News outlets: state expenditures on ethnic and community media outlets.

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included an extension of the labor exemption, which is not supported by the official source material. The bill summary and digest do not provide details on extending this exemption indefinitely as stated in the candidate explanation.

State Spending on Ethnic and Community Media

The bill extends requirements for state agencies to spend money on ethnic and community media outlets, sets a minimum spending amount, creates a database of these outlets, and continues labor exemptions for newspaper distributors.

What This Bill Does

• Removes the January 1, 2029, deadline for state agencies to spend more on ethnic and community media outlets.
• Requires state agencies to spend at least 40% of their advertising budget each year with these media outlets.
• Creates a database of ethnic and community media outlets that state agencies must use when choosing vendors for marketing or outreach services.
• Allows state agencies to give contracts worth between $5,000 and $350,000 only to small businesses, nonprofits, or ethnic/community media outlets.

Who It Names or Affects

• State agencies that spend money on marketing and advertising.
• Ethnic and community media outlets.
• Newspaper distributors who work under contracts with publishers.

Terms To Know

ethnic media outlets

News organizations that focus on serving specific ethnic communities.

community media outlets

Local news organizations that serve a particular community or area.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how the database of media outlets will be created.
• It is unclear what happens if state agencies cannot find enough eligible vendors to meet the spending requirements.

Official Summary Text

SB 1358, as amended, Rubio.
News outlets: state expenditures on ethnic and community media
outlets and labor classification of newspaper distributors.
outlets.
Existing law establishes the Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications and requires the office to assist in marketing, advertising, and outreach to priority populations, as defined. Existing law requires state agencies that expend funds on marketing, advertising, or outreach to develop a plan for increasing expenditures directed to ethnic media outlets and community media outlets, as those terms are defined. Existing law also requires state agencies to annually report their progress in implementing those plans. Existing law repeals these requirements on January 1, 2029.
This bill would delete the January 1, 2029, repeal date, thereby extending operation of these requirements indefinitely. The bill would additionally require the office to establish and maintain a database of the above-described outlets and would authorize
the office to hold trainings for state employees responsible for purchasing advertising, as specified.
Former law, Chapter 341 of the Statutes of 2020, until July 1, 2023, among other things, required the Department of General Services to publish an annual report on or before July 1 of each year relating to payments for placement of marketing or outreach advertising material by each state agency.
This bill would reenact and recast this report requirement to instead require the office to publish an annual report relating to those payments, which the bill would require to include disaggregated information for priority populations and ethnic and community media outlets, as specified. The bill would additionally require state agencies to direct at least 40% of their annual advertising spending to ethnic and community media outlets and to require vendors selected for marketing or advertising services that require outreach to
priority populations to prioritize outlets included in the above-described database. The bill would
require
authorize
state agencies to award a contract for advertising or marketing services with an estimated value greater than $5,000 and less than $350,000
only
to
a small business, nonprofit organization, or
an ethnic or community media outlet, as specified.
Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the “ABC” test, as specified, to determine if workers are
employees or independent contractors for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission. Existing law exempts specified occupations and business relationships from the application of the ABC test, and provides that these exempt relationships are governed by the multifactor test previously adopted in the case of S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341. These exemptions include a temporary exemption for newspaper distributors working under contract with a newspaper publisher and newspaper carriers, as those terms are defined, until January 1, 2030.
This bill would extend operation of the above-described exemption indefinitely.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF