Caucus News

SACRAMENTO – Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa) introduced a new bill to add media literacy education to school curriculums and ensure students have the tools to succeed in the digital age.

San Francisco –  Today San Francisco’s paid parental leave ordinance, which Senator Scott Wiener authored as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, expands to cover workers who work at businesses with 20 or more employees. When the ordinance first went into effect on January 1, 2017, it only applied to businesses with 50 or more employees. Only July 1, 2017, it expanded to include businesses with 35 or more employees. As of today, it applies to businesses with 20 or more employees. 

San Francisco –  Today Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) released the following statements about the bills from his first year in the Senate that are going into effect on January 1, 2018. They include bills to streamline housing production in cities that aren’t meeting their state-mandated housing goals, create an LGBT senior bill of rights for people living in long-term care facilities, modernize HIV criminalization laws, and expand and improve access to CalFresh. 

SACRAMENTO – California State Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) released the following statement today:                            

"On behalf of California’s state senate I wish to convey our thanks to our fearless firefighters for their tireless efforts combating historic wildfires and our heartfelt condolences to those who lost loved ones and homes in the fires.

“The damage caused by these wildfires to property, our environment, our infrastructure and our economy is staggering.

Having built a reputation as a policy wonk during his time on San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) entered his first year in the Legislature determined to pass significant bills on a host of hot button issues, from housing and entertainment to criminal justice reform and LGBT rights.

SACRAMENTO – California State Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) released a video message today announcing he will join colleagues in introducing legislation to preserve net neutrality in California.  This comes after the Federal Communications Commission’s recent decision to repeal safeguards that keep the internet open and free.                                                 

The video message can be viewed in full here.

Below is a transcript of the Senate Leader’s message:

LOS ANGELES – Senate Democrats will introduce legislation in January to mitigate the damage to California taxpayers from the Republican tax scam. The Senate is eager to work with the Assembly, Department of Finance and Governor to shield California families from bearing the cost of a trillion-dollar tax shift from corporations and the very wealthy to middle class working families and California taxpayers.                                          

San Francisco –  Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) released the following statement on how California should respond to the massive corporate tax cut passed by the Republican-controlled Congress, paid for in part by increasing taxes on Californians:

State Senator Jerry Hill announced today that he will introduce a bill to require contractors to report settlements of construction defect cases involving multi-family housing units to the Contractors State License Board as part of the effort to increase oversight of the industry in response to the Berkeley balcony tragedy. Multi-family housing units would include rented or leased apartments and condominiums, and dwellings that are part of a building or complex overseen by a homeowners association.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) introduced the Wildfire Safety and Recovery Act to promote fire prevention efforts and ensure Californians can continue to obtain insurance after a record-setting storm of wildfires.

With global warming fueling ever more destructive fires throughout the state, Californians living in wildland urban interface areas have reported denials and cancellations of insurance coverage.