Expungement Reform Movement: Legislative Proposition

The California State Assembly Approach:
	The Church of My Faith in God has drafted a proposition to resolve the problem faced by people who have had expungements pursuant to California Penal Code Section 1203.4. The proposal calls for the sealing of all records that have been expunged by a court pursuant to California Penal Code Section 1203.4 five years after records have been expunged and destroyed three years thereafter. This relief would only be approved by a judge if the petitioner has not had any other convictions since the expungement or pardon.
In order to fulfill the mission set forth in this movement, The Church of My Faith in God will present the proposition to members of the California State Assembly, the California State Senate, and the Governor of California and encourage them to present it as a bill and enact it as a law. The Church of My Faith in God will also take an alternative approach by submitting the proposal to the Attorney General so that the proposition may be circulated as a petition to the registered voters of California to be placed on the ballot as an initiative statute. Complete drafts of the proposals have been added to this website for your review and support. The Church of My Faith in God encourages you to share them with your loved ones and send them to your legislative representatives so they may pursuaded to support the proposal.There are a number of ways ideas become laws in the state of California. The most preferable method is to have a ballot initiative approved by voters that has been circulated by signature gathers so that it may be approved in its entirety without unwanted amendments, but this is also the most costly. Here are the approaches we will take below along with the proposed resolutions.
	CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PROPOSITION The Church of My Faith in God will contact various members of the Calfifornia State Assembly and encourage them to introduce the proposal as bill on the floor of the assembly. To summarize this approach, assuming the bill is not amended, the Legislative Counsel will first prepare the bill (although we have done most of the work already), then it will be introduced by an Assembly member, numbered and printed. The rules committee will then assign the bill to a committee where it will be heard after 31 days have passed from its introduction. At the committee, testimonies may be presented and if approved, there will be a second assembly reading, and then a third assembly reading where the bill may be debated and voted upon. If the bill passes the Assembly, it will be sent to the California State Senate to repeat the cycle.
If the bill passes the Senate without amendments, it will be sent to the California Governor for signature. If the Governor signs it, the bill is chaptered by the Secretary of State and generaly becomes law on January 1st of the following year. Throughout this process, there are several ocassions where a bill may fail or be amended, which then complicates the cycle. This may be the most cost effective method of getting the proposal approved, but it is not the most efficient and once it is approved, it may not have the same effect as we had intended it to have in the first place. In this case, it is essential to coordinate efforts to ensure that everyone is on the same page as to the intentions of our cause. Because there are so many stakeholders involved, we depend on your help to reach as many of them as possible. Write letters and send this proposal along so they may also support the movement.
The California State Senate Approach:
	CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PROPOSITION The Senate approach is identicle to the Assembly approach. The Church of My Faith in God will contact various members of the Calfifornia State Senate and encourage them to introduce the proposal as bill on the floor of the California Senate. The bill after being introduced in the Senate, would then make its way the Califoria State Assembly and then along to the Governor. Even though there are less Senators than Assembly members, the same amount of lobbying is required because eventualy, the bill has to make its way to the Assembly and the California Governor who may elect to veto the bill. In the case of a Veto, the California State Legislature would have 60 days to override the veto by a two-thirds majority vote in both houses so gaining support is essential at every level of legislation.
The California State Petition Initiative Statute Approach:
	CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PROPOSITION: Again, The Church of My Faith in God favors this approach the most because although it is the most costly, it is also the approach with the most control as far as what would be enacted if it is approved by the California Voters. In order to qualify for the ballot, the initiative measure must be signed by at least 5% of the total amount of voters who casted votes for Governor at the last gubernatorial election. As of September 25, 2009, the total amount of signitures required for an initiative statute to qualify for the ballot is 433,971.
Here is how the process begins. Some may wish to have the Legislative Counsel draft the petition or hire an attorney for this step, but The Church of My Faith in God has elected to draft its own proposal. The next step would be to submit a draft of the proposed initiative measure to the Attorney General with payment of $200.00 and a written request that a title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed initiative measure be prepared. Upon receipt of the fee and request, the Attorney General prepares a title and summary which will be the official summary of the initiative measure. The Attorney General WIll provide a copy of the title and summary to the Secretary of State within 15 days after receipt of the final version of a proposed initiative measure.
If the Attorney General determines that the initiative measure requires a fiscal analysis, the Department of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee are required to prepare an analysis within 25 working days from the date they receive the final version of the proposed initiative measure. If, in the opinion of the Department of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, a reasonable estimate of the net impact of the proposed initiative measure cannot be prepared within the 25-working day period, the Department of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee shall, within the 25-working day period, give the Attorney General their opinion as to whether or not a substantial net change in state or local finances would result if the proposed initiative measure is adopted. The Attorney General is allowed 15 days after receipt of this fiscal analysis to complete the title and summary. When the official title and summary is complete, the Attorney General will send it to The Church of My Faith in God, the Senate and the Assembly, and the Secretary of State. The Legislature may conduct public hearings on the proposed initiative measure but cannot amend it. The date the title and summary is sent to us will be the summary date, and based on that date, the Secretary of State will prepare a calendar of filing deadlines. The Secretary of State will send a copy of the calendar to The Church of My Faith in God the same day it receives the official title and summary from the Attorney General's Office. From the summary date, The Church of My Faith in God would be allowed a maximum of 150 days to circulate petitions and collect signatures. The initiative measure must qualify at least 131 days before the next statewide election at which it is to be submitted to the voters. Although $200 does not seem like much of a cost, the cost of printing approximately 50,000 copies of the petition on the front and back of legal sized paper (8.5"x14") can surmount to $20,000. There's the cost of shipping and the cost of hiring petition gatherers. Petition gatherers are normaly paid about $1.00 per signature, so that would be $433,971 alone just for gatherers. In addition, the cost would include validators, distributors, collectors, coordinators, and facilities, equipment, utilities, and so forth. We estimate approximately $1 million dollars just to qualify for the ballot and another million for campaign advertisements just to educate and persuade the voters and address any counter-claims that may arise from the opposition. Of course this is a modest figure as campaigning on the State level can be a multimillion dollar task, but with the grace of God we can do all things through Christ Jesus who streangthens us (Philippians 4:13).
Get started Now! Make a Donation.
Click Here & Donate Today!
To Donate cash, checks, cashier's checks, or money orders, click here to download the donation sheet and mail it along with your offering to: THE CHURCH OF MY FAITH IN GOD ATTENTION: EXPUNGEMENT REFORM MOVEMENT 955 DEEP VALLEY DRIVE #3991 ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, CA 90274
The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26).




Copyright (c) 2009 The Church of My Faith in God. All rights reserved.