Caucus News

Sacramento - Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s criminal justice reform legislation, Senate Bill 243, passed the Senate Public Safety Committee with a unanimous bipartisan vote. It will now head to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SACRAMENTO – The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), in partnership with the Bureau of Cannabis Control, today announced $15 million in grant awards through the Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local Jurisdictions. This program seeks to advance economic justice for populations and communities disproportionately affected by cannabis prohibition by providing funding to local jurisdictions that are committed to promoting equity in the legal cannabis marketplace and eliminating barriers to entering this industry.

SACRAMENTO ­– This past week, Senator Bradford (D-Gardena) and Senate President pro Tempore Atkins (D-San Diego) amended Senate Bill 2, the Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act of 2021, to increase accountability for law enforcement officers that commit serious misconduct and illegally violate a person’s civil rights.

I proudly voted to extend Emergency Paid Sick Leave to the very workers who have stayed on the job throughout the pandemic. Their work is enabling us all to recover. They stood by us. We are standing by them. Today hope is not just on the horizon, it is all around us. Yet we must not let our guard down. We must keep our protections in place until we are certain the pandemic is behind us...

SACRAMENTO – Legislation has advanced from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, to expand a successful program allowing low-income seniors and people with disabilities to receive care in the safety of their own homes, reducing the risk of coronavirus infection.

“This program protects people who would be most at risk while saving taxpayer dollars that would be spent on outside care,” Sen. Dodd said. “Even as vaccines are administered and the pandemic wanes, we must continue to allow our most vulnerable the choice of staying in their homes to improve the quality of their lives.”

Inspired by Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto and backed by more than a dozen legal aid and advocacy groups, legislation by Senator Josh Becker to improve access to civil justice was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Senate Bill 355 would update the eligibility criteria for low-income Californians seeking a waiver of filing fees and other costs associated with litigation. The current criteria for automatically qualifying for a waiver is tied to the federal poverty level, which does not accurately reflect the true cost of living for California residents.

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s legislation, 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, passed the Senate Health Committee by a vote of 9-0. It will now head to the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) released the following statement after her bill, SB 367—the Campus Opioid Safety Act was approved by the Senate Education Committee by a 7-0 vote:

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego), and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) today announced the establishment of the five-member inaugural board for the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA), a new administrative agency charged with protecting the fundamental privacy rights of consumers over their personal information. The CPPA board consists of experts in privacy, technology, and consumer rights.

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Senate Education Committee today approved education bills by Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) that will ensure children receive critical instruction in their earliest years of learning and align teacher reading instruction assessments with the most current best practices.