Caucus News

NAPA – Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, issued the following statement today regarding responses to last week’s PG&E power shutoff from Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Public Utilities President Marybel Batjer:

SACRAMENTO, CA – Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senator Melissa Hurtado’s (D-Sanger) legislation, SB 260, 453, and 490, which will go into effect January 1, 2020.

Sacramento, California – Our Kids win today as State Senator Anthony J. Portantino’s (D – La Cañada Flintridge) school start time bill SB 328 has been signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. California will become the first state in the country to mandate that high schools and middle schools start later in the morning.  The bill is based on over three decades of research on teen health, sleep patterns and brain chemistry.  SB 328 seeks to align school start times with the biology of teens.

NAPA – Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, announced today that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed his legislation to allow the construction of low-income housing under the Napa Pipe mixed-use development.

“Thanks to Gov. Newsom for signing this bill, which allows the county and city to work together to address our housing shortage,” Sen. Dodd said. “Napa is now a step closer to getting this long-sought project, which will help bring affordable and market-rate housing for our workforce and reduce commute traffic.”

SACRAMENTO – Delivering a big victory for California workers and consumers, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed SB 707, jointly authored by Senator Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), to deter companies that have forced their customers and employees into arbitration from obstructing the process by refusing to pay the required arbitration fees.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 227, a bill by Senator Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) to protect patient safety and reinforce nurse staffing ratio requirements in California.

Specifically, SB 227 will require the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to conduct unannounced visits to hospitals to inspect for compliance with nurse staffing ratio requirements.  The proposal empowers CDPH to enforce the nurse staffing ratios by fining hospitals that repeatedly create unsafe conditions for patient care.

SACRAMENTO – Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) announced today that Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 265, a bill that will end the practice of lunch shaming students whose parents have outstanding school lunch debt.

In recent years, the practice of school lunch shaming has come to light. In some school cafeterias, students who haven’t paid lunch fees are directed out of lunch lines and instead given bread and cheese, or their lunches are simply dumped into the garbage while peers look on.

Sacramento, California – Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D- La Cañada Flintridge) has proudly announced that SB 7 has been signed by Governor Newsom.  This final legislative outcome is the culmination of over 20 years of dedication the Senator brought to fighting the 710 freeway and to helping stakeholders in the 710 corridor.  It follows through on a promise that Senator Portantino made to activists, non-profits, and tenants in the 710 region when he negotiated the end of the 710 tunnel threat in December of 201

SACRAMENTO – Senator Bob Wieckowski’s bill to provide conservatees more protection of their benefits and personal residence was signed into law tonight by Governor Newsom.  SB 303 provides greater oversight of the removal of a conservatee from her residence and the sale of her home.

SACRAMENTO – A bill by Senator Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) to enable better oversight of elections at California’s more than 50,000 homeowner associations (HOAs) was signed into law tonight by Governor Gavin Newsom.  SB 323 will rein in boards that have disenfranchised homeowners across the state and add other requirements to ensure fair elections.