California’s top regulator of political campaigns is resigning just days before the June primary election.

Fair Political Practices Commission Chairperson Jodi Remke announced on Tuesday that she will step down on Friday. That follows months of acrimony with fellow commissioners.

Disputes between FPPC commissioners and Remke have spilled into the open during public meetings. Those commissioners have sought to remove some of Remke’s powers by transferring them to two new committees. A vote is scheduled for Monday.

“I think just on a human level, it was no surprise that Jodi Remke wouldn’t want to be part of that anymore,” said Loyola Law School ethics professor Jessica Levinson, who also chairs the Los Angeles Ethics Commission. “I think that unfortunately it really dissolved into, in some ways, dysfunction. The agency hopefully will be able to regain sight of what it was intended to do, which is uphold the integrity of elections.”

Levinson does not expect the resignation to significantly disrupt the FPPC’s work, even coming so close to an election, as staff will continue to investigate complaints. She says they will scrutinize the bulk of campaign contribution filings in the weeks after the election.

In her resignation letter to Gov. Jerry Brown, Remke wrote that although she remains “concerned with the proposed changes to the Commission’s longstanding governance structure,” she is confident that her staff “will continue to build on the significant progress we have made in advancing governmental integrity and the public’s trust in government.”

Remke is now moving to be an administrative judge for the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.

An outside investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against California Sen. Tony Mendoza has found that six women likely “experienced unwanted flirtatious or sexually suggestive behavior” by the lawmaker.

A summary of the report’s findings was released on Tuesday by Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León’s office. It comes after the Senate Rules Committee met in closed session to discuss Mendoza for the second weekday in a row. Read the full report here.

Four of the six women accusing Mendoza of unwanted sexual advances were former staffers — including one intern and one Fellow — who “believed that complaining about his conduct could put their careers at risk,” according to the report. The other two incidents included a different lawmaker’s Fellow and a lobbyist, both in 2015. The report says the incidents ranged from 2007 to last year.

The report summarizes six incidents where Mendoza “more likely than not” made “unwanted flirtatious and sexually suggestive behavior” toward women. This includes allegedly asking a former staffer to share hotel room with him in Hawaii in 2007.

“None of these women alleged that they had a sexual relationship with Mendoza or that he had been physically aggressive or sexually crude towards them,” the summary states. “However, the recipients of this unwelcome behavior understood that Mendoza was suggesting sexual contact.”

The report also says Mendoza was counseled by Assembly Human Resources about his behavior toward a staff member following a 2010 complaint, and that he “subsequently confirmed his conduct.”

In a statement, Mendoza says he's "extremely concerned" over an investigation that sets a "dangerous precedent" and violated his civil rights and due process.

The Senate Rules Committee “refused to provide me any opportunity to even review the findings or to offer my side of the story,” his statement reads. “The Committee had never provided me any charges, the basis for the charges, a list of witnesses or access to any evidence used against me, or an opportunity to make a response to the investigative findings.”

In an apparent warning to his colleagues who are now weighing his fate, the senator notes that the only lawmakers ever to be expelled from the California Legislature were convicted of felonies. “This raises the stakes for future perceived infractions by members of this body,” the statement reads.

The summary of the outside investigation provides new details about Mendoza’s conduct toward his 2017 Senate Fellow, who is in her mid-20s.

The investigation found he “more likely than not” asked her personal questions that he did not ask other staff members; and suggested that they could take a vacation together, that she rent a spare room in his house, and that they could have stayed together in a single hotel room during an overnight event.

It also found that “on more than one occasion, including at night,” Mendoza invited the Fellow to his home “under the guise of reviewing resumes” for a job in his office. The Fellow was applying for the job, as well — even though “he had little intention of hiring her,” the report states.

However, the investigation did not find evidence that three former Mendoza staffers were fired because they reported the senator’s behavior toward the Fellow.

“We learned that there were pre-existing conflicts among members of Mendoza’s Capitol and District offices,” the report states, “and that any concerns relating to potential sexual harassment issues had not come to the attention of Mendoza or Senate Human Resources prior to September 22, 2017.”

The investigators interviewed 47 witnesses during its process, including more than a dozen current and former Mendoza staffers. They interviewed the lawmaker on two occasions.

The report was delivered to the Senate Rules Committee late last week. The five-member group, chaired by De León, convened in closed session on Friday to review the findings of the weeks-long investigation, which was presented by Legislative Counsel Diane Boyer-Vine and an outside attorney who represents the Senate.

Committee members digested the report over the weekend and met again Tuesday to decide on the path forward.

Democratic and Republican members caucused separately on Tuesday afternoon. Rank-and-file members now have the opportunity to read the report in the Legislative Counsel’s office before they caucus again on Wednesday at lunchtime.

The Rules Committee is scheduled to also meet again on Wednesday in open session, and could formally recommend disciplinary action to the Senate floor at that time. Options include censure, suspension — with or without pay — or even expulsion.

De León’s office has said any disciplinary action recommended by the group would be debated by the full Senate on Thursday morning.

Mendoza previously faced allegations of inappropriate behavior involving three women — the 2017 Senate fellow and also two former staffers. The lawmaker agreed to take a month-long, paid leave of absence on January 3, pending the investigation. When the Senate later voted to extend his leave, Mendoza filed a lawsuit claiming unfair treatment.

The only time the Senate has expelled a member was in 1905, when four senators were removed for malfeasance of office amid bribery and corruption allegations. The Assembly has never expelled a lawmaker, although two previous efforts failed.

Investigation Findings Summary

Letter from Sen. Tony Mendoza

Democratic Assemblywoman Laura Friedman is frustrated with the one-year window that victims of sexual harassment have to file complaints with the state.

“We allow a longer statute of limitations for a fender bender than we do for people to file claims of serious sexual harassment and discrimination in housing and in the workplace,” she said. “That can’t be right.”

Friedman, along with Democratic Assemblywomen Eloise Gomez Reyes and Republican Assemblywoman Marie Waldron, has co-authored a new bill that would give employees three years, rather than just one, to take their sexual harassment complaints to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

Jessica Stender, an attorney with San Francisco nonprofit Equal Rights Advocates, said many women who survive sexual harassment at work — particularly low-wage workers — are “not even aware that the clock has begun to run.”

“[They] face obstacles such as trauma, lack of information about their rights, and fear of retaliation,” she said.

The bill applies to all employees who want to go through the department, including people filing complaints against lawmakers.

After a complaint is filed, the employment and housing department investigates it and can assist the two parties in reaching a settlement, whether through a mediation process or through litigation.

Reyes has also put forward a bill that would require all California businesses with more than 50 employees — including the Legislature — to keep records of employee sexual harassment complaints for 10 years. There currently is no universal record-keeping requirement for this type of complaint.

Women in California politics, protesting sexual harassment and abuse at the Capitol, distrust the response from legislative leaders. They'd like to see some change.

The state Senate leader has hired an outside law firm to investigate claims of widespread harassment, and a consulting firm to recommend safeguards. The Assembly will hold public hearings on the matter starting late next month. But those responses to now hundreds of women speaking out may have missed something.

Capital Public Radio asked Lobbyist Adama Iwu if they were consulted on either of these proposals before they were announced. They weren't.

Iwu is leading the We Said Enough campaign.

"Frankly, the Legislature is not in any way, shape or form beholden to do that with us, but it would have been nice," says Iwu.

Iwu also says lawmakers should be collaborative, rather than unilaterally proposing solutions to a culture of harassment that’s long-existed under them.

"It’s really the same kind of employer-oriented, secret approach that the Legislature has used the whole time," says Iwu.

Assembly rules chair Ken Cooley says the point of the hearings is to craft something collaborative.

"I actually don’t feel like we were saying, ‘We’re going to hold a hearing and you can download an agenda here’. I think we’re saying we’re going to reexamine what we do and we’re going to be listening," says Cooley.

A spokesman for the Senate leader has also pledged transparency as that chamber’s investigations progress.

Assemblymember Cristina Garcia is one of almost 150 women who signed a letter detailing pervasive culture of sexual harassment at the California state capitol.

State Government Reporter Ben Bradford talks to us about speaking with the assemblywoman about “rape culture” among politicians in Sacramento. He also discusses Governor Brown’s key vetoes and legislation signing from this past weekend in Capitol Chat.

Almost 150 women including state lawmakers, political consultants and lobbyists signed a letter calling out a pervasive culture of sexual harassment at the State Capitol. Several of the women have detailed experiences of sexual assault and demanding of sexual favors for advancement in their career. Adama Iwu constructed the letter and Pamela Lopez is one of the signees sharing their stories. They both join Insight to explain why this conversation is so critical now.

Gov. Brown took a victory lap this week with the legislature on summer recess. On Tuesday, the Governor signed a landmark Cap-And-Trade bill that would extend the program to 2030 with Sen. President Pro-tem Kevin De Leon and former Gov. Schwarzenegger by his side.

Wednesday, the Governor signed a series of air quality bills that specifically target low-income communities. Capital Public Radio’s Ben Adler covered the events and reflects in this week’s Capitol Chat.   

Fentanyl is on the minds of many Sacramentans following reports of 42 cases of opioid-related overdoses in the county. Nine people in Sacramento County and one in Yolo have died from fentanyl pills bought on the street.

On Tuesday, California state lawmakers advanced two drug-crime related bills that could impact those who sell and purchase such drugs.

Today on Insight, Capitol Bureau Chief Ben Adler joins us from session to talk about these two bills, one that would reduce sentences for repeat drug offenders and another that would increase penalties for the sale of one drug in particular.

We’ll also hear about tighter regulations for ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. And today marks two months until California’s presidential primary. Candidates are starting to pay attention the Golden State.

Faculty and university executives are fighting over a labor dispute, despite an independent fact-finder issuing an opinion that the professors should receive the 5 percent raise they’re asking for.

CSU leaders are offering a 2 percent raise and say a 5 percent raise would cost the Cal State system too much money, estimated at $82 million.

Joining Insight to talk about the pay dispute is Kevin Wehr, a sociology professor at Sacramento State University and chair of the California Faculty Association bargaining team. He’s currently marching with other faculty members to the state Capitol to pressure lawmakers into passing pay-increase legislation.  

Visitors and staff were shut in their offices and told to "shelter in place."

Initial reports said a police officer sustained minor injuries, but later reports raised doubts about who, if anyone, was shot.

The event unfolded with Congress on recess and lawmakers back in their districts. The White House was briefly put on lockdown, but that was soon lifted. A notification sent to Senate offices said no further suspects appeared to be at large, and most Capitol Hill buildings were later re-opened for business.

The shooting occurred in the Visitors Center of the sprawling Capitol complex. Staffers, reporters and others were told to "shelter in place" while the incident was being investigated.

Visitors were being turned away from the Capitol as emergency vehicles flooded the street and the plaza on the building's eastern side. Police, some carrying long guns, cordoned off the streets immediately around the building, which were thick with tourists visiting for spring holidays and the Cherry Blossom Festival.

ORIGINAL STORY: The U.S. Capitol Police are telling staff in the Capitol complex to shelter in place after a report of gunshots being fired in the Capitol Visitors Center.

The White House also was put on lockdown because of the report.

The situation was apparently contained to the Visitors Center but no further information was immediately available.

A Capitol Police spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The California legislature finally passed a bill to prevent a $1.1 billion hole in California's health care budget. The “managed care organization” (MCO) tax brings in federal funds for Medi-Cal, California’s health care program for the poor.

The federal government says the state’s current structure is no longer acceptable, and must be fixed by the end of June for the state to keep getting the money.

Capital Public Radio State Government Reporter Ben Bradford has been covering the story and can explain what Democrats exchanged for Republican support of the new tax.

A political move to make physician-assisted suicide legal in California may have long-lasting consequences. Supporters could not get the bill approved in the regular legislative session, so they reintroduced it during a special session on health care. The governor has signed the bill into law. But it won’t take effect until the special session ends. That likely won’t happen for months.

Jack Pitney is a Government Professor at Claremont McKenna College. He says lawmakers who supported the measure can already say they voted for it, so there’s no incentive to rush the special session.

"No individual legislator has a responsibility for calling the Legislature back into session," he says. "So they don’t really feel the political pressure on an individual level to do what’s necessary to put this into effect."

But Pitney says supporters saw an opportunity with the special session and took it.

"From their perspective it seemed like a logical thing to do at the time," he says. "But in hindsight if they wanted it to go into effect more quickly it might have been wiser to do it in the regular session."

The special session might drag on because lawmakers are supposed to approve a new structure for taxing health plans to fund Medi-Cal. It's a complicated debate. The federal government says California’s current structure doesn’t meet federal standards.  

The law is facing challenges on another front as well. Today the Secretary of State announced opponents have been cleared to begin collecting signatures for a referendum to overturn it.   

Governor Jerry Brown today approved contracts with the Professional Engineers in California Government and the California Association of Professional Scientists. Union members must now ratify the three-year agreements. The contracts require union members to contribute to their retiree health benefits beginning in July, 2017.

Brown also signed legislation designed to revitalize low-income neighborhoods in California. The measure allows local governments to dedicate property tax revenue to improve communities where the annual median household income is less than 80 percent of the statewide median. The bill is in response to the state’s dissolution of local redevelopment agencies in 2011.

A new law signed by Governor Jerry Brown today will require children under the age of 2 to ride in rear-facing child seats. The law will apply unless a child weighs at least 40 pounds or is at least 40 inches tall.

Another measure adds certified midwives to the list of Medi-Cal eligible comprehensive prenatal services providers.

Under another bill school districts will have to act within 60 days of receiving a petition to add a non-voting student representative to the board.

The practice of "bandit towing" will be further limited under another bill signed into law. Tow trucks that show up at the scene of an accident will have to present drivers with a detailed estimate of charges. It also limits towing fees and requires additional documentation.

The bill would limit the use of antibiotics in livestock. Beginning in 2018 a veterinarian would have to approve the medication. Over-the-counter sales would also be eliminated.

Jason Pfeifle is with CALPIRG, a consumer advocacy group. He says when animals are given too many antibiotics they can develop drug-resistant bacteria which can be passed to humans.

"Antibiotic-resistance is a serious health crisis which results in nearly 23,000 American deaths each year," he says.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says two-million Americans contract antibiotic-resistant infections every year.

The California Cattleman’s Association is neutral on the bill, but worked with the author. Justin Oldfield is with the California Cattlemen’s Association. He says the bill provides for some flexibility.

"The bill does allow veterinarians and ranchers working in collaboration with each other to ensure that antibiotics can still be used for, not only disease treatment, but prevention where appropriate," he says.

Oldfield says farmers and ranchers want to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics which also treat and prevent diseases in animals. 

The Legislature began its final week of session Tuesday with the Senate and Assembly taking action on a number of bills.

The Assembly advanced a measure that would require law enforcement agencies in California to obtain warrants before accessing data on electronic devices, like cell phones or tablets. It would also apply to information stored with online service providers.

The bill drew bi-partisan support, including from Republican Assemblyman Jay Obernolte. He held up his cell phone while presenting the bill.

"The device that I hold in my hand is capable of storing and recording not only every letter that I’ve ever written," he says, "but every person that I’ve ever met, every photograph that I’ve ever taken, every book I’ve ever read and the GPS coordinates of every place that I’ve ever visited."

Obernotle says California’s electronic privacy laws are still governed by a federal law passed in the 1980’s.

Opponents of the measure said it would make it policing child pornography more difficult.

It now returns to the Senate for a final vote.

The Assembly also  approved a measure that would require day care workers in the state to be vaccinated.

Democrat Ian Calderon says the bill will protect children.

"Numerous expert bodies including the Center of Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health recommend that those who care for young children receive important immunizations," he says. "Because until they are fully vaccinated children rely on those around them to maintain community immunity."

The bill now returns to the Senate for a final vote.

Assembly members also approved a bill expanding the list of misdemeanors that can result in a 10-year ban on firearm possession and purchases. It heads back to the Senate as well.

The Assembly gave final approval to a bill that would ban plastic micro-beads from personal care products. It now goes to the governor.

The Senate passed a bill that would prohibit public schools from using the term "Redskins" beginning in 2017.

Senator Marty Block led the effort for the bill’s passage.

"AB 30 will phase out the use of the derogatory racial slur Redskins as school team name, mascot or nickname," he says.

The Senate also approved a measure that would require police agencies to produce annual reports on all use-of-force incidents. 

Both bills return to the Assembly for a final vote.

Home healthcare workers in California could receive overtime pay beginning this fall. A federal appeals court Friday reinstated a federal Department of Labor rule requiring home healthcare workers be paid overtime.

Last year California decided to pay workers overtime, but Governor Jerry Brown halted implementation until the federal court case was decided. H.D. Palmer is with the governor’s department of finance.

"We anticipate that right now the regulations would not come back online until mid-October," he says. "But that could be affected by whether or not there is an appeal of this ruling to the US Supreme Court."

Palmer says $270 million has already been set aside to cover overtime costs. Workers will be paid time-and-a-half if they work more than 40 hours a week. However, they are limited to 66 hours a week.