Capitol Briefs: Suspense by the numbers

Suspense by the numbers: The Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees did their annual culling of hundreds of bills last week. Capitol lobbyist, law professor and regular Capitol Weekly contributor Chris Micheli tallied up the results from each committee:

Assembly
666 total measures considered – 663 bills and 3 Assembly Constitutional Amendments

435 bills were forwarded to the full Assembly floor with a Do Pass/Do Pass as Amended vote, a passage rate of 65 percent. Of the remaining measures, 231 were held and 14 became two-year bills, meaning 35 percent were held, basically the same as last spring.

Senate
The upper chamber considered 432 measures, all of which were legislative bills.

Of those, 307 (71 percent) were passed through to the Senate floor, 125 were held, with 11 being converted to two-year bills. For those keeping score, that’s 29 percent that were held or converted, up from last spring’s rate of 25.5 percent.

California gains jobs: The latest jobs report from the Center for Jobs and the Economy shows California gained 17,700 nonfarm jobs in April, the fifth highest increase among the states after Texas (37,700), Ohio (22,200), Florida (21,300), and North Carolina (18,100). The full report can be seen here.

A few bills moving forward: With the suspense files emptied, a handful of bills got floor votes and cleared their house of origin. A small sampling include:

AB 283 – a bill authored by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) that would allow In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) workers and their employers to negotiate wages and benefits at the state level instead of county by county. It moves to the Senate.

SB 40 – a measure from Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) that would cap insulin co-pays at $35.

SB 41 – another measure from Wiener, this one would impose numerous regulations on pharmacy benefits managers. Gov. Gavin Newsom has requested that one element of the bill requiring licensure for PBMs be included in the budget process. Both bills passed on 36-0 votes and now head to the Assembly.

AB 1043 – a proposal from Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) to require app stores to obtain parental approval before minors can download an app. The measure has been moved to third reading and will likely be heard next week.

SB 712 – the so-called “Leno’s Law” proposal authored by Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield)  that would remove smog check requirements for classic vehicles that are 35 model years or older. The measure has drawn the support of former Tonight Show host Jay Leno, a noted car enthusiast. It has been ordered to third reading.

AB 432 – A bill authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) that would require health insurers and health care service plans to cover evaluation and treatment options for perimenopause and menopause. It moves to the Assembly floor.

One that won’t be: Among the 125 bills held in the Senate Appropriations Committee was SB 286, a bill that would have excluded offenders convicted of most sex crimes from being eligible for the state’s Elderly Parole Program. Under that program, most offenders at least 50 years of age who have served at least 20 years of their sentence can be considered for parole.