Senator Nancy Skinner

Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, announced today Senate Bill 776, also known as “Ban the Box for Higher Education.” SB 776 would bar California colleges and universities from asking applicants about their criminal history. The new legislation would apply to all public and private colleges and to all undergraduate and postgraduate programs.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, issued the following statement today on the public safety proposals in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2020-21 budget:

“As chair of the Senate’s Public Safety committees, I welcome the governor’s innovative proposals to modernize California’s criminal justice system, including his plan to close a state prison and shutter privately run prisons. I look forward to working with his team to help bring the era of mass incarceration to an end and to enact additional reforms to our prison system.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, issued the following statement today on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2020-21 budget proposal:

“Gov. Newsom has issued a thoughtful and powerful 2020-21 budget, one that delivers on our homeless and housing crisis, increases funding for wildfire and disaster response and preparedness, and tackles costly prescription drugs and our teen vaping epidemic, while still saving significantly for a future downturn.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, released the following statement on two rulings today by California’s Fourth Appellate District Court, upholding the constitutionality of her 2018 legislation, Senate Bill 1437:

State Senators Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, released the following statements on the NCAA Board of Governors’ announcement today on “enhancing name, image, and likeness opportunities” for college athletes.

Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed into law Senate Bill 330, the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. SB 330 is designed to speed up housing construction in California during the next half-decade by slashing the time it takes to obtain building permits, limiting fee increases on housing applications, and barring local governments from reducing the number of homes that can be built.

Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed into law Senate Bill 310, also known as “The Right to a Jury of Your Peers,” by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. SB 310 allows people with a prior felony conviction to serve on juries in California for the first time. It will also help ensure that the fundamental right to a jury of your peers applies to all defendants.

Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed into law Senate Bill 394 by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. SB 394 is aimed at keeping children with their parents when a parent or guardian is charged with a nonserious, nonviolent crime by allowing counties to create a pretrial caregiver diversion program. Such a program would allow a primary caregiver of a dependent child to enter alternative supervision and avoid incarceration — if both the judge and the prosecutor agrees.

In a historic moment for college athletes, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 206, the Fair Pay to Play Act, by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Sen. Steve Bradford, D-Gardena. SB 206 makes California the first state to restore to student athletes a right everyone else has: the right to earn money from their name, image, and likeness.

Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed into law Senate Bill 44, “Ditching Dirty Diesel,” by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. SB 44 will help California move away from pollution-spewing, petroleum-diesel trucks and accelerate the transition to zero emission fuels and technologies for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.