As discussed in this posting from last October, the legislature enacted AB 1743 to require placement agents for funds and advisers seeking access to CalPERS or other California public retirement systems to register as lobbyists. Although I had commented on the bill, I was less than pleased with the final product.

Senator Ed Hernandez, who authored AB 1743, recently introduced a bill, SB 398. This new bill will likely serve as a vehicle for addressing some of the problems with AB 1743. As introduced, SB 398 makes only insignificant changes. In fact, they are so minor that the Legislative Counsel’s office didn’t even mark them as required. See Joint Rule of the Senate and Assembly No. 10.