SACRAMENTO – A new law authored by Sen. Catherine S. Blakespear, D-Encinitas, banning the use of plastic bags at grocery store checkouts takes effect on Thursday, helping to reduce the immense plastic waste created by California that is polluting the ocean and environment, killing wildlife and endangering public health.

SACRAMENTO – Sen. Catherine S. Blakespear, D-Encinitas, will continue as Chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and in her current legislative assignments but will also join a committee focused on emergency management and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.

Senator Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Colton) issued a statement in response to Senate Leader Limón’s announcement of 2026 Committee Membership Appointments.

Senator Sasha Renée Pérez joined affordable housing champions Wednesday in Altadena to announce $4 million in state budget investments to bring more Eaton Fire survivors home.

SANTA ROSA—With the urgent need for more firefighters across California, Senator Mike McGuire (D-North Coast) has secured the final $1 million needed to finish construction of a state-of-the-art firefighter training tower for Santa Rosa Junior College’s (SRJC) Fire Academy, one of the largest in the region.

SAN FRANCISCO – The Trump Administration released a draft rule to ban gender affirming care across the U.S. by withholding federal funding from hospitals that provide it.

SACRAMENTO – Last week, at a joint hearing of the California Seante Environmental Quality and Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committees, Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) announced that he will introduce language into Senate Bill 58 that will update California’s air quality standard for hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a gas that is found at high concentrations in the Tijuana River Valley and the Salton Sea region. California’s hydrogen sulfide standard has not been updated since 1969.

SACRAMENTO – Sen. Catherine S. Blakespear, D-Encinitas, issued the following statement Monday regarding the recently issued SB 125 Transit Transformation Task Force Final Report:

South Los Angeles has achieved an extraordinary milestone with the California Arts Council’s unanimous vote to officially designate the area as the state’s first ever Black Cultural District.

SACRAMENTO – State Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) released the following statement today in response to the recent gun violence at Brown University and in Sydney, Australia: