Caucus News

SACRAMENTO ­– Today, Senate Bill 796 passed out of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Water with strong bipartisan support. This bill, authored by Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), will allow the County of Los Angeles to return the beachfront property known as Bruce’s Beach to the descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce, from whom it was wrongfully taken in 1929.

SACRAMENTO – At the end of life, some of our most vulnerable members of society live in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), more than 9,000 of whom lost their lives due to COVID-19 in California over the last year.  The large number of nursing home deaths have led a number of state lawmakers to focus on the conditions inside nursing homes, including focusing on the cost of letting unwieldy corporate profiteering go unexamined and unchecked.  

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) released the following statement after her bill, SB 559—the State Water Resiliency Act of 2021—was approved by the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee by a 6-0 vote:

Sacramento – Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s legislation, Senate Bill 110, passed the Senate Health Committee with a bipartisan vote of 10-0. This legislation will address the worsening methamphetamine addiction crisis facing our state. The Recovery Incentives Act legalizes the substance use disorder treatment known as “contingency management,” and authorizes Medi-Cal to cover it.

Sacramento - Senate Bill 57, authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), has passed the Senate by a vote of 21-11. It now heads to the Assembly. This legislation legalizes overdose prevention programs, also known as safe consumption sites or safe injection sites, as a pilot program in San Francisco, Oakland, and the County of Los Angeles. Each of the pilot jurisdictions has requested to be included in the legislation, and each will decide locally whether to participate and to what extent.

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) legislation, Senate Bill 379, the Equitable and Inclusive UC Healthcare Act, passed the Senate Health Committee by a vote of 9-2.

SACRAMENTO – Legislation from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, to help ensure the conservation of big game habitats in California through public-private partnerships with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, cleared a key committee today.

The California Senate has passed Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 18, titled “Compassionate California”. Introduced into the Senate by Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), the Resolution would declare California to be the first Compassionate State in the United States of America. The Resolution passed the Senate with no opposition (32-0) and now heads to the Assembly Floor for a vote before it is officially enacted.

SACRAMENTO – Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s legislation, Senate Bill 617, the Solar Access Act, has passed the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee by a bipartisan vote of 12-2. SB 617 implements automated solar permitting in counties with a population over 150,000. This will allow for on-the-spot approvals of residential solar and solar-plus-storage systems, which will greatly decrease wait times, cut permitting costs for local governments and homeowners, and help California meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

SACRAMENTO, CA – The State Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee today passed a bill by Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) that will create a critical funding infrastructure to help small nonprofit performing arts companies continue to be an important social justice vehicle for marginalized voices.