(a) There is in the Governor’s Office of Service and Community Engagement the California Youth Empowerment Commission. The commission shall consist of 13 voting commissioners to be appointed as follows:
(1) Eleven public members appointed by the Governor, subject to the following requirements:
(A) The terms of these commissioners initially shall be staggered so that five members serve one-year terms and six members serve two-year terms. To achieve the staggering of terms, the Governor shall designate the terms of the present members of the commission who have been appointed by the Governor.
(B) One of the commissioners shall reside, work, or attend school in each region described in subdivision (b), with the exception of the at-large commissioner.
(C) Five of the commissioners shall be between 14 to 18 years of age.
(D) Five of the commissioners shall be between 18 to 25 years of age.
(E) At least five commissioners shall have experienced a physical disability, youth homelessness, foster care, or juvenile incarceration.
(F) One at-large commissioner, who may be between 14 to 25 years of age.
(2) One at-large public member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
(3) One at-large public member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(4) The Governor may appoint alternates for those described in paragraph (1).
(b) For the purposes of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), these regions are defined as follows:
(1) The Superior California region consists of the Counties of Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo, and Yuba.
(2) The North Coast region consists of the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, and Trinity.
(3) The San Francisco Bay area region consists of the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Solano, and the City and County of San Francisco.
(4) The Northern San Joaquin Valley region consists of the Counties of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne.
(5) The Central Coast region consists of the Counties of Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Ventura.
(6) The Southern San Joaquin Valley region consists of the Counties of Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, and Tulare.
(7) The Inland Empire region consists of the Counties of Riverside and San Bernardino.
(8) The Los Angeles region consists of the County of Los Angeles.
(9) The Orange County region consists of the County of Orange.
(10) The San Diego/Imperial region consists of the Counties of Imperial and San Diego.
(c) In addition to subdivision (a), one Member of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, one Member of the Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, the Governor, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Secretary of California Health and Human Services shall serve as nonvoting members of the commission.
(d) All appointing powers shall take into consideration that the members of the commission represent the geographical, racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, physical, and educational diversity of California’s youth. Particular emphasis and funding should be used on reaching out to at-risk or disadvantaged youth to serve as members of the commission, as their participation will provide keen insight into many of the issues that youth face in their day-to-day lives.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 41, Sec. 23. (SB 164) Effective June 29, 2024. Repealed as of January 1, 2030, pursuant to Section 8276.)