Here are 5 new California laws that will change how your local government works

This January, the face of local government in California will change in many ways. In 2022, state lawmakers passed a series of measures, some intended to empower and protect local officials who feel unsafe in the volatile political climate.

Here’s a rundown:

Meeting disruptors can be ejected

Disruptions at public meetings are nothing new, but Senate Bill 1100 clearly establishes the power of legislative bodies to remove disruptive people.

California’s public meetings law, the Brown Act, already protects the ability of county supervisors, school boards and city councils to eject disruptors. But proponents of the bill, authored by Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, say the new measure spells out that authority more clearly.

SB 1100 specifically requires the presiding member of a legislative body, or their designee, to first warn a disruptive person that their actions may result in removal. If the person refuses to comply with meeting rules, the new law provides the presiding member the authority to have that person ejected.

“As we have undoubtedly seen, many troubling incidents across the state, including those involving harassment and threats of violence, have demonstrated the need to protect public safety and public meeting access by modernizing the Brown Act so that it provides clearer standards around when removal of a meeting participant is warranted and what authority members of a legislative body can exercise,” Cortese said in a statement of support for the bill.

Public employees can keep their home address private

With election skepticism and denial at an all-time high, fueled in part by rhetoric from former President Donald Trump, election workers have been subject to heightened public scrutiny. Many have faced harassment and threats of violence simply for doing their jobs.

Senate Bill 1131, by Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, expands the “Safe at Home” program to election workers and other public employees who are subject to harassment, shielding their home addresses from the public eye. “Safe at Home” originally was designed to protect victims of domestic violence and people who work at reproductive health clinics.

Newman’s office noted that since November 2020, more than 15% of California election officials have left their job.

“This legislation is vital in order to protect Californians,” he said in a statement of support for the bill.

The California Secretary of State’s Office estimates that 600 people will be added to the program as a result of SB 1131.

Unlike the other bills on this list, SB 1131 passed with an urgency provision, meaning it became law as soon as it was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Local elected officials are barred from ‘pay-to-play’

Beginning in January, city and county elected officials will be barred from accepting, soliciting or directing contributions of more than $250 from anyone who had business before their body in the 12 months before or after a final decision in that matter.

Anyone found guilty of violating Senate Bill 1439, by Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, will have 14 days to return the contribution, and only if they did not knowingly solicit the money Violations of the law, as determined by the Fair Political Practices Commission, will be punishable with a fine of up to $5,000.

According Glazer, SB 1439 was designed to hold local elected officials to the same standard as elected and appointed state officials as well as local appointees.

The law will likely not be applied retroactively to contributions made in 2022. Last month the commission directed its staff to write a formal opinion barring retroactive enforcement. The commission is expected to approve the opinion before the end of the year.

People can serve regardless of citizenship status

Current law prevents a person from holding county or district office if they are not a registered voter in that county or district. Come January, that restriction will be lifted.

While the law already provides local governments the ability to waive the registered-voter requirement, Assembly Bill 1925, by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, D-Los Angeles, removes the need for a waiver.

Santiago said in a statement of support for his bill that the current law is used as a de facto citizenship requirement.

“California is home to 11 million immigrants, the most of any state in the country. We are a diverse state full of intelligent, capable people, some of whom may not have been born in this country. Someone’s place of birth should not exclude them from holding public office where they can do meaningful work for their communities,” Santiago said in a statement.

Local governments can continue to hold remote meetings

A pandemic-era law allowing local government bodies to conduct their meetings remotely has been extended under Assembly Bill 2449 by Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, D-Baldwin Park.

The law was set to sunset on Jan. 1, 2024, but will now be effective until January 1, 2026.

“While remote participation in meetings was necessitated by the pandemic, we have simultaneously demonstrated the value of remote participation options when individuals are unable to attend a physical gathering,” Rubio said in a statement of support for the bill.

“Considering the experiences of the past two years, AB 2449 would provide an avenue for constituents to interact with their representatives in situations where they might have not previously been able to.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2022 at 6:00 AM.