State parks.

Existing law establishes the State Park and Recreation Commission within the Department of Parks and Recreation, and sets forth the commission's duties, including, among others, to evaluate and assess the department's deferred maintenance obligations, and to report annually to the Governor on recreational facilities, programs, and activities of the state park system. This bill would require the commission to also evaluate and assess the department's proposed capital outlay and infrastructure expenditures, and would require the commission's annual report to identify any budgetary requests of the commission for consideration by the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, as specified. The bill would authorize the commission to conduct public meetings or hearings on all matters within the jurisdiction of the department, and would require the commission to meet at least quarterly and to achieve geographic balance in the locations at which meetings are held. The bill, if the department proposes to close a state park on or after the 2014–15 fiscal year, would require the department to first provide notice to the commission 6 months in advance, and would also require the Department of Finance to establish a separate line item in the annual Budget Act for any annual appropriations to the commission proposed by the Governor or appropriated by the Legislature. The bill would make various findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to the Department of Parks and Recreation.