California AB 145, which bans paying registration drive workers on a per-card basis, is not dead for this year’s session after all. The office of Assemblyman Richard Pan had said on August 20 that his bill is dead. But, it turns out that is not true. The bill is in the Senate Rules Committee. Although the general rule is that bills had to be out of Committee by August 17 in order to be alive, that rule doesn’t apply to the Rules Committee.

Senate President Darrell Steinberg is chair of the Senate Rules Committee, and he supports the bill. The bill would make it far more difficult for minor parties to qualify, or remain qualified, for the California ballot, because only having registration of 1% of the last gubernatorial vote will keep a party on the ballot. Anyone who has concerns about this bill should phone Senator Steinberg’s office at 916-651-4006, or e-mail him at darrell.steinberg@sen.ca.gov. UPDATE: the bill has passed Rules Committee and is on the Senate floor. It may pass as early as Monday, August 27.

The bill has been amended so that there is no longer any penalty for anyone who does pay on a per-registration card basis. The penalty was removed from the bill to avoid the need to send it through the Public Safety Committee. A similar bill, AB 2058, already died in that committee earlier this year.