Premier Legislation By Senator Cortese Advances Through Senate Appropriations Committee

The “suspense” ended Thursday as major legislation by Senator Dave Cortese advanced out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The fiscal committee heard its “suspense file” on May 18, an annual process that swiftly eliminates scores of bills. Most of Senator Cortese’s 2023 legislative package now heads to the Senate floor, where it will be considered by the full State Senate before advancing to policy committees in the State Assembly.

“Our 2023 legislative package is gaining momentum as it rolls forward to the Senate floor,” said Senator Cortese (D-San Jose). “My bills lift up Californians from all walks of life — from working families to educators to young people facing unique challenges. These bills will keep people safe, protect their civil rights, and open opportunity for professional advancement.” 

Here is a rundown of bills that passed the Thursday’s Senate Appropriations Committee:

SB 9 – Extending Foster Care – Gives vulnerable youth the ability to stay in the extended foster care system for one extra year, from age 21 to age 22, allowing them to extend access to payment benefits and transitional support services.

SB 10 – Stopping Student Fentanyl OverdosesGives educators and other school staff the knowledge and tools to save a child who overdoses from opioids on a public school site. It creates opioid prevention and education programs in California schools and gives school staff, students, and their families’ information about the growing risk of opioids. The bipartisan legislation is known as “Melanie’s Law,” named in honor of Melanie Ramos, a 15-year-old who overdosed on fentanyl and died in the bathroom of her high school in Hollywood. Melanie and her teenage friend had no idea they were taking fentanyl. 

SB 69 - CEQA Notification Transparency – Adds transparency to the CEQA notification process by requiring all notices of determination or exemption be posted to the State Clearinghouse website.

SB 94 – Judicial Review of Old Sentences Allows judges to review life-without-parole sentences for people who have been incarcerated for at least 25 years. The bill will restore judicial discretion for people whose offenses date before June 5, 1990, giving judges the chance to consider whether decades-old sentences imposed during a tough-on-crime era should be sustained.

SB 309 – Protecting Religious Practices of Incarcerated Minorities Creates a uniform state policy providing clear guidelines on religious clothing, headwear, and grooming. Studies show that this form of religious exercise reduces violence and other negative behaviors in correctional facilities, and lowers recidivism.

SB 333 – Guaranteed Income for Homeless Students Exiting High SchoolEstablishes a statewide guaranteed income program for homeless students by giving homeless high school seniors $1,000 a month for five months to help them enroll in college or enter the workforce.

SB 433 – Due Process Rights for Classified School Staff Protects the right of classified school employees to challenge disciplinary decisions against them to an impartial third-party officer. Currently for most school districts, classified staff must appeal disciplinary actions made against them to their district’s governing board, but school boards typically reinforce decisions made by the district management. Allowing a neutral third-party officer to review these decisions would grant classified staff the same due process rights as most other public sector employees, including teachers.

SB 483 – Banning a Dangerous Restraint Technique Against Students Prohibits the use of “prone restraint”, which physically or mechanically restrains students in a face down position. Unfortunately, prone restraint is often used on students with special needs.

SB 553 – Workplace Violence Prevention Establishes new workplace violence prevention standards targeting the types of attacks that have spiked in recent years.

SB 631 – Gender Equity Study Commissions the University of California, Berkeley, to study gender-based monetary disparities in workers’ compensation.

SB 735 – Safety on Film Sets Protects film and television workers by establishing clear, mandatory guidelines around the use of firearms and ammunition on sets, among other provisions.

SB 740 – Ensuring a Skilled and Trained Workforce in Green Industry – Protects California communities from hazardous industrial pollution while securing high-quality, ‘skilled and trained’ jobs in emerging sustainable industries.

SB 745 – Drought Resistant Buildings – Directs the California Building Standards Commission to develop mandatory building standards to reduce the designed potable water demand of new buildings by 25 percent to minimize the use of potable water for non-potable uses.

The following bills are moving through the legislative process and did not require a hearing in Thursday’s Senate Appropriations Committee:

SB 332 – Apprenticeship Outreach – Requires the Department of Industrial Relations to evaluate the effectiveness of the requirement for schools to notify each apprenticeship program in the same county of a career or college fair.

SB 335 – Labor Statistics – Requires the Department of Industrial Relations to submit an annual report to the Legislature and the Governor containing statistics on state work injuries and occupational diseases and fatalities by industry classification.

SB 406 – Speeding up Housing Development through CEQA Streamlining Seeks to eliminate duplicative review of the California Environmental Quality Act without circumventing California’s flagship environmental law. When a local agency provides financial assistance for an affordable housing project, both the decision to provide financial assistance and the project itself may require separate, independent CEQA reviews. SB 406 extends to local governments an existing CEQA exemption for state financing of affordable housing projects, provided that the project will still undergo a CEQA review by another public agency.

SB 432 – Relief for Retired Teachers – Ensures retired teachers are not penalized for benefit overpayments errors that were not their own.

SB 636 – Stopping Medical Coverage Denials by Physicians not Licensed in California Stops insurance companies from enlisting out-of-state doctors to cancel medical treatment plans proposed by California doctor for workers’ compensation claims for certain patients.

SB 642 – Hazardous Waste Enforcement – Protects the public from pollution and deters unfair business practices by giving county counsels full civil enforcement authority over hazardous materials violations.

SB 646 – Removing Child Sex Abuse Material from Social Media PlatformsCreates civil penalties for social media platforms that circulate child sex abuse material. The bill gives social media companies two days to remove child sex abuse material — commonly known as child pornography — after it is reported by the victim or their legal guardian. Failure to remove the material within two days will create liability for up to $200,000 in civil damages.

SB 669 – Empowering Registered Veterinarian Technicians – Allows Registered Veterinarian Technicians to establish a Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationship to administer vaccines.

In March 2023, Governor Newsom signed the following bill by Senator Cortese:

SB 41 – New Rights to Flight Attendants Gives flight attendants the right to negotiate meal and rest break benefits while airlines comply with California law.  

 

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