(a) The commission and the department may do anything that is deemed necessary and proper to publicize and distribute a regulation governed by this article so that persons likely to be affected will be informed of them. The failure of the commission to provide any notice of a regulation governed by this article, beyond what is required by Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, does not impair the validity of the regulations.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the commission and the department may contract with private entities to print regulations governed by this article, and other public information. The printing contract shall include criteria to ensure that the public information provided in the publication is easy to reference, read, and understand.

(c) Printing contracts authorized by this section for which no state funds are expended are not subject to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 10290) of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, except for Article 2 (commencing with Section 10295) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code.

(d) Material printed pursuant to subdivision (b) that contains advertisements shall meet all specifications prescribed by the department. The printed material shall not contain advertisements for tobacco products, alcohol, firearms, and devices prohibited pursuant to Section 32625 of the Penal Code, Article 2 (commencing with Section 30600) of Chapter 2 of Division 10 of Title 4 of Part 6 of the Penal Code, or any provision listed in Section 16590 of the Penal Code, or firearms not authorized by the commission as a legal method of sport hunting, political statements, solicitations for membership in organizations, or any other statement, solicitation, or product advertisement that is in conflict with the purposes for which the material is produced, as determined by the commission.

(e) Neither the department nor the commission shall contract with private entities to print the materials described in subdivision (b) if the letting of those contracts will result in the elimination of civil service positions.

(f) The department or the license agent may give a copy of the current applicable published regulations governed by this article to each person issued a license, at the time the license is issued.

(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 546, Sec. 18. (SB 1473) Effective January 1, 2017.)