Inventory of the Tom Harman Papers

Processed by Paul Rendes

California State Archives

1020 "O" Street

Sacramento, California 95814

Phone: (916) 653-2246

Fax: (916) 653-7363

Email: ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov

URL: http://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/

Inventory of the Tom Harman Papers

Collection number: LP468

California State Archives

Office of the Secretary of State

Sacramento, California

Processed by:: Paul Rendes
Date Completed:: July 2015
Encoded by:: Paul Rendes

Descriptive Summary

Title: Tom Harman Papers

Dates: 2001-2012

Collection number: LP468

Creator: Tom Harman, California Legislator

Collection Size: 7 cubic feet, including 2 DVD videodiscs

Repository: California State Archives

Sacramento, California

Abstract: California legislator Tom Harman served as a State Assembly Member from 2001-2006, and as a State Senator from 2006-2012. The Tom Harman Papers consist of 7 cubic feet of physical and digital records reflecting the interests and political activities of Harman during his term in the California State Legislature. The records contain one series: bill files from 2001-2012.

Physical location: California State Archives

Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

Administrative Information

Restrictions

While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions are noted in the record series descriptions.

Publication Rights

For permission to reproduce or publish, please consult California State Archives staff. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement that may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives' collections.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Tom Harman papers, LP468:[folder number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

California State Archives acquired the Tom Harman papers, in a series of seven record transfers, beginning in 2004 (Accession Numbers: 2004-049, 2004-192, 2006-095, 2007-177, 2009-032, 2010-021, and 2012-183).

Biography

Tom Harman, Republican, was a State Assembly Member from 2000 to 2006, and a State Senator from 2006 to 2012. As an Assembly Member, Harman represented the 67th district, which included the Orange County communities of Cypress Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos, most of La Palma, and parts of Westminster, Buena Park, Garden Grove, Anaheim, and Rossmoor. As a State Senator, Harman represented the 35th district, which included communities in Orange County such as Costa Mesa, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and most of Garden Grove, Irvine, and Westminster.

Harman was born on May 30, 1941, in Pasadena, California. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Kansas State University in 1963. Five years later, in 1968, Harman received a law degree from Loyola of Los Angeles School of Law. He is also a veteran of the United States Army, serving from 1963 to 1965. Following his military career and prior to becoming a California Legislator, Harman was a private attorney with his own practice in Huntington Beach. He, and his wife, Dianne, have two children: Michael and Michelle.

Harman was a member of the Orange County Bar Association; Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce; Huntington Beach Tomorrow; Bolsa Chica Land Trust; and the Sierra Club. Additionally, Harman was the president of the Huntington Beach Youth Shelter as well as the Huntington Beach Rotary Club. Moreover, Harman served on the Huntington Beach City Council from 1995 to 2000.

Harman was elected to the State Assembly in 2000, replacing Scott Baugh, Republican Floor Leader. Six years later, in June 2006, Harman was elected to the Senate in a special election, replacing John Campbell. Harman served as a State Senator until the end of his term in 2012.

According to the California Legislature at Sacramento (Handbooks), Assembly Final History, and Senate Final History, Tom Harman served on the following committees:

California State Assembly, 2001-2006

Standing Committees
Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media, 2005-2006
Budget, 2001-2004
Governmental Organization, 2001-2004
Judiciary, 2001-2006
*Vice Chair, 2001-2006
Local Government, 2001-2002
Natural Resources, 2001-2006
Revenue and Taxation, 2001-2004
Veterans Affairs, 2001-2002
Select Committees
Air and Water Quality, 2001-2006
California Horse Racing Industry, 2001-2004
Coastal Protection, 2003-2004
Department of Motor Vehicles, 2001-2002
Future of California’s Film Industry, 2001-2002
Future of Farming in California, 2001-2002
Nanotechnology and Emerging Technologies, 2005-2006
National Defense, Technology and Jobs, 2003-2004
Privacy, 2003-2004
Runaway Production, 2003-2004
Sustainability, 2003-2004
Underground Water Quality, 2001-2004
*Vice Chair, 2001-2004
Subcommittees
Resources, No. 3 (Budget), 2001-2004
Joint Committees
Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2005-2006

California State Senate, 2006-2012

Standing Committees
Banking, Finance, and Insurance, 2009-2010
Budget and Fiscal Review, 2007-2010
Business, Professions and Economic Development, 2007-2008
Governmental Organization, 2007-2010
*Vice Chair, 2009-2010
Human Services, 2007-2008
*Vice Chair, 2007-2008
Health, 2011-2012
*Vice Chair, 2011-2012
Judiciary, 2006-2012
*Vice Chair, 2007-2012
Labor and Industrial Relations, 2006
Legislative Ethics, 2011-2012
Local Government, 2006-2008
Public Safety, 2011-2012
Revenue and Taxation, 2007-2008
Transportation and Housing, 2007-2012
Select Committees
Appropriations - Fiscal Oversight and Bonded Indebtedness, 1997-2004
*Chair, 2003-2004
Education - Higher Education, 2004
Select Committees
Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, 2007-2010
Biotechnology, 2007-2010
Biotechnology-New Jobs for a Healthy Economy, 2011-2012
California Horse Racing Industry, 2007-2010
California Job Creation and Retention, 2009-2010
California’s Film and Television Industries, 2011-2012
Coastal Protection and Watershed Conservation, 2007-2008
Defense and Aerospace Industry, 2007-2008
Delta Conservation, Conveyance, and Governance, 2009-2010
Delta Stewardship and Sustainability, 2009-2012
Disaster and Emergency Response, 2009-2010
Green Jobs, Solar Wind, and Clean Technologies, 2011-2012
Manufactured Homes and Communities, 2007-2010
OC Infrastructure and Technology, 2007-2008
The Environment, the Economy, and Climate Change, 2011-2012
Wetlands, 2003-2004
Women and Children in the Criminal Justice System, 2009-2010
Subcommittees
California Ports and Goods Movement (Transportation and Housing), 2009-2010
State Administration, General Government, Judicial and Transportation, No. 4 (Budget and Fiscal Review), 2007-2008
State Administration, General Government, Judicial and Veterans Affairs, No. 4 (Budget and Fiscal Review), 2009-2010
Joint Committees
Fairs, Allocation and Classification, 2009-2012
Rules, 2011-2012

Scope and Content

The Tom Harman papers consist of 7 cubic feet of textual and digital records. The records consist of one record series: Bill Files, covering the years 2001 to 2012. The bill files document Harman's career in the California legislature, both as an Assembly Member and as a State Senator. The bills introduced by Harman include a wide array of subjects. The most common subjects pertain to the legal system, alcoholic program licensing, and California horse racing. Lesser subjects include, but are not limited to, California tax laws, unauthorized aliens, land conservation, and the issuance of fishing and hunting licenses.

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Harman, Tom

Horse Racing-Betting-California

Prisons-Law and legislation-California

Alcohol-Law and legislation

LP468:1-122

Series 1 Bill Files 2001-2012

Physical Description: 122 file folders, 2 DVD videodiscs

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically by legislative session, then numerically by bill number.

Access Information

Access to audiovisual material requires the production of use copies.

Scope and Content Note

Bill files created by Tom Harman may include bill analyses, conflict letters, amendments, resolutions, support and opposition letters, background information, author's statements, testimony, press releases, editorials and newspaper clippings, correspondence, and committee statements.

Particularly notable legislation of Harman related to the California prison system. For instance, SB636 (2007-2008) proposed establishing a system of review of cases in which a death sentence is imposed in order to improve the accuracy, completeness, and justice of review proceedings, allow for the full and fair examination of all legally cognizable post-conviction issues, and eliminate unreasonable and unjust delays in the resolution of post-conviction issues by reducing the number of proceedings in capital cases. Similarly, SB1018 (2009-2010) questioned the implementation of the death penalty and its constitutionality.

In addition, Harman authored several bills related to alcoholic program licensing. For example, SB268 (2009-2010) proposed requiring persons or entities applying for licensure of an alcoholic or drug abuse recovery treatment facility from the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (DADP) to certify that the facility complies with local zoning ordinances. Harman's SB268 bill file also includes two DVD videodiscs of an Assembly Health Committee hearing, held on July 7, 2009, addressing the legislation (see LP468:101).

Furthermore, Harman was interested in legislation pertaining to the California horse racing industry. AB413 (2001-2002) required one half of one percent of the total amount wagered at each satellite wagering facility on out of state and international quarter horse races be distributed to the official quarter horse registering agency to supplement the purses for the “California Bred Quarter Horse Championship Races,” to be approved by the California Horse Racing Board. Another significant bill pertaining to California horse racing was AB667 (2003-2004), which was designed to preserve the integrity of the sport, stating that any racetrack employee or member of the California Horse Racing Board attempting to affect the outcome of a horse race would be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of $10,000 or ten times any amount that was paid to commit this offense, and up to a six month incarceration in a county jail.

Also noteworthy, Harman authored AB377 (2001-2002), which proposed to conform California tax law to federal law to allow taxpayers to account for profits between a domestic and a Puerto Rico-affiliated company by splitting the profits and assigning fifty percent of the profits to each entity. Moreover, he also introduced SB105 (2009-2010), a bill that implemented a California Law Revision Commission recommendation to improve existing probate code provisions that presume the invalidity of gifts to specified classes of persons.

2001-2002: AB15-AB2870; ACR124; AB115X; AB43XX (28ff) LP468:1-28

2003-2004: AB13-AB2932; ACA10-ACA29; ACR181-ACR182 (28ff) LP468:29-56

2005-2006: AB14-AB2864; ACA13-ACA26; ACR131 (16ff) LP468:57-72

2007-2008: SB3-SB1541; SCA8; SCR48-SCR116; SB11X (25ff) LP468:73-97

2009-2010: SB105-SB1364; SCA27; SCR46-SCR108; SR50; SB8X_60 (16ff) LP468:98-113

2011-2012: SB5-SB1534; SCR13; SJR4-SJR25 (9ff) LP468:114-122