Capitol Briefs: Bills, bills, bills

Bill backing additional support for refugees heads to Senate for vote:  SB 85 is headed to the Senate for a vote after a unanimous passing in the Assembly. SB 85 extends refuge case management, a mediation program proven to help refugees integrate into cities, from the federally appointed 90 days to 180 days. The additional 90 days of case management will be covered by expanding Refugee Social Services.

New Senate bill protecting freelancers passes in Assembly:  The Assembly voted 70-0 in favor of SB 988, a bill that would protect freelancers by requiring hiring entities to have contracts for freelancers who work for more than $250 over a four-month period. The bill also requires clients to be paid within 30 days, payment agreement protections, anti-retaliation protections and double damages to freelancers who are victims of non-payment. It heads to Senate for a concurrence vote.

If approved in the Senate, the bill will head to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Gov. Newsom signs in two bills addressing homelessness: Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two measures – AB 2835 and AB 3057 – that address California’s homelessness crisis. AB 2835 eliminates the sunset date on tenancy rules making it easier for services providers to place people into hotels and motels for more than 30 days. AB 3057 assists in creating housing by simplifying and streamlining the process for homeowners to making in-law units and “backyard cottages.”

Newsom signs legislation to provide shelter for unhoused families: Newsom also signed AB 2835, a bill intended to help unhoused families and children secure stability and shelter in hotels and motels. The legislation builds on an existing pilot program eased processes for hotels, motels and homeless service providers in order to prevent the frequent relocation of unhoused individuals.

AB 2835 will go into effect Jan. 1.

California judicial branch launches pilot program addressing court interpreter shortages: California’s judicial branch has launched a pilot program aimed at hiring more court interpreters, according to a news release by the California Courts Newsroom. The $6.8 million program reimburses participants for the cost of training, coursework and up to three exam fees. Twenty courts have signed up for the program and each court can have up to 10 candidates per year. As of August 1^st the participating courts had received 1,114 applicants, Information on cohort 2 for the program will be available in spring 2025 on the Court Interpreter Workforce Pilot Program website.

Senate passes janitorial workload legislation: The Senate endorsed AB 2364, a bill that would commission to unsafe workloads in the janitorial industry. The bill also provides support for peer-to-peer training programs to prevent sexual abuse in the industry. The bill is now in the Assembly for a concurrence vote.

Legislature still must address hundreds of bills before adjournment: Lobbyist and regular Capitol Weekly contributor Chris Micheli notes that the two legislative chambers plowed through over 100 bills each on Tuesday, with over 725 more to go over the next four days. That means lawmakers will need to address on average 181 bills a day to get through them all by midnight on Saturday. EDITORS NOTE: Due to today’s Assembly Daily File not showing the 119 Assembly bills the Senate approved on Tuesday, an earlier version of this story showed 605 bills and an average of 150 bills per day. 

Capitol Weekly intern Mahrukh Siddiqui contributed to this story.