OPINION: AB 1651 ensures epinephrine is never locked up at school during emergencies. It lets trained staff and volunteers give it to students if a school nurse isn’t available. It will ensure immediate access to the only lifesaving drug for people with food allergies.
California law, image by Vitalii VodolazskyiANALYSIS – On occasion, California legislators include statements of intent, or make findings and declarations, in their bills. When reviewing these bills, readers will see that, in most instances, these statements are “uncodified,” meaning that they are not codified (i.e., placed in a Code). In more limited cases, these statements are codified along with the other, substantive statutory provisions. This raises the question whether these legislative statements should be codified or not.
A tangle of glass and plastic beverage bottles at a Santa Monica recycling site. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)After a nice dinner with your loved ones, make sure to keep the wine and spirit containers alongside the recyclable bottles. The state Senate passed Senate Bill 1013 on a 39-0 vote and sent it to the Assembly just before lawmakers left for their summer recess.
Room 1190 on the ground floor of the Capitol annex, looking towards the rear from the stage. (Photo: KQED.org)OPINION:Cage matches between the media and elected officials have become an expected part of the current, vitriolic political ecosystem. But I recall a time when California government worked smoothly with the “fourth estate” to drive good policy, inform residents and have some pizazz while doing so.
A smog L.A. skyline looms in the background. (Photo: Matt Gush, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Sadly, some Sacramento legislators choose to ignore democratic principles and are, once again, attempting to push their “state-knows-best” attitude and diminish local control at the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Voters elect local city councils and mayors to represent our best interests. In turn, these elected officials select from among themselves the members of the SCAQMD governing board.
Two of the members of the CIRM governing board, Chair Jon Thomas and Vice Chair Art Torres, during an earlier meeting.(Photo: CIRM)Directors of the $12 billion California stem cell agency have moved to weaken conflict of interest provisions affecting its governing board — eliminating “leave-the-room” requirements that are used by most private nonprofits to assure the integrity of their operations.
The chambers of the Assembly in the state Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: Felix Lipov, via Shutterstock)The first time, she had just one co-author; the second time, a dozen. And now, on her third attempt, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez has convinced nearly half of the California Assembly to co-author her bill to grant collective bargaining rights to rank-and-file Capitol staffers.
The chamber of the state Senate in Sacramento. (Photo: Felix Lipov, via Shutterstock)In simplistic terms, lobbying the state Senate and Assembly floors is similar to lobbying legislative committees, except that the scale is much larger. For example, some committees have as few five members (elected officials), while others have over 20 members. As you would assume, most committees in the 40-member Senate have fewer members sitting on them than do their counterparts in the 80-member Assembly.
The state Capitol in Sacramento, home of the Legislature. (Photo: SchnepfDesign, via Shutterstock))In the California Legislature, all types of legislative measures (bills, resolutions and constitutional amendments), as well amendments to those measures, can only be introduced or processed if they are in “Legislative Counsel form.” The purpose is to ensure greater consistency in California’s statutes. The nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Counsel serves as legal counsel and bill drafters to California legislators and the governor.
A voter signs a petition to place a measure on the statewide ballot. (Photo: Svineyard, via Shutterstock)It’s never easy to get initiatives qualified for the ballot, but this year of the COVID-19 pandemic is the worst ever. Organizations busily trying to get enough signatures to qualify their measure of choice had their efforts abruptly halted two weeks ago because of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s sweeping stay-at-home order.