Senator Scott Wiener

SACRAMENTO - Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) released the following statement after the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit published a unanimous decision upholding SB 822, California’s Net Neutrality law. Senate Bill 822 was authored by Senator Wiener in 2018, and was signed into law. It has undergone multiple legal attacks from the telecom and cable industries and from the Trump Administration.

SACRAMENTO – Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s legislation, Senate Bill 379, the Solar Access Act, has passed the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 31-1. It now moves to the Assembly to be heard in policy committees. SB 379 implements instant, online solar permitting in counties with over 150,000 residents. This legislation will greatly decrease approval times for residential solar and solar-plus-storage systems, cut permitting costs for local governments and homeowners, and help California meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

SACRAMENTO - Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) reintroduced legislation, Senate Bill 879, also known as the PET (Prohibiting Extraneous Testing) Act. 

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s Senate Bill 467 passed the Senate today with a bipartisan vote of 30-3. SB 467, the End Wrongful Convictions Act, would amend the standards used for evaluating expert testimony and forensics in court pre- and post-conviction. Faulty forensic and scientific evidence, provided by expert witnesses,is the second most common reason that individuals are wrongfully convicted. Today, courts have discretion over which expert testimony is admissible.

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s Senate Bill 260, the Climate Corporate Accountability Act (CCAA), passed the Senate by a vote of 23-7. SB 260 would be the first law in the country to require U.S.-based companies — those doing business in California and generating over $1 billion in gross annual revenue — to disclose all of their greenhouse gas emissions to the California Secretary of State’s office. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will analyze this data and create a report for the Secretary of State to publish online.

SACRAMENTO - Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 858 and Senate Bill 853 to improve patient access to quality health care. SB 858, the Health Plan Accountability Act, updates and increases penalties for health plans that violate state law in denying or delaying insurance coverage. SB 853, the Medication Access Act, requires health plans to cover medications through the duration of any appeals of a denial of insurance coverage.

SACRAMENTO - Three of Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) bills, including legislation to require corporations to report carbon emissions, streamline solar permitting, and end wrongful convictions based on faulty expert witness testimony, will be taken up for a full Senate vote after passing the Senate Appropriation Committee.

The deadline for the Senate to approve these bills is January 31.

SACRAMENTO - Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 866, the Teens Choose Vaccines Act. SB 866 allows young people 12 years and older to get vaccinated without parental consent. SB 866 applies to all vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that meet the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SACRAMENTO – Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s legislation to create more diverse and representative juries, Senate Bill 271, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in a unanimous, bipartisan vote. SB 271, the Fair Federal Juries Act, will expand jury pools in federal courts in California by allowing them to summon jurors using state tax filing lists. This will help create more diverse and demographically representative juries in federal courts, as jurors are currently selected from narrower lists that are more likely to skew wealthier, whiter and generally less diverse.

SACRAMENTO - Senate Bill 57, authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), has passed the Assembly Health Committee by a vote of 9-4.It now heads to the Assembly Public Safety Committee. SB 57 legalizes overdose prevention programs, also known as safe consumption sites or safe injection sites, as pilot programs in San Francisco, Oakland, the City of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles County.