Caucus News

The California Legislature adjourned for the year this evening with 16 bills by Senator Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo/Santa Clara counties, awaiting action by the governor, including bills that would establish the nation’s first livestock antibiotic regulation, increase transparency of license plate readers and cell phone stingray trackers, and increase public safety related to earthquake preparedness, pipeline dig-ins, and drunk drivers. The governor – who has already signed four Hill bills – has until October 11 to sign or veto legislation.

Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) issued the following statement today:
New assessment scores of California students reported today remind us that tremendous work needs to be done to ensure our African American and Latino students succeed in school.

SB 660 Restricts Ex-Parte Communication, Sets Standards to Curb Bias within CPUC

(SACRAMENTO, CA) –Assembly Bill (AB) X2 15, the End of Life Option Act, coauthored by Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel), passed off of the Senate Floor today, marking the first time this subject matter has passed out the California Legislature.  On Wednesday, ABX2 15 passed off of the Assembly Floor on a 43-34 vote.

SACRAMENTO – Reducing traffic fines, protecting water supplies and providing incentives for attorneys to perform legal help for working residents are among the proposals by Sen. Bob Hertzberg that await final action by Gov. Jerry Brown.

SACRAMENTO – Lawmakers today endorsed another traffic-fine proposal by Sen. Bob Hertzberg to help working families, strengthen the economy and increase public safety by making it easier for working Californians to live with skyrocketing costs for minor tickets.
The most recent step came today when the Senate approved and sent Gov. Brown Senate Bill 405, which would guarantee Californians the right to challenge many routine traffic tickets without having to first pay the contested fines. 

SACRAMENTO – Lawmakers approved and sent to Gov. Brown a plan to help low-income Californians have greater access to equal justice by using unclaimed funds to help attorneys practice public-interest law.
“Every year, thousands of young lawyers graduate from law school with a desire to launch their careers performing public service,” Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, said today about Senate Bill 134. “Faced with skyrocketing education costs, however, more and more of our finest legal minds are opting to instead go straight into private practice.”

SACRAMENTO – Lawmakers voted for increased openness by approving a plan by Sen. Bob Hertzberg to require local government agencies to make public catalogs of key computer systems.
Gov. Brown now has 30 days to sign Senate Bill 272, veto it or allow the measure to become law without his signature.

Senator Cathleen Galgiani Led Fight in Senate to Eliminate Costly Burden of the Negative Bailout to Stanislaus County

Sacramento- Senator Cathleen Galgiani excitedly announced that Senate Bill 107 containing the “Negative Bailout” fix for Stanislaus County passed the Senate today with a vote of 24-15 . The local government budget bill contained the long sought after fix for Stanislaus County’s costly Negative Bailout.