Sacramento Bill Watch: 7/31/15

Bills Certified for the November 8, 2016 ballot:

Medi-Cal Hospital Reimbursement –

Requires voter approval of changes to the hospital fee program. Ballot measure seeks a stable source of Medi-Cal funding through a fee from hospitals for the purpose of supporting hospital care to Medi-Cal patients and helps pay for healthcare for low-income children. State could not divert funds for other purposes, as they are doing now.

Multilingual Education Act – Repeals Prop 227 of 1998, thus allowing for bilingual education in public schools.

Plastic Bag Ban Referendum – Ratifies SB 270, thus prohibiting plastic single-use carryout bags

Bills in Progress in the California Legislature

AB- 1360: A bill that would allow rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber to charge individual fees to people sharing a car to a destination. Colin Parent, policy counsel for Circulate San Diego, wrote an op-ed for us talking up the bill:

The advent of ridesharing has revolutionized the way we move across our cities. … This innovation is a game-changer in the effort to reduce air emissions and traffic congestion. AB 1360 would modernize state law written in the 1960s to encourage future carpooling innovations. Bill stopped due to: Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, who chairs the committee that withheld a vote on AB 1360, worked in the industry for years and his brothers owned a cab company. Doherty argued that Hueso has been guided by “what he perceives as good for the taxi industry.” Unfortunately, Uber did not follow guidelines. The commission, which also oversees Lyft and Sidecar, said Uber was the only ride-hailing company to miss the September 2014 deadline to provide the data it was asked for.

Raise the Wage to $15/hr:

Great news for @UofCalifornia campus, contract workers — admin moves to #RaisetheWage to $15/hr by 2017. — Toni G. Atkins (@toniatkins) July 22, 2015

Assembly Bill 359, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s bill to protect grocery workers’ jobs when stores change owners. (Sacramento Bee)Specifically, AB 359 would impose mandatory standards on keeping workers when grocery stores of more than 15,000 square feet change ownership. Big-box retailers, chain pharmacies and others would not be subject to the same set of standards,

Action Items: Citizen support needed

CA SB 128 End of Life Option Act

Established the End of Life Option Act, modeled after Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act. Would all an adult individual, completely voluntary, with a terminal disease that has the capacity to make medical decisions, to request an aid-in-dying prescription from a physician to painlessly and peacefully shorten their dying process. Currently stalled in Assembly. Deadline to pass the bill is September 11. Letters are needed to encourage support of SB128. Send letters to website: compassionandchoices.org, and click on Take Action.

AB 700 The California Disclose Act

Citizens United unleashed unlimited, anonymous corporate spending on campaigns nationwide. That’s why we’re sponsoring the California DISCLOSE Act:

Lets voters know who really is paying for political ads — on the ads themselves.
Ballot measure ads will have to clearly and prominently list their three largest funders.
“Follow-the-money” disclosure stops ads from deceiving voters about who pays.
Applies to television ads, radio ads, robocalls, and print advertising.

Please sign the petition in support: http://www.caclean.org/content/home/ and/or, go to

https://www.credomobilize.com/petitions/pass-the-2015-california-disclose-act

Recall Watch and Attacks from the Right: Source VOSD

AB 277: Vaccine opponents have been cleared to gather signatures in their effort to recall state Sen. Richard Pan, the pediatrician-politician who wrote SB 277, which required full vaccinations for schoolchildren.

Two bills targeted by Republican Ass. Brian Jones who represents East County. In a video he is targeting Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s – Voter Turnout Measures (SB 415, would make cities with low voter turnout consolidate their races with statewide elections and AB 1461, would automatically register voters through the DMV.)

For further information on the above items:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html

http://www.sddemocrats.org/newsfeed/state-legislative-roundup