Caucus News

Senator María Elena Durazo, alongside co-authors Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), and Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), has introduced SB 575 to reform the Department of Toxic Substances Control's (DTSC) formula for the Violations Scoring Procedure (VSP). DTSC uses the VSP to evaluate a hazardous waste facility’s compliance history with environmental regulations. However, DTSC’s current formula for the VSP obscures the impact and magnitude of harm caused by facilities to communities and the environment.

For Immediate Release
MENLO PARK – State Senator Josh Becker called for the state and counties to swiftly align their guidance on distancing in schools with the recommendation issued today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protections.

Sacramento, California – Senate Bill 15, a measure authored Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – La Canada) which gives incentives to cities that convert abandoned retail sites into affordable and workforce housing, passed the Senate Housing Committee today

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s legislation, Senate Bill 379, the Equitable and Inclusive UC Healthcare Act, passed the Senate Education Committee by a vote of 5-2. 

SACRAMENTO – Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s legislation to expand eligibility for who can run for Sheriff, Senate Bill 271, passed the Senate Public Safety Committee by a vote of 4-1. It now heads to the Senate Governance and Finance Committee.

Sacramento - Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s criminal justice reform legislation, Senate Bill 243, passed the Senate Public Safety Committee with a unanimous bipartisan vote. It will now head to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SACRAMENTO – The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), in partnership with the Bureau of Cannabis Control, today announced $15 million in grant awards through the Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local Jurisdictions. This program seeks to advance economic justice for populations and communities disproportionately affected by cannabis prohibition by providing funding to local jurisdictions that are committed to promoting equity in the legal cannabis marketplace and eliminating barriers to entering this industry.

SACRAMENTO ­– This past week, Senator Bradford (D-Gardena) and Senate President pro Tempore Atkins (D-San Diego) amended Senate Bill 2, the Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act of 2021, to increase accountability for law enforcement officers that commit serious misconduct and illegally violate a person’s civil rights.

I proudly voted to extend Emergency Paid Sick Leave to the very workers who have stayed on the job throughout the pandemic. Their work is enabling us all to recover. They stood by us. We are standing by them. Today hope is not just on the horizon, it is all around us. Yet we must not let our guard down. We must keep our protections in place until we are certain the pandemic is behind us...

SACRAMENTO – Legislation has advanced from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, to expand a successful program allowing low-income seniors and people with disabilities to receive care in the safety of their own homes, reducing the risk of coronavirus infection.

“This program protects people who would be most at risk while saving taxpayer dollars that would be spent on outside care,” Sen. Dodd said. “Even as vaccines are administered and the pandemic wanes, we must continue to allow our most vulnerable the choice of staying in their homes to improve the quality of their lives.”