Lead Author: Pan
Summary: Healthcare behemoth Kaiser Permanente currently lumps its financial disclosures -- information on the revenue and profits of individual hospitals -- into broad categories instead of following the rules every other hospital does, and listing this information by specific hospital. Kaiser controls 40% of the healthcare market in California and earned over $2B in profit in 2018. Mandating clearer financial disclosures from Kaiser will increase transparency and create more cost pressure, helping healthcare consumers across California. This bill passed and was signed into law.
Support
SB227
Lead Author: Leyva
Summary: Many of California’s regulations regarding nurse-to-patient ratios go unenforced -- this has been the case for nearly two decades. When hospitals fail to follow these regulations, both patients and nurses suffer. SB227 creates unannounced inspections for hospitals with a special focus on adherence to nurse-to-patient ratios. This bill passed and was signed into law.
Oppose
SB336
Lead Author: Dodd
Summary: ATVs (Automated Transit Vehicles) are nascent technology in a field (transportation) where runaway tech has often gotten so far ahead of regulation as to put at risk the well-being of Californians. SB336 reins in this not yet fully vetted technology by requiring any public transit operator to have at least one employee fully onboard any ATV it puts into service. This bill did not receive a vote in the House.
Support
SB142
Lead Author: Wiener
Summary: Current law requires employers to provide reasonable break time for lactation needs, but often does not mandate adequate space to produce lactation with privacy. Employment law truly devoted to gender equity would ensure this space existed. SB142 mandates that, in a new construction of commercial space, including those undergoing significant renovation, reasonable amount of lactation spaces be created. This bill passed and was signed into law.
No Vote
SB307
Lead Author: Roth
Summary: The Mojave Desert sustains legally-protected wildlife and untold acres of public land. The Trump Administration has imperiled the desert and its surrounding ecosystem by unrolling environmental protections, including those related to a potential pipeline which would drain 16 millions tons of water from the desert each year, courtesy of Cadiz, Inc. SB307 would require a full, state level environmental review of the Cadiz Pipeline, overriding federal attempts to lower environmental safeguards. This bill passed and was signed into law.
Oppose
SB25
Lead Authors: Glazer, Caballero
Summary: CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, requires state and local agencies to identify environmental impacts of their actions and then avoid or mitigate those impacts. This longstanding law has proven instrumental in retaining a seat the table for environmental considerations related to housing and construction projects. SB621 was one of two bills, along with SB621, that would have weakened CEQA processes in order to expedite new construction. While perhaps well-intentioned, both bills laid blame for California’s lack of affordable housing at the feet of CEQA and environmental concerns – an unfair attribution of blame. We and our allies contend affordable housing scarcity can be – and must be – addressed without sacrificing environmental protections. This bill passed the Senate but did not see a vote in the Assembly.
Opposed Bill
Support
SB329
Lead Author: Mitchell
Summary: Landlords are legally prohibited from discriminating against a renter based on the source of their income -- but not required to accept housing vouchers. This freedom to deny renters can limit the mobility of low-income people to move from poverty-concentrated areas. This law passed and was signed into law.
No Vote
SB621
Lead Authors: Glazer, Caballero
Summary: CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, requires state and local agencies to identify environmental impacts of their actions and then avoid or mitigate those impacts. This longstanding law has proven instrumental in retaining a seat the table for environmental considerations related to housing and construction projects. SB621 was one of two 2019 bills, along with SB25, that would’ve weakened CEQA processes in order to expedite new construction. While perhaps well-intentioned, both bills laid blame for California’s lack of affordable housing at the feet of CEQA and environmental concerns – an unfair attribution of blame. We and our allies contend affordable housing scarcity can be – and must be – addressed without sacrificing environmental protections. This bill passed the Senate but did not see a vote in the Assembly.
Opposed Bill
Support
SB136
Lead Author: Wiener
Summary: Incarcerating individuals costs California citizens $80,000 per individual year. Current law includes mandatory sentencing enhancements that add 1 year of incarceration for each past offense committed by the accused -- a mandatory add-on that impacts a third of the incarcerated population. Significant research suggests these enhancements do not deter crime. SB 136 repeals these enhancements, ending this costly practice which leads to major inequities in the justice system. This bill passed and was signed into law.
Oppose
SB145
Lead Author: Wiener
Summary: California law mandates that offenders who engage in consensual, yet illegal, sex with 14-17 year old be treated differently, based on whether the sex is penile-vaginal, or anal and oral intercourse. This distinction creates more significant penalties for LGBT offenders, despite having committed the same offense -- resulting in disproportionate numbers of LGBT people on the sex offender registry. SB145 ends this irrational, discriminatory distinction. This bill did not receive a Floor vote in the Assembly.
