Present: 2005-2006 Legislative Session

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I'm enthusiastic about my legislative package this year, and hope you will be as well.

Some of the best ideas I get for new legislation come directly from the folks who live and work in the 11th Senate District. If you have an idea for a bill, I hope you will contact my office.

Below is information about the bills I've introduced this session. Please feel free to contact my office if you have comments or questions.

  • Senate Bill 107- Renewable Energy Portfolio
    Current law requires California electrical utilities to increase their total purchase of eligible renewable energy resources by an additional 1% of retail sales per year to reach a portfolio of 20% by the end of 2017. This bill would accelerate California's landmark renewable energy requirements for utilities and other retail electricity sellers so that by the year 2010, one fifth of the power they use will come from non-polluting energy resources like solar, wind, and geothermal resources. Pending on the Assembly Floor.

  • Senate Bill 188 - National Guard
    SB 188 allows National Guard families to apply for CalWORKS assistance if military pay received by an active National Guard service member is 150% of the federal pay poverty level or less. This amounts to less than $2000 per month. These provisions will be in effect as long as a parent is deployed---once they return home the family's income will once again be calculated like any other family for cash assistance purposes. SB 188 is a small step towards recognizing the special circumstances and extended hardships of our National Guard families. Vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

  • Senate Bill 203 - San Mateo County Parks
    SB 203 reduces the minimum amount of a sales tax that San Mateo County voters can authorize. Counties currently have the authority to increase sales taxes by one quarter cent. SB 203 allows San Mateo County to present voters with a ballot measure to increase sales taxes by 1/8 cent. If approved by a 2/3 vote of the electorate, revenues would be dedicated for county parks and recreation purposes, including acquisition, capital improvements, programs, operations, and maintenance. Signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger.

  • Senate Bill 307 - Dextromethorphan
    Senate Bill 307 would prohibit the sale of non-prescription drugs containing dextromethorphan (DXM) to a person under the age of 18. Dextromethorphan is a cough suppressant commonly found in over-the-counter cold medications. Minors purchase and consume large quantities of products that contain DXM in order to get high. This problem is serious, widespread, and growing. Ingesting too much cold medicine can be just as hazardous as drinking too much alcohol. Pending in the Senate Public Safety Committee.

  • Senate Bill 308 - Recording Fees: Elder and Dependent Adult Financial Abuse Prevention Trust Fund
    SB 308 would authorize County Boards of Supervisors to approve a fee of up to two dollars on specified real estate documents. These funds would go to an Elder and Dependent Adult Financial Abuse Prevention Trust Fund, which would be used to deter, investigate, and civilly prosecute cases involving elder and dependent adult real estate fraud. Pending on the Assembly Floor.

  • Senate Bill 369 - Green Bear Labeling
    Establishes an officially sanctioned California "Green Bear" label to be awarded to consumer goods meeting strict standards for environmentally superior performance. Requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to develop a process for a private sector vendor or vendors to evaluate products. Pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

  • Senate Bill 419- Hazardous Rail Tank Cars
    SB 419 requires registration of railroad tank cars used to transport inhalation poisons or flammable and explosive gases and materials to California. The bill prohibits pressurized tank cars that do not meet the most current federally adopted design and engineering standards from being delivered to California. It also authorizes Office of Emergency Services (OES) to collect a permit fee from the transporters of ultrahazardous material to cover the cost of maintaining the database. Pending in the Assembly Transportation Committee.

  • Senate Bill 421 - Meth Lab Clean Up
    This bill allows for the clean up of over 8000 meth labs in California. SB 421 places a fee on manufacturers of pseudoephedrine, an ingredient in most over-the-counter cold medicines and the primary ingredient in producing illegal methamphetamine. The fee will allow the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and the Department of Finance (DOF) to finance a work plan for cleaning up meth labs dotted throughout the state. SB 422 caps the fee at .000232 cents per milligram of pseudoephedrine, raising the retail cost of a typical pack of 24 Sudafed tablets (each tablet contains about 30 mg of pseudoephedrine), from about $6.00 to about $6.17. Pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

  • Senate Bill 422 - Small Claims Court
    SB 422 raises the jurisdictional limit for cases in small claims court from $5,000 to $7,500 for individuals. In addition, the bill includes improvements to the small claims process, including of claims brought to collect debt; periodic training for judge pro-tems; augmenting the content and accessibility of small claims court advisory services; and adding a set of findings describing the additional problems that should be solved before any subsequent increase in small claims court jurisdiction is undertaken. Signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger.

  • Senate Bill 426 - Liquefied Natural Gas
    This bill requires the California Energy Commission(CEC) to evaluate and rank every proposed liquefied natural gas terminal proposed for construction off the coast of California. SB 426 also directs the Governor to denydisapprove an application for a license to construct and operate a liquefied natural gas terminal if the project does not meet environmental, safety, and economic criteria. Pending on the Senate Floor.

  • Senate Bill 433 - Mandatory Notice of Security Breach
    SB 433 cleans up portions of the Civil Code that require businesses and the government to notify Californians if databases containing their personal information have been hacked. Pending in the Senate Rules Committee.

  • Senate Bill 434 - Traducement
    Senate Bill 434 would make it a crime to knowingly and deliberately mislead a law enforcement officer to believe that a person has committed a serious or violent crime, and results in that person being wrongfully charged with a serious or violent crime. Under current law, it is a misdemeanor to falsely report a crime. Under this bill, it is a felony to "frame" another person for a serious or violent crime. Pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

  • Senate Bill 439 - University of California : Disclosure of Private Equity Investments
    An important part of the investment portfolios of California's public retirement systems - PERS, STRS, and UCRS - consists of venture capital and hedge fund investments, which in turn stimulates the growth of such vital parts of the California economy as technology and biotechnology. Over the past ten years, returns on these investments have outpaced by more than $6 billion the returns that would have been gained had those investments been made across the remainder of the portfolio - an amount that the state would otherwise have needed to pay into these retirement funds. Venture funds are now attempting to exclude public retirement systems from gaining these returns and supporting economic growth, because competitors can use the Public Records Act to investigate the trade secrets of start-up companies that the venture funds invest in. SB 439 will specify essential information that public retirement systems will reveal about their investments, while protecting a narrow range of trade secrets, to continue the vital relationship between public investment and private sector growth. Signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger.

  • Senate Bill 497 - Green Government Contracting
    Emissions from diesel-powered construction equipment pose a serious health threat to Californians. SB 497 improves public health and the environment by requiring that contractors working on state-funded construction projects reduce their emissions of the most dangerous diesel-generated toxins: oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM, i.e. soot). Additionally, SB 497 requires that these contractors meet especially protective standards near vulnerable populations, such as children and elderly adults. Pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

  • Senate Bill 679 - Group Homes : Canyon Oaks
    Senate Bill 679 expands the definition of a group home to include a county-operated home. Under current law, only private, non-profit providers are allowed to operate group homes and receive Department of Social Services foster care funding. SB 679 allows counties to also operate group homes for children who require out-of-home care. Signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger.

  • Senate Bill 680 - VRF : Santa Clara County
    Senate Bill 680 authorizes the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to adopt an annual vehicle registration fee of up to five dollars per vehicle for up to eight years to finance traffic and transportation improvements in Santa Clara County. Current law authorizes similar vehicle registration fees for air districts and other local agencies. Senate Bill 680 provides the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority with the option to generate local funding for important transportation improvements in all 15 cities and towns in Santa Clara County. Vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

  • Senate Bill 681 - Hands Free Cell Phones
    SB 681 requires California motorists to use a hands-free device when talking on a cell phone while driving. By requiring drivers to use headsets, ear-pieces, or speaker phones-all of which qualify as "hands free"-the number of cell phone-related distracted-driving accidents will drop, increasing the safety of our roads and saving lives. Pending in the Senate Transportation Committee.

  • Senate Bill 682 - Identity Information Protection Act
    SB 682 requires government-issued identification documents (IDs) that use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology that transmits personal data remotely to implement basic privacy protections. It also ensures that government agencies take a 3-year timeout before using RFID in mass-distributed government IDs, such as drivers' licenses, and creates strong criminal penalties for secretly reading a person's ID without his or her knowledge. Currently, no state law protects people's privacy and personal security from the misuse of RFID technology. Pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

  • Senate Bill 687 - School Accountability Report Cards
    SB 687 amends the template for the School Accountability Report Card (SARC) to provide information about expenditures per school site, including average teacher salaries. By examining estimated expenditures per pupil, taking into consideration salaries of personnel assigned to an individual school, SB 687 will help ensure that school officials, parents, and local communities have sufficient information about education resource allocation. Transparency as to the use of billions of dollars in public education funds promotes good government and encourages educational opportunities for California students. Signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger

  • Senate Bill 768 - Identity Information Protection Act
    SB 768 requires government-issued identification documents (IDs) that use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology that transmits data remotely to implement basic privacy protections. It also ensures that government agencies take a 3-year timeout before using RFID in mass-distributed government IDs, like drivers' licenses, and creates strong criminal penalties for secretly reading a person's ID without his or her knowledge. Currently, no state law protects people's privacy and personal security from the misuse of RFID technology. Pending on the Assembly Floor.

  • Senate Bill 769 - Rental Housing : Energy Efficient Appliances
    SB 769, the Energy Reliability and Affordability Act, will reduce the demand for energy and will lower the electricity bills of low-income renters. Specifically, SB 769 requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to provide incentives for owners and managers of low-income rental properties to replace old, energy-inefficient refrigerators with more efficient models. SB 769 will replace a minimum of 100,000 energy-inefficient refrigerators over the next 5 years, all of which will be permanently disabled and recycled though a certified appliance recycler. Pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

  • Senate Bill 771 - Vessels : Discharge Ban
    SB 771 will protect California's coast by extending the discharge and incineration prohibitions on cruise ships to all commercial ocean-going vessels. Specifically, SB 771 prohibits ships from discharging oily bilge water, sewage sludge and hazardous waste, as well as from incinerating trash, while in the waters of the state. Furthermore, the bill prohibits vessels with the capacity to store gray water and sewage from discharging that waste into California's waters. Finally, SB 771 requires a study of waste water storage capacity of ships visiting California's ports, for future policy development. Signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger.

  • Senate Bill 798 - Recovery and Reutilization of Unused Prescription Medications
    SB 798 permits nursing homes, drug manufacturers, and wholesalers to donate their unused, unopened prescription medications to county pharmacies, were they can then be distributed to people of modest means. Currently, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of expensive, life-saving medications that have not yet expired are thrown away and wasted when people no longer need them. SB 798 permits these drugs to be used to help people who may not be able to afford them. Signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger.

  • Senate Bill 799 - Fee Reduction for Adoption
    SB 799 reduces the fees parents have to pay when they need to have their documents certified by the government so that they can adopt a child from another country. Currently, parents have to pay outrageous sums to have their documents certified. SB 799 reduces the financial burden for these families. Pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

  • Senate Bill 800 - Move Over, Slow Down
    Senate Bill 800 requires motorists to change lanes as they approach a stationary emergency vehicle or tow truck. In the event that drivers cannot merge to an adjacent lane due to existing traffic conditions, they must slow down. The bill is designed to protect emergency workers and tow truck drivers from passing motorists going too fast near crime or accident scenes on the side of the road. These individuals deal with dangerous situations on busy roadways every day. While they protect and serve the public, there are no standards in place designed specifically to safeguard emergency workers and tow truck drivers as they do their job. Vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

  • Senate Bill 801 - Sales Tax Paperwork Reduction
    Senate Bill 801 reduces the number of sales tax forms small businesses have to file. Current law requires businesses that have an estimated monthly sales tax liability of less than $4,000 to both make quarterly sales tax payments AND file sales and use tax returns on a quarterly basis. SB 801 would still require these businesses to make quarterly tax payments, but reduces the required paperwork to once a year. Pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

  • Senate Bill 802 - Debit Card Numbers
    SB 802 prohibits businesses from displaying debit card numbers on electronic customer receipts. Senate Bill 802 simply extends current law regulating the display of credit numbers to debit cards. Under this bill, no more than the last five digits of a debit card number can be displayed on an electronic receipt. This bill only applies to electronic receipts and does not apply to handwritten or imprinted copies. Signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger.

  • Senate Bill 913 - Medication Therapies: Rheumatic Diseases
    This bill allows physicians to prescribe a new class of drugs, called biologics, to their patients who suffer from arthritis or other rheumatoid diseases without the patient having to first try more traditional medications. Immediate access to this new class of drugs would give these individuals quicker and more thorough relief from both the painful symptoms and the debilitating progression of this degenerative group of diseases. Pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

  • Senate Bill 956 - Coastal Protection : Transient Occupancy Tax
    SB 956 enacts the Coast and Ocean Stewardship Act, which will provide a permanent funding source to protect California's Coast. SB 956 levies a surcharge of $1 per night per hotel room in the 20 counties that are located along the coast of the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay. The revenue collected from this surcharge will be deposited in the Coast and Ocean Account Stewardship Tax (COAST) Fund, which the bill would establish. Funds generated by SB 956 would allow the Department of Fish and Game to implement the Marine Life Protection Act; the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission to implement the McAteer-Petris Act and the Suisun Marsh Preservation Act; the California Coastal Commission to provide grants to local governments to update their local coastal programs consistent with the California Coastal Act; the California Travel and Tourism Commission to promote tourism, including dining and overnight accommodations, in the state's 20 coastal counties. Pending in the Senate Natural Resources Committee.

  • Senate Bill 958 - Declining Enrollment
    Under existing law, school districts experiencing a decline in enrollment are only provided one year of protection by allowing those districts to select the greater of current or prior year Average Daily Attendance (ADA). After this initial period, districts would be forced to quickly adjust to the decline each subsequent year. SB 958 would provide a "softer landing" by extending the current one-year protection by an additional two years, allowing districts to receive revenue limit funding by averaging up to three prior years of declining enrollment to make necessary financial adjustments to counter the decline. SB 958 would also provide districts with "turn around" protections by allowing districts to utilize the greater of current or prior year ADA; this provision serves as a mechanism to protect districts' funding in its first year of enrollment growth. Pending in the Assembly Education Committee.

  • Senate Bill 1018 - Elder Abuse : Mandatory Reporting of Financial Abuse
    SB 1018 helps protect seniors by mandating that financial institutions, at the frontline of witnessing financial abuse, report elder financial abuse to Adult Protective Services or law enforcement officials. The bill requires banks, savings and loans, and credit unions to report financial abuse if the abuse becomes evident in their contacts with, or review of, an elder and/or dependent adult's financial matters. Signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger.

  • Senate Bill 1072 - Teacher Support and Development Act of 2006
    SB 1072 would enhance local control in providing ongoing professional development for teachers by consolidating and streamlining a number of existing K-12 teacher support and development programs into a formula-based block grant. Funds would be distributed on a per-teacher basis and would be linked to the level of teachers' experience and preparation. The bill also links this block grant funding to standards for teacher support and professional development, including a school-site plan for professional development that is connected to school improvement objectives. Pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

  • Senate Bill 1077 - Equalization
    Because of significant differences in local property tax revenues prior to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, great disparities have long existed between the funding that schools receive. Senate Bill 1077 would continue recent progress, that started with the Serrano decision, toward equalizing revenue limits - the base level of unrestricted funding each school district receives - among California's school districts. The 2004-05 budget process identified that at that point, some $400 million would be needed to fully fund revenue limit equalization at the 90th percentile target, and $110 million was appropriated as the first step toward that goal. This bill would serve as the vehicle to appropriate the next installment, as determined in budget negotiations, using the most current Average Daily Attendance (ADA) accounting methodology as the basis. SB 1077 also proposes to include so-called "revenue limit add-ons" in the base used to calculate equalization payments. An anachronism of old funding structures, these initial categoricals are no longer linked to any requirements - for example, districts receiving Meals for Needy Pupils moneys do not necessarily have needy pupils, and are not required to use the money for food services. These are wholly discretionary moneys, and as such, the Legislative Analyst has suggested they be incorporated into districts' revenue limits. SB 1077 would include these monies and then further the process of equalization by allocating additional resources to reach 90th percentile targets. Pending in the Assembly Education Committee.

  • Senate Bill 1078 - Funding Provided by Basic Aid Districts to Charter Schools
    SB 1078 corrects conflicts in current law regarding the manner in which basic aid districts would transfer funding for students who are eligible to attend school in that district but who instead attend a charter school outside of the basic aid district. In making those corrections to allow statutes to be implemented, the bill also mitigates the disproportionate impact of these funding transfers on basic districts by establishing a formula, to be phased in over three years, that ultimately results in the transfer of 70% of the basic aid district's property tax revenue per ADA, in recognition of the fixed costs faced by the school in the basic aid district even though the individual student does not attend there. Pending in the Assembly Education Committee.

  • Senate Constitutional Amendment 8 - Local Control and Parcel Taxes
    SCA 8 would enhance local control by allowing local school districts, community college districts, and county offices of education to approve a local parcel tax with a 55 percent vote by the public, rather than the two-thirds majority currently required. By lowering the threshold to the same supermajority level state voters approved for education bonds, school and college districts will be able to better identify and address what they need to provide a quality education for students, while improving accountability by allowing voters to know what inputs and results they can expect from revenues they choose to authorize. Pending on the Senate Floor.

  • Senate Concurrent Resolution 60 - Santa Cruz : Surf City
    Designates the City of Santa Cruz as Surf City, USA.

  • Senate Bill 202 - Privacy: telephone calling pattern record or list
    Senate Bill 202 makes it illegal to sell or purchase a person’s telephone records without that person’s consent. The bill combats a growing black market of cell phone call logs stolen and sold by online companies whose practices are largely unregulated. Telephone call logs contain personal data that can include bank, credit and medical information. Senate Bill 202 protects California residents by prohibiting companies from selling private telephone records in the State. Pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

  • Senate Bill 369 – Solid waste: tire recycling
    Existing law authorizes the California Integrated Waste Management Board to implement a program to award grants to cities, counties, districts and other local governmental agencies for the funding of public works projects that use rubberized asphalt concrete. The existing grant program, which provides about 1.6 million to local governments annually, will become inoperative on June 30, 2006 and repealed on January 1, 2007. SB 369 extends the January 1, 2007 sunset date to January 1, 2011. Pending in the Assembly.

  • SB 420 – Public contracts: procurements: recycled products
    SB 420 corrects an error in SB 1106 by allowing a local public entity, rather than a state agency, to waive the certification requirement with regard to the percentage of post-consumer material in products, materials, goods, or supplies being offered or sold to local public entity. The bill also broadens the requirement for the State Procurement Officer in contracting recycling materials for use by the Dept of Transportation and other state agencies to include agencies that provide construction and repair services rather than only those state agencies that provide road construction and repair services. Pending in the Assembly.

  • SB 433 – Personal information : driver’s licenses
    Senate Bill 433 expands existing privacy protections for drivers’ licenses with magnetic strips to cover all drivers’ licenses that electronically store personal information. Existing law authorizes a business to read, store, and use the information on a magnetic strip on a person’s driver’s license only for the following purposes: (1) to authenticate the driver’s license or person’s age, (2) to comply with a legal requirement, (3) for electronic funds transfers, or (4) to prevent fraud or abuse. SB 433 ensures these limitations are technology-neutral and apply to any kind of driver’s license that stores information electronically. In addition, the bill requires a person to consent before a business can electronically read that person’s driver’s license. Pending in the Assembly.

  • SB 497 – Vessels: releases
    SB 497 makes technical amendments to the Clean Coast Act enacted by Senator Simitian’s SB 771 of last year. SB 497 clarifies certain terms and streamlines requirements for a vessel owner or operator to notify the state regarding specified releases from their vessels. Pending in the Assembly.

  • SB 681 – Transportation: pedestrian access
    Senate Bill 681 makes changes to the County Expressway Signage Law (SB 1233 of 2004), to remove portions of that law that vested broad new powers in counties and cities to restrict pedestrian and bicycle access to expressways. SB 681 simply removes the term “expressway” and any references thereto, from Section 21960 of the Vehicle Code and Section 1730 of the Streets and Highways Code so that counties and cities cannot restrict pedestrian and bicycle access to expressways.

  • SB 729 – Water quality
    Senate Bill 729 is a measure for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the State Water Resources Control Board and the regional water quality control boards. Recent evaluations of the state’s enforcement of water quality laws indicate that a number of changes need to be instituted by the state and regional water boards. The bill encompasses a number of those recommendations, including the need to consistently enforce the law, to standardize reporting, and to provide information to the public regarding measures being taken to protect the state’s waters. Pending in the Assembly.

  • SB 960 – Hazardous waste: research databases
    SB 960 is a measure to assist California’s businesses in their handling of hazardous wastes by providing information about alternatives. The bill requires the Department to integrate information available in order to provide additional information to any California businesses that may be interested in cutting-edge practices for reducing or eliminating their use of hazardous materials. The benefits of this added information include workers, communities, and especially businesses operating in an increasingly competitive world in which a premium is frequently placed on products that are based on safer materials. Pending in the Assembly.