Senator Nancy Skinner

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, chair of the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, announced today the staff who will take on the leadership roles for the committee: Elisa Wynne is now staff director and Scott Ogus is deputy director. Both Wynne and Ogus are longtime staff for the Budget Committee. Previously, Wynne was the committee’s deputy director.

The state Senate Judiciary Committee today is scheduled to vote on Senate Joint Resolution 12, legislation by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins, D-San Diego, that urges Congress to act to enshrine the Equal Rights Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. Now that the ERA has been ratified by the necessary three-fourths of states, SJR 12 calls on Congress to approve House Resolution 891, authored by Congresswoman Jackie Speier, and recognize the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, announced the introduction today of SB 1142, which is designed to expand and strengthen access to reproductive care, not only for Californians, but for those who seek services here.

After hearings conducted by both the California state Assembly and Senate budget committees, SB 118, a budget trailer bill that will safeguard student enrollment at UC Berkeley and prevent student enrollment from being treated as a separate project under CEQA, passed the Legislature unanimously today.

SB 118 remedies the court-issued cap on UC Berkeley’s enrollment for this fall, while preserving the requirement that long-range development plans of California’s public higher education campuses be fully reviewed for their environmental impacts.

State Senate Budget Committee Chair Nancy Skinner today praised the Legislature’s agreement to take action on AB 168/SB 118, a budget trailer bill that would safeguard student enrollment at UC Berkeley and remove the singling out of student enrollment as a separate project under CEQA. The agreement would also preserve the requirement that long-range development plans of California’s public higher education campuses be fully reviewed for their environmental impacts.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, today introduced SB 993, which would expand and enhance services for crime victims in California. The legislation would improve access to financial resources available to survivors and increase the amount they can receive from the California Victim Compensation Board. SB 993 would also remove barriers that prevent many crime survivors from receiving assistance, and lessen racial disparities that have impacted access to services.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, today announced the introduction of SB 1200, which would reduce excessively high interest rates that California courts levy when issuing legal judgments on consumer and personal debt. It would also limit the amount of time that Californians can be burdened with long-term debt.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, today announced the introduction of a legislative package designed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help avoid catastrophic climate change. Sen. Skinner’s 2022 climate package includes bills that would slash emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, speed up the state’s transition to zero emissions vehicles, help decarbonize California’s cement industry, and accelerate the state’s use of a game-changing clean energy source — green hydrogen.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, today announced the introduction of SB 1083, Helping Families Out of Homelessness. SB 1083 would nearly triple the amount of time that homeless families can live in temporary housing to help ensure they can find permanent housing and avoid the cycle of homelessness.

SB 1083 would also reform California law so that low-income families facing eviction can receive benefits more quickly and avoid becoming unsheltered. SB 1083 would also expand temporary housing benefits to low-income pregnant people.

California state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, today introduced SB 878, Road to Success. It would establish a state-funded program to ensure that every TK-12 public school student in California gets transportation to and from school each day.

“Getting to and from school should never be a barrier to student success. The research is clear: Students with school-provided transportation miss far fewer days and are more likely to graduate,” Sen. Skinner said. “SB 878, Road to Success, will ensure that not having a ride is never again the reason for a child to miss school.”