Amended  IN  Senate  July 03, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 23, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1511

Introduced by Assembly Member Santiago

February 17, 2023

An act to add Article 13.5 (commencing with Section 12100.145) to Chapter 1.6 of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 2 7 (commencing with Section 19360) to Chapter 7 of Part 11 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to add Article 5.7 (commencing with Section 65054) to Chapter 1.5 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, and to amend Section 11802 of, and to repeal Section 11804 of, the Public Contract Code, relating to state government.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1511, as amended, Santiago. State government: Ethnic Media Program. and Community Media.

Existing law establishes the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, known as “GO-Biz,” within the Governor’s office to serve the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth.

(1) Existing law creates in state government an agency known as the California State Library (library) under the control of an executive who is a technically trained librarian, appointed by the Governor, known as the State Librarian. Existing law, the Grant Information Act of 2018, requires the California State Library to create a funding opportunities internet website that provides a centralized location for grant seekers to find state grant opportunities. Existing law requires each state agency to register every grant the state agency administers with the California State Library before commencing a solicitation or award process for distribution of the grant.
This bill would require any state agency or department that expends funds on paid advertising, communications, or outreach to direct at least 5% of its total expenditures for those efforts to the Ethnic and Community Media Outreach Grant Program administered by the library. The bill would require the library to use these funds to award grants to ethnic media outlets and community media outlets to provide independent news coverage in topic areas relating to the agency or department from which the funds were provided. The bill would require the library to report annually on its internet website and to the Legislature the total amount of expenditures made to provide grants and the populations to which the expenditures were directed, as specified.
(2) Existing law establishes the Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications, an office within the Office of Planning and Research in the office of the Governor, to serve as the manager of the state’s highest priority public awareness and community outreach efforts.
This bill would create the Ethnic and Community Media Program in GO-Biz, the Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications led by a director, appointed by the Governor to serve a 5-year term, Governor, to help state departments integrate ethnic and community media into their public outreach and engagement strategies. The bill would require GO-Biz, the department, in administering the program, to develop and maintain an ethnic media database, a database of ethnic and community media outlets, conduct education and outreach campaigns, cultivate relationships with ethnic and community media outlets, and advise state departments on tailoring ethnic and community media integration strategies, subject to appropriation by the Legislature. strategies for specific communities. The bill would require the director or their designee to submit a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2029, relating to ethnic media outlets, as specified. The bill would also authorize the director to make regulations that are reasonably necessary to further the purposes of the program.

This bill would require the director of the program or their designee, by January 1, 2029, to submit a report to the Legislature with specified information relating to coverage and translation of ethnic media and to the challenges, efforts to overcome challenges, and options to improve the program.

The bill would require a state agency or department that expends funds on paid advertising, communications, or outreach to direct 45% of its total expenditures to ethnic media outlets and community media outlets, as specified. The bill would require any private agency or intermediary that receives funds intended to purchase advertising communications or outreach for the state in ethnic media outlets or community media outlets to transmit at least 80% of those funds directly to the outlets and to reserve no more than 20% for activities managed by the agency or an intermediary.
(3) Existing law, until July 1, 2023, requires the Department of General Services to publish a report by July 1 each year that identifies, among other things, each state agency that paid for the placement of marketing or outreach advertising material pursuant to a contract and the amounts paid by each state agency to each media platform pursuant to a contract to place the marketing or outreach material.
This bill would recast the provisions described above and delete the January 1, 2024, repeal date, thereby making these provisions operative indefinitely. The bill would require the department to report the amounts paid by each state agency to each media platform pursuant to a contract or agreement, including a subcontract or other agreement with a third party or intermediary, to place marketing or outreach advertising material, and to further disaggregate the information to report information on contracts and subcontracts for the placement of material targeting specific ethnic or community groups served by ethnic or community media outlets. The bill would require the report to state the populations to which the expenditures were directed, as specified. The bill would authorize the Director of General Services, in consultation with the Director of the Ethnic and Community Media Program, to adopt regulations to ensure compliance with these provisions. The bill would make other nonsubstantive changes.

This

(4) This bill would also make related legislative findings and declarations.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a)California’s ethnic media sector is robust and diverse. Roughly 300 ethnic media outlets publish and broadcast in California, serving at least 38 different ethnic, racial, and cultural communities.

(b)California’s ethnic media sector has a long history of providing trusted, community-specific information and stories, and it is constantly evolving. They are a key community institution, carry significant local coverage, and have deep ties with the communities they serve. In addition to providing news and information, they play multiple roles, including information call center, event organizer, community advocate, connector of community assets, and providing a voice for their audience.

(c)The sector is dominated by small-scale, independent, local media, strapped for resources and financially vulnerable. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenge of sustainability.

(d)Ethnic media can serve as trusted brokers between the government and their diverse constituents, ensuring culturally relevant, effective messaging and facilitating problem solving. However, government agencies have underinvested in the state’s ethnic media, resulting in inequities for ethnic media and the communities they serve, and in missed opportunities for leveraging a key asset to strengthen the work of government.

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California is the most diverse state in the nation and it spends considerable resources seeking to communicate messages of public interest to its residents. It is imperative that the state’s communication reach all of its residents, including, but not limited to, People of Color, rural communities, non-English speakers, working class neighborhoods, and other hard-to-reach communities. Those communication efforts will require new strategies and approaches that reflect the state’s demographics, take into account the changing media landscape, and put equity at the center of these efforts.
(b) California’s ethnic media sector consists of roughly 300 media outlets that publish and broadcast in California, serving at least 38 different ethnic, racial, and cultural communities with trusted, community-specific information and news coverage. Community media outlets often serve small communities that are not served by larger sources of news and culture. These outlets are the ideal medium through which to reach underserved communities, but have been underutilized in the deployment of state outreach and advertising campaigns.
(c) This act will remedy that disparity by directing more of the state’s expenditures on outreach to ethnic and community media, and by providing grants to ethnic and community media to help them remain viable platforms for their communities to learn of news of interest to them and to have access to state communications of importance to them and their families.

SEC. 2.

 Article 7 (commencing with Section 19360) is added to Chapter 7 of Part 11 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:
Article  7. Ethnic and Community Media Outreach Grant Program

19360.
 (a) A state agency or department that expends funds on paid advertising, communications, or outreach shall direct at least 5 percent of its total advertising, communication, and outreach expenditures to the Ethnic and Community Media Outreach Grant Program administered by the California State Library.
(b) The library shall use funds provided pursuant to subdivision (a) to award grants to ethnic media outlets and community media outlets, as defined in paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 65054 of the Government Code, to provide independent news coverage in topic areas related to the agency or department from which the funds were provided. Other than specifying the area of coverage, neither the library nor anyone in state government shall influence the content of the news coverage by the media outlets that receive the grant.
(c) All grants shall be awarded directly to ethnic and community media outlets, as defined. A marketing firm that is acting as an intermediary shall be prohibited from being awarded any funds pursuant to subdivision (b).
(d) (1) The California State Library shall report annually on its website and to the Legislature the total amount of expenditures made to provide grants pursuant to subdivision (b).
(2) The report shall state with particularity the populations to which the expenditures were directed by reporting on, among other related information, the names and types of ethnic and cultural media outlets, and the regions, geographies, racial groups, ethnic groups, and other cultural groups served by the ethnic and community media outlets that received the grants.
(3) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

SEC. 2.Article 13.5 5.7 (commencing with Section 12100.145) is added to Chapter 1.6 of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
13.5.Ethnic Media Program
12100.145.

SEC. 3.

 Article 5.7 (commencing with Section 65054) is added to Chapter 1.5 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, to read:
Article  5.7. Ethnic and Community Media Program

65054.
 (a) The Ethnic and Community Media Program is hereby established in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications, an office within the Office of Planning and Research in the office of the Governor, for the purpose of helping state departments integrate ethnic and community media into their public outreach and engagement strategies. The program shall be led by a director, appointed by the Governor to serve a five-year term. Governor.
(b) For the purposes of this section, article, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Director” means the director of the Ethnic and Community Medial Program appointed by the Governor pursuant to subdivision (a).

(1)

(2) (A) “Ethnic media” means any media produced by and for ethnic, racial, or cultural minorities. organization that produces news or culturally relevant media that serves ethnic, racial, or cultural communities residing in California, including priority populations, racial and linguistic minorities, immigrant communities, indigenous groups, and other historically underserved and underrepresented groups.

(2)“Media outlet” means a publication that provides news or other media content through print or digital means and any television or radio outlet.

(c)Upon appropriation by the Legislature for the express purpose of this section, Go-Biz, in administering the program, shall do all of the following:

(1)Develop and maintain a database of ethnic media outlets including their media kits.

(2)Conduct education and outreach campaigns to departments to advocate for the importance of ethnic media and promote inclusive, equitable engagement strategies.

(3)Advise departments on tailoring ethnic media strategies for specific communities.

(4)Cultivate relationships with ethnic media outlets.

(d)(1)The director of the program or their designee shall submit a report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2029, that includes all of the following information:

(A)A list of ethnic media outlets that provided coverage of state programs and services.

(B)A list of all languages in which ethnic media coverage of state programs and services has been provided.

(C)The number of press releases that have been translated.

(D)A list of all languages into which press releases have been translated.

(E)The number of press releases that have been translated into each language.

(F)A discussion of the major challenges the program has faced, the ongoing efforts to address those challenges, and options to improve the program.

(2)A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795.

(3)The requirement imposed under this subdivision is inoperative on January 1, 2029.

(e)The director may make any regulations that are reasonably necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section.

(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), “priority populations” for purposes of this article, mean members of underserved, disadvantaged, and hard-to-reach communities, including, but not limited to, people who are any of the following:
(i) Asian American.
(ii) Black or African American.
(iii) Immigrants or refugees.
(iv) Native American or members of Tribal communities.
(v) Latinx.
(vi) LGBTQ+.
(vii) Limited English proficiency (LEP).
(viii) Middle Eastern or North African.
(ix) Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.
(x) People with disabilities.
(xi) Religious minorities.
(3) “Ethnic media outlet” means an entity that provides a substantial amount of ethnic media content through broadcast, print, or digital means, including television, radio, or online outlets on a daily, weekly, or other regular interval, and that has continuously produced that content for at least one year.
(4) “Community media outlet” means a small business or microbusiness, as defined in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 14837, that provides a substantial amount of originally produced community news and cultural content of specific interest to a community, city, neighborhood, or region in the state through broadcast, print, or digital means, including television, radio, or online outlets on a daily, weekly, or other regular interval, and that has continuously produced that content for at least one year.
(5) “Program” means the Ethnic and Community Media Program established pursuant to subdivision (a).

65054.1.
 (a) To assist state agencies and departments in placing the state’s advertising and outreach messages in ethnic media outlets and community media outlets, the program shall do all of the following:
(1) Develop and maintain a database of ethnic and community media outlets, including their media kits.
(2) Conduct education and outreach campaigns to departments to advocate for the importance of ethnic and community media, and promote inclusive and equitable engagement strategies.
(3) Advise departments on tailoring ethnic and community media strategies for specific communities.
(4) Advise departments on tailoring outreach campaigns for specific communities.
(5) Cultivate relationships with ethnic and community media outlets.
(b) (1) The director or their designee shall submit a report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2029, that includes all of the following information:
(A) A list of ethnic media outlets that provided coverage of state programs and services.
(B) A list of all languages in which ethnic media coverage of state programs and services has been provided.
(C) The number of press releases that have been translated.
(D) A list of all languages into which press releases have been translated.
(E) The number of press releases that have been translated into each language.
(F) A discussion of the major challenges the program has faced, the ongoing efforts to address those challenges, and options to improve the program.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795.
(3) The requirement imposed pursuant to this subdivision is inoperative on January 1, 2029.
(c) The director may make any regulations that are reasonably necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section.

65054.2.
 (a) A state agency or department that expends funds on paid advertising, communications, or outreach shall direct at least 45 percent of its total advertising, communications, and outreach expenditures to ethnic media outlets and community media outlets serving the populations identified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 65054.
(b) A private agency or intermediary that receives funds intended to purchase advertising communications or outreach for the state in ethnic media outlets or community media outlets shall transmit at least 80 percent of those funds directly to the outlets, and shall reserve no more than 20 percent for administration, commissions, or communications managed by the agency or an intermediary.

SEC. 4.

 Section 11802 of the Public Contract Code is amended to read:

11802.
 (a) Beginning July 1, 2021, the The department shall publish, by July 1 of each year and on the department’s internet website, a report that identifies all of the following:
(1) Each state agency that paid for placement of marketing or outreach advertising material pursuant to a contract.
(2) The amounts paid by each state agency to each media platform pursuant to a contract, contract or agreement, including pursuant to a subcontract if the information is available, or other agreement with a third party intermediary, to place marketing or outreach advertising material.
(3) The recipients of the amounts paid by each state agency to media platforms, including to any subcontractors if the information is available, or third party intermediaries, with which the agency contracted or subcontracted contracted, subcontracted, or entered into an agreement to place marketing or outreach advertising materials.
(4) The information required in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, shall be further disaggregated to report information on contracts, including on subcontracts if the information is available, for both of the following: subcontracts, for the placement of marketing or outreach advertising material targeting specific ethnic or community groups served by ethnic or community media, as defined in Section 65054 of the Government Code.

(A)For the placement of marketing or outreach advertising material targeting specific ethnic communities, including, but not limited to, Latino, African American, Asian-Pacific Islander, Indigenous, and Middle Eastern communities.

(B)For the placement of marketing or outreach advertising material targeting the LGBTQIA community.

(5) The report shall state with particularity the populations to which the expenditures were directed by reporting on, among other related information, the names and types of ethnic and cultural media outlets, and the regions, geographies, racial groups, ethnic groups, and other cultural groups served by the ethnic and community media outlets that received the funds.
(b) The Director of General Services, in consultation with the Director of the Ethnic and Community Media Program, established pursuant to Section 65054 of the Government Code, shall adopt regulations to ensure compliance with this section by state agencies and departments, and to ensure compliance by any marketing or communications firms with which those state agencies or departments contract to place advertising in the media.

SEC. 5.

 Section 11804 of the Public Contract Code is repealed.
11804.

This chapter shall become inoperative on July 1, 2023, and, as of January 1, 2024, is repealed.