Senator Scott Wiener

SACRAMENTO – Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced SB 252, the Bear Protection Act. Currently the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) allows hunters to kill up to 1,700 black bears in a single season. This legislation would ban all sport hunting of black bears, while exempting situations in which bears can be killed to protect human safety, public property, livestock, and endangered and threatened species, and for scientific research. SB 252 is sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States.

SACRAMENTO – Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced SB 234, the SUPPORT Act (Supporting Underserved Young People for Positive Resets and Transitions). SB 234 creates a $100 million forgivable loan program to fund new housing, or acquire existing housing, for transition age youth between ages 16 and 26. The housing will be targeted toward young people who are homeless, in or exiting foster care, or exiting the criminal justice system.

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has been named the Chair of the California Senate Mental Health Caucus, which focuses on improving California’s resources and care for mental health and substance use disorder. Senator Wiener was also named the California Marriage and Family Therapist’s “Legislator of the Year” for his work on Senate Bill 855, which was signed into law on January 1st.

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced SB 225: the Bodily Autonomy, Dignity and Choice Act, to provide children and their families a chance to make informed decisions about major surgeries to change variations in the appearance of genitalia and other sex characteristics. Under SB 225, these surgeries will be prohibited when a child is under the age of six (except in the cases where it is medically necessary), allowing for parents to continue to learn with their child and child’s physician regarding the potential need for medical interventions.

Sacramento – Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has introduced SB 110 to address the worsening methamphetamine addiction crisis facing our state. The Recovery Incentives Act legalizes the substance use disorder treatment known as “contingency management,” and authorizes Medi-Cal to cover it. Contingency management has proven to be the most effective method of treatment for methamphetamine addiction, and is frequently used as a treatment program by the Veterans Affairs Administration.

Sacramento - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced SB 221, which would require health plans and insurers to provide patients with timely follow-up care for mental health issues and substance use disorders. California’s current law requires that Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and insurers provide initial care for patients within ten business days following enrollment. But, under current interpretation of the law, health plans and insurers are not required to provide timely subsequent care for patients after an initial appointment.

Sacramento - Today Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced SB 210, the License Plate Privacy Act, which will prevent sensitive Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) data from being misused by law enforcement. The bill will be in print this evening and text of the legislation is available upon request.

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced new legislation, Senate Bill 107, to expand access to CalFresh food benefits for seniors and for all Californians. COVID-19 has exposed the depth of food insecurity in California and the need to shore up our food security safety net.

SB 107 will make it much easier for people to apply for CalFresh, by allowing people to apply by phone (currently, people must apply in person) and by creating a simplified application process for seniors and people with disabilities.

SAN FRANCISCO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) released the following statement regarding armed rioters entering the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.:

Sacramento - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) today announced the introduction of SB 73, legislation that would end mandatory prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. This would repeal state law established during the height of the War on Drugs era in 1986, which enacted these mandatory minimum sentences. The War on Drugs has since been widely acknowledged as a racist policy failure given its foundational role in building the system of mass incarceration that exists in the United States.