Jerry Hill

Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation today by Senator Jerry Hill to enact reforms that will bring more oversight to the California Public Utilities Commission and enable the agency to better focus on its mission as the state’s utilities regulator.

Prompted by yet another rash of thefts of officers’ guns left in vehicles, State Senator Jerry Hill called today for law enforcement officers and their departments to ensure that guns be stowed safely, securely and out of sight, if it is necessary to leave them in an unattended car. He also urged that maximum penalties be leveled against officers who fail to follow state law and their department’s rules on gun storage.

The state Senate passed more than a dozen bills by Senator Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, this week and sent them to the governor for his consideration as the 2017 legislative year came to a close. In all, 16 bills by Senator Hill were passed by the Legislature this month and sent to Governor Jerry Brown for review. He has until October 15 to act on the legislation and hundreds of other bills that were passed.

SACRAMENTO – Smoking or consuming marijuana in any form while driving or riding in vehicles will be specifically prohibited by law in California come January 1 under a bill by Senator Jerry Hill that Governor Brown signed Monday.

The state Senate approved bills today by Senator Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, to aid the effort to restore public access at Martins Beach and provide a stable funding option for Caltrain, sending the legislation to Governor Brown for his review. Meanwhile, the Assembly passed a bill to ease the cap that limits how much schools districts can hold in their reserve funds as savings. 

San Mateo County would be permitted to take advantage of a process that allows public entities to use a method that ensures best value in construction project contracts in order to expedite the county’s five-year, $500-million capital improvement plan, under Senate Bill 793 by Senator Jerry Hill.

The Assembly approved legislation today by Senator Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, that provides the State Lands Commission with a tool allowing it to acquire public access to Martins Beach, the scenic shoreline south of Half Moon Bay that was closed to the public almost a decade ago when a Silicon Valley billionaire decided to shut a gate to the popular beach.

The Senate passed legislation today by state Senator Jerry Hill to ramp up security measures at California gun stores and make them less vulnerable to break-ins by thieves who use vehicles to batter their way into shops that sell firearms. The bill was inspired by Anthony Lazarus of Redwood City, this year’s winner of Senator Hill’s “Oughta Be a Law…Or Not” contest, who urged the senator to come up with legislation to thwart gun store burglars who use cars as battering rams.

The Assembly Business and Professions Committee casts do-or-die votes on two consumer protection bills by state Senator Jerry Hill that would ensure that patients are notified by their doctor if the physician has been placed on probation for serious professional misconduct, and ensure that state regulators are notified if registered nurses are terminated for – or resign because of – offenses that endangered or harmed patients.

“Arnold Lee was a great believer in community empowerment, the importance of education, giving back, and paying it forward,” said Senator Hill. “His many career and volunteer efforts, often in leadership roles, attest to his strong commitment to honoring his heritage as well as the values that resonate in the country of his birth and in the country in which he made his home. He instilled that great love of community service in others. Arnold Lee also was a family man and was deeply proud of children, his grandchildren, and the 55 years he shared with his wife, Mimi.”