Caucus News

SACRAMENTO, CA – Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin) today praised Gov. Gavin Newsom for issuing an executive order that makes it easier for domestic violence shelters, which provide life-saving emergency services for victims, to receive state funds during this pandemic.

The governor’s order waives the 10% matching state requirement that shelters need to reach in order to receive state funding.  

SACRAMENTO – The Senate Environmental Quality Committee today approved SB 995 by Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego), legislation that will help ease California’s affordable housing crisis by extending California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) streamlining for large-scale projects and expanding the streamlining process to make more small projects eligible.

SACRAMENTO – Legislation from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that would help expedite and improve emergency evacuations in disasters such as wildfires by authorizing municipalities across the state to use European-style “hi-lo” sirens in patrol vehicles cleared a key committee today with unanimous support.

Senator Holly J. Mitchell blocks cuts to King Hospital and other safety net programs

The Corporate Disclosure Act, SB 972, by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, won approval today from the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on a 4-2 vote. SB 972 would, for the first time, allow public access to specific tax information on the largest corporations doing business in California.

SACRAMENTO – Sen. Bill Dodd and Assemblymember Adam Gray today introduced key amendments to their sports wagering legislation that would lift the practice out of the shadows while generating hundreds of millions of dollars a year to help close a massive state budget deficit caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

SACRAMENTO – The Senate Governance and Finance Committee today approved SB 1120 by Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego), legislation that will help ease California’s affordable housing crisis by streamlining the process for a homeowner to create a duplex or subdivide an existing lot in all residential areas.

Sacramento, Calif.- Today, Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) issued the following statement regarding her legislation, SB 1130, which passed the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee with bi-partisan support by a vote of 11-2. SB 1130 aims to close the digital divide for Californians in poor urban and rural areas by updating the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to encourage deployment of 21st century-ready high-speed broadband internet in unserved areas. 

Sacramento, California – State Senator Anthony J. Portantino’s (D–La Cañada Flintridge) SB 1299 has passed the Senate Housing Committee with strong bi-partisan support. 

Sacramento, CA – The work of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy preserving open space in the Santa Monica Mountains would be made easier with a bill that just passed the Senate Natural Resources Committee.

The legislation, proposed by Senator Ben Allen, would save the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) time and resources by cutting red tape and allowing for more direct coordination between Conservancy staff and property owners during land encroachment negotiations.