[Source: The Mercury News] In a setback for environmental groups, California lawmakers early Saturday morning ended the 2019 legislative session without passing two bills that would have been the most ambitious effort in the nation to reduce the massive amounts of plastic pollution that are washing into oceans, rivers and lakes around the world. The Read More…
Category: Legislative Issues
Newsom plans to veto bill that would have blocked Trump’s rollback of endangered species protections
[Source: Los Angeles Times] Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to veto a bill passed by California lawmakers that would have allowed the state to keep strict Obama-era endangered species protections and water pumping restrictions for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Newsom’s intentions, confirmed by his spokesman on Saturday, comes less than 24 hours after state lawmakers Read More…
California’s controversial labor bill has passed the Senate
[Source: USA TODAY] A controversial piece of legislation passed the California Senate late Tuesday evening, codifying and clarify a landmark state Supreme Court decision that limits whether companies can classify their workers as independent contractors. Expected to have wide-reaching implications that resonate across the country — including posing an existential crisis for businesses built with independent, on-demand labor — the Read More…
California considering toughest plastic pollution laws in United States
[Source: The Mercury News] With enormous and ever-growing amounts of plastic washing into oceans, rivers and lakes around the world, California lawmakers this week are considering passing the nation’s most far-reaching laws to reduce plastic pollution over the next decade. Three bills before the state Legislature would require companies that sell products widely found in Read More…
Some sectors warn that AB5 could hurt workers, raise prices
[Source: SFGATE] As California moves forward with legislation that could turn many independent contractors into employees, some industries are vociferously protesting that the changes could hurt their workers and raise costs for consumers. Assembly Bill 5, sponsored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, saw its chances of becoming law rise this week when Gov. Gavin Read More…
Senate Bill 1 continues to move through the California Legislature
[Source: AGNet West] Last week California Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) continued with its forward momentum, advancing from the California Assembly Appropriations Committee by a vote of 13 to five. The legislation that some environmental groups are referring to as ‘Trump insurance’ is now headed to the California Assembly floor. The California Environmental, Public Health, and Read More…
California’s recycling bills propose dramatic new rules
[Source: CalMatters] With plastic packaging heading to landfills and recycling centers shutting down, California lawmakers use a trio of bills to take aim at the stuttering recycling economy. As bills that take aim at plastic waste make their way through California’s legislature, the damage they intend to fix already is rippling through the state’s recycling Read More…
AB 161 is a waste of effort, it should be rejected
[Source: Los Angeles Daily News] Because lawmakers in Sacramento seem not to think they have anything better to do, they’ll be holding hearings soon on a new bill to force businesses to be digital receipt compliant. The legislation, Assembly Bill 161, has, as usual, the best of intentions. Paper receipts, of course, consume energy to Read More…
SCA 5 needs to be defeated
[Source: Fox & Hounds] Senate Constitutional Amendment 5 (SCA 5) is set for legislative hearing today. It deserves a quick defeat. Advanced by Sen. Ben Allen, D-Los Angeles, and Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, SCA 5 would lower the current two-thirds vote requirement to pass local school district parcel taxes to 55% percent. Here are Read More…