNewsDesk-Article.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"San Diego News Desk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/\",\"name\":\"San Diego News Desk\",\"description\":\"Your Source for News in San Diego\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Emergency.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Emergency.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369\",\"name\":\"Amendment to Allow State Legislators to Work Remotely During Emergencies Passes Assembly - San Diego News Desk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-22T16:30:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-22T19:10:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Amendment to Allow State Legislators to Work Remotely During Emergencies Passes Assembly\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5bed4fc07270caa9fa05a8b26be4751\"},\"headline\":\"Amendment to Allow State Legislators to Work Remotely During Emergencies Passes Assembly\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-22T16:30:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-22T19:10:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369#webpage\"},\"wordCount\":414,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=3369#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Emergency.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5bed4fc07270caa9fa05a8b26be4751\",\"name\":\"San Diego News Desk\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05062ed7eb31bfe5ee9233a235e7d2e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05062ed7eb31bfe5ee9233a235e7d2e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"San Diego News Desk\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}