Oil, elections, crime, housing; all targeted in laws proposed by Orange County’s state leaders

Excerpted from the Orange County Register

By Brooke Staggs

Election reform, oil spills, crime and housing are just some of the topics targeted in new legislation proposed by state Assembly and Senate members from Orange County.

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Here’s a look at some key bills introduced this year by the five state Senators and seven Assembly members who represent portions of Orange County.

Election reforms

After the failed attempt in 2021 to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, surveys showed most Californians supported change to the state’s recall process. And it’s no surprise that a key plan came from state Sen. Josh Newman, who himself was recalled in 2018 before he won his seat back in 2020.

Senate Constitutional Amendment 6 from Newman, D-Fullerton, would overhaul state-level recall elections in California by having ballots only ask voters whether that person should be recalled or not. Rather than have voters simultaneously pick a replacement, allowing someone to win with far less than a majority of votes, Newman wants to have the lieutenant governor replace a recalled governor. If the recall is aimed at a constitutional officer, such as the secretary of state or state attorney general, Newman’s bill would have the governor appoint the replacement. And a recalled state legislator would be replaced through special elections.

Since Newman’s proposal would require an amendment to the state constitution — one of just nine constitution-changing ideas introduced statewide this session — it would require approval from two-thirds of both state Senate and Assembly members before it would have to be approved by a simple majority of California voters.

Newman also introduced a bill that would give election workers the option of keeping their home addresses private and one that would create an online archive of every digital political ad put out by political campaigns or committees in California.

Read the full article here.