Caucus News

The 2017-18 budget first with L.A. Democrat as new head of panel

SACRAMENTO – Sen. Holly J. Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, released the following statement in response to Gov. Brown signing the 2017-18 budget today:

(SACRAMENTO, CA)  - The state budget signed today by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. included $1.5 million for the California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery (CCCVC).  This funding is necessary for Phase II development and expansion of the Cemetery and was secured by Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel) and Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay).

SACRAMENTO – The Assembly Public Safety Committee today approved five criminal and juvenile justice reform bills to improve public safety, keep young people out of the juvenile justice system and end longstanding inequities in California’s juvenile and criminal justice systems.

Sponsored jointly by Los Angeles-area Sens. Ricardo Lara and Holly Mitchell, the measures are  their #EquityAndJustice package and will now move to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. No hearing date has yet been set.

Measures comprise package by Sens. Lara and Mitchell

SACRAMENTO – The Assembly Public Safety Committee today approved five criminal and juvenile justice reform bills to improve public safety, keep young people out of the juvenile justice system and end longstanding inequities in California’s juvenile and criminal justice systems.

SACRAMENTO – As the White House and Republican Congress continue to threaten federal funding for family planning services in their latest healthcare proposal, a bill by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) to create a specialized pro-choice license plate with proceeds benefiting reproductive healthcare in California has passed the Assembly Transportation Committee. The vote was 11-3.

SACRAMENTO – The Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee today approved legislation by Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, to jump start California’s six-year-old, rigs-to-reefs program.

SB 588 establishes a clear process for how the program will be funded by oil companies and how the state will decide if a decommissioned oil rig can be converted into an artificial reef instead of fully removing it from the ocean.

SACRAMENTO – Senator Dr. Ed Hernandez, O.D., (D-West Covina) issued the following statement on the recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office of the U.S. Senate Republican health care bill:

Sacramento, CA – Working hand-in-hand with the Ceres Project in the North Bay Area, Project Open Hand in San Francisco, Health Trust in San Jose, Project Angel Food in Los Angeles and others, Senator Mike McGuire has secured $6 million over three years for an innovative first-of-its-kind healthy food pilot project for low income Californians with chronic health diseases. 

SACRAMENTO – Legislation by Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, to encourage transit agencies to set up their own administrative processes for citing and fining people who ride without paying fare and other violations was passed today by the Assembly Transportation Committee.

SB 614 was approved on a 12-1 vote and goes next to the Assembly floor. The bill has already passed the Senate.

Sacramento, CA – On Thursday, June 22, AB 114, a very important budget trailer bill, passed the State Senate.  Included in AB 114 is a five-year extension of funding for the University of California’s Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program (UCBCP).  The current funding of this lifesaving cancer treatment effort is set to sunset on January 1, 2018.