News Room: 2009-2010 Legislation
November 2012
Friday, November 09, 2012
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Simitian was recognized for his work championing the cause of early childhood education with the Early Learning Lifetime Achievement Award by the nonprofit advocacy group Preschool California.
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Monday, November 05, 2012
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On Wednesday, surrounded by four-year-olds in a transitional kindergarten (TK) classroom created by his legislation, State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) will be recognized for his work championing the cause of early childhood education.
At 10 a.m. at Taft Elementary, the nonprofit advocacy group Preschool California will present Simitian with its Early Learning Lifetime Achievement Award.
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September 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
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In an editorial, the San Francisco Chronicle said:
California's new "transitional kindergarten" program, which is proving highly popular with parents and educators, almost did not happen. Gov. Jerry Brown's 2012-13 budget would have diverted the $223 million to other programs. Fortunately, legislators stood their ground, and the state is moving forward with plans to gradually shift the cutoff date for kindergarten from December to Sept. 1.
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August 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
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Today, as some major Bay Area school districts begin a new school year, the youngest of students are entering a new grade, the first new level in California primary education in over a century—it’s called Transitional Kindergarten.
11th District Senator Joe Simitian was a driving force behind the new grade. He says it benefits the children and the entire educational community.
“Over all the years we have had too many kids who have been held back over the years unnecessarily, too many kids who need remedial help, too many kids who were placed in special education unnecessarily and not only has that been a struggle for them and their families, but it has been a cost to the schools and the public at large,” said Simitian.
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Tuesday, August 14, 2012
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As the school year begins, districts throughout California will begin offering transitional kindergarten (TK) – the first new grade level in the state since 1891. This school year, more than 800 school districts are expected to offer transitional kindergarten, the first year of a two-year kindergarten for children with fall birthdays who will be too young under a new cutoff date to enter regular kindergarten.
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June 2012
Monday, June 04, 2012
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A bill from Palo Alto State Senator Joe Simitian would crack down on red light cameras and would make it easier for drivers to fight tickets, reports CBS Channel 5.
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Friday, June 01, 2012
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The State Senate this week passed a bill by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to ensure that any liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals built in California are done in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.
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May 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
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A bill to protect the rights of drivers by regulating red-light cameras passed unanimously today in the State Senate. The vote was 37-0. Senate Bill 1303, by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), would establish statewide standards for the installation and operation of traffic enforcement cameras, and make it easier to challenge unjustified tickets.
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March 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
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Early Intervention for School Success (EISS), a statewide program dedicated to increasing student achievement and lowering retention rates, has named State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) “Education Advocate of the Year” for his work authoring Senate Bill 1381, the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010.
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Wednesday, March 14, 2012
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Gov. Brown’s latest proposal to eliminate Transitional Kindergarten hit a wall yesterday in the state Assembly. By a 3-to-1 vote along party lines, the budget subcommittee on education finance rejected the governor’s plan.
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Wednesday, March 07, 2012
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In an editorial, the San Jose Mercury News said:
Death and injuries from traffic accidents have plummeted in California, a trend tied to the 2008 law that bans gabbing on handheld cellphones while driving. Memo to all those drivers still yakking away: Wake up. Distracted driving can kill.
The number of deaths caused by driving while chattering on handheld cellphones dropped by half in the two years after the law took effect compared with the two years before, according to a study released by the state Office of Traffic Safety. That dramatic improvement should persuade 41 other states to enact similar laws. The rest already have.
State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, take a bow. He pushed the bill until his reluctant colleagues agreed to pass it. Credit also goes to the California Highway Patrol and local police throughout the state for aggressively enforcing the ban. They seem to have wholeheartedly embraced it, probably because they have to deal with the heartbreak of fatal accidents.
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Tuesday, March 06, 2012
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According to a study announced Monday by the state Office of Traffic Safety, since a state law forbidding the use of handheld phones on the road went into effect in 2008, the number of traffic deaths in California declined by 22 percent. With fewer drivers yakking into handheld phones, the death-by-cellphone rate dropped an even more stunning 47 percent.
“Those are huge numbers,” said Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, author of the bill whose outcome the study tracked, while taking a (hands-free) victory lap after the announcement.
During a two-year period after the law was implemented, there were 53 deaths caused by drivers holding cellphones, compared with 100 in the two years before the law took effect. This came as total accidents and fatalities were down overall for reasons as varied as more cars having air bags.
“The drop in collisions was the biggest, single, year-to-year drop in the history of the state since the CHP began keeping the data,” Simitian said.
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February 2012
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
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California's preschool and kindergarten set are targeted to take some of the biggest hits to funding in the state budget proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The governor should withdraw his plan before it undercuts the critical years of education for some of California's most vulnerable children.
Almost one-fifth of the $4 billion in state program cuts Brown has proposed would come from early childhood education -- child care, preschool and the new transitional kindergarten scheduled to start in the fall. These programs should be among the state's highest priorities. Children are our most precious resource, and their success paves the way for California's economy to grow and prosper.
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January 2012
Monday, January 09, 2012
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Before lawmakers approved the 2010 bill, a major concern was what would happen to children who no longer qualify for kindergarten, particularly those from low-income families that could not easily afford private pre-kindergarten programs. State leaders compromised by providing money for school districts to run the transitional program for those students, said Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto.
"The governor is talking about depriving 125,000 kids a year an opportunity to go to school," Simitian said. "I think it's a non-starter."
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December 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
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State Senator Joe Simitian of California, who succeeded in getting a law passed in 2006 that bans drivers there from talking on a hand-held phone, called the board’s recommendation “a wake-up call about the dangers of distracted driving.”
Yet, he also said he doubted it would achieve the desired result because it was unlikely that legislators in California or elsewhere would be able to pass such a ban. Mr. Simitian noted that he spent five years trying to push a ban on hand-held devices, and faced intense opposition from the phone industry.
“It’s a political nonstarter,” he said, adding that he would not attempt to propose a total ban on drivers using their devices. “I don’t believe you’ll see such a ban in my lifetime.” For all his skepticism, though, he acknowledged that political winds could shift. “A decade ago, people didn’t think we’d have a hands-free law in California. Only time will tell.”
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Wednesday, December 14, 2011
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Texting, talking and tweeting behind the wheel - even using hands-free devices - should be banned, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended Tuesday, but any such prohibition in California seems far down the road.
While state law enforcement and traffic safety officials agreed with the recommendation, the state’s main champion of cell phone regulations for drivers said legislation imposing a ban “would be a nonstarter politically.”
“The notion of an outright ban is hard to imagine,” said state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, and author of three laws restricting the use of cell phones by drivers. “I don’t predict it to happen in my lifetime. But then, a decade ago, I couldn’t even get a hands-free bill out of the Legislature.”
Simitian said he would continue to press for increased penalties for violating the bans on handheld phones and texting, and for stepped-up enforcement.
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November 2011
Friday, November 04, 2011
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The California Reading Association will honor State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) tonight as its Policymaker of the Year. Simitian is receiving the award for his Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 (SB 1381), which requires children to be five years old to start kindergarten and provides an additional year of “Transitional Kindergarten” for children with fall birthdays.
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September 2011
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
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Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed Senate Bill 28, which would have strengthened California’s hands-free and no-texting laws for motorists. The measure’s author, State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), called the veto “a lost opportunity to save more lives.” Simitian said he would, “review the Governor’s veto message to see if there is any room for compromise in the coming year.”
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Thursday, September 01, 2011
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Legislation that protects the rights of drivers by regulating “red-light cameras” was approved by the Legislature on a bi-partisan vote, and now heads to Governor Jerry Brown for approval. Senate Bill 29, by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), would establish statewide standards for the installation and operation of traffic enforcement cameras, and make it easier to challenge unjustified tickets.
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Thursday, September 01, 2011
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County governments will be better able to cover the growing number of California children who lack health insurance under legislation that passed the Assembly and the Senate today. Senate Bill 36, introduced by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), enables counties that provide children’s health insurance to tap additional federal funds at no cost to the state. The bill now goes to the Governor for his signature.
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August 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
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Earlier today Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill by State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to enhance consumer privacy protection when sensitive data is lost or stolen. Senate Bill 24 strengthens the state’s existing data breach notification requirements by providing consumers with the information they need to protect themselves against identity theft.
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Friday, August 19, 2011
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The California State Legislature has voted to approve Senate Bill 24 by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto); the bill now goes to Governor Brown for consideration. Senate Bill 24 strengthens and improves the state’s existing security breach notification requirements.
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Monday, August 15, 2011
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Today, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 28, by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), which would strengthen California’s hands-free and no-texting laws for motorists. The bill heads to the Governor’s desk for consideration.
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June 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
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The Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT) named State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) a “Clean Power Champion” for 2011 at their annual awards benefit in Sacramento Tuesday night.
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Thursday, June 09, 2011
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Sen. Joe Simitian gets an “A” for effort. In fact, he might even be the post-term limits Legislature’s perspicacity poster child.
While not the decade it took Jim Costa to win approval of legislation moving California’s presidential primary forward, it took Simitian six years to pass a measure requiring hands-free use of cell phones while driving.
He’s been as tireless – but not as successful - on a measure he and some 150 school districts contend will help them better control their financial destinies.
In 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and now 2011 Simitian has introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow parcel taxes sought by school districts to be approved by a 55-percent rather than a two-thirds vote.
“If the state either can’t or won’t fund public education adequately, the least we can do is give local communities the opportunity to make local choices about their kids,” Simitian, a Palo Alto Democrat, told Capitol Weekly.
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Friday, June 03, 2011
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County governments will be better able to cover the growing number of California children who lack health insurance under legislation that passed the Senate this week. Senate Bill 36, introduced by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), enables counties that provide children’s health insurance to tap additional federal funds at no cost to the state. The bill now moves to the Assembly.
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Thursday, June 02, 2011
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Legislation to curb “pension spiking” in the state’s two largest pension systems has been passed by the State Senate. Senate Bill 27, by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), addresses pension spiking, the practice of boosting an employee’s final salary shortly before retirement. Simitian’s legislation applies to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.
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May 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
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The story of a Sonoma State University freshman who allegedly ran over a toddler while texting on a cell phone is tragic. The toddler, 2-year-old Calli Murray, had just begun what her bereaved parents described as a bright and happy life.
Meanwhile, the life of Kaitlyn Dunaway - the 18-year-old who has been charged with vehicular manslaughter - will never be the same.
The case underscores the fact that texting is one of the worst forms of distracted driving. The California Office of Traffic Safety places it alongside drunken driving as one of the leading causes of crashes that result in fatalities or serious injuries. It’s time for it to be punished accordingly.
“The question is, are people going to understand the seriousness of this behavior?” said state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto. Simitian has authored a bill, SB28, that’s passed the Senate and is awaiting votes in the Assembly. It would raise the base ticket fine for texting while driving from $20 to $50. Repeat offenders would have to pay $100 as a base fine and suffer a point on their licenses.
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Monday, May 16, 2011
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Legislation that protects the rights of drivers by regulating “red-light cameras” passed today on a bi-partisan unanimous vote of 36-0 in the State Senate. Senate Bill 29, by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), would establish statewide standards for the installation and operation of traffic enforcement cameras, and make it easier to challenge unjustified tickets.
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April 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
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A bill that would increase the cost of using a handheld cellphone or texting while driving to about $309 passed the state Senate on Monday and is headed to the Assembly.
“Good, good,” motorist Anna Fields of Sunnyvale said. “Anything to make these drivers on their phones understand the risks they are taking and the danger they pose to me and everyone else is badly needed.”
SB 28 by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, passed by a 24-12 vote. It would make a second offense a moving violation and raise the base fine from $20 to $50 per violation. With various fees, a first offense would cost $309, up from the current $208. A repeat offender could be fined $100, or $528 with fees.
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Monday, April 25, 2011
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Today, the State Senate passed Senate Bill 28, by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), which would strengthen California’s hands-free and no-texting laws for motorists. The bill passed by a vote of 24-12 and now moves to the State Assembly for consideration.
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Thursday, April 14, 2011
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Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 2X into law at the SunPower/Flextronics solar manufacturing plant in Milpitas on Tuesday, April 12. Governor Brown and Senator Simitian were joined by U.S. Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu for the signing ceremony and dedication of SunPower’s new facility.
More pictures are available at the link below.
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Thursday, April 14, 2011
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The California State Senate voted Thursday to approve Senate Bill 24 by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto). Senate Bill 24 strengthens and improves the state’s existing security breach notification requirements.
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Wednesday, April 13, 2011
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Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed into law a requirement that California get 33% of its electricity from renewable sources, such as wind and solar energy, by the year 2020.
Brown’s signature raises the former renewable-energy mandate of 20%. Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), author of the legislation, said the 33% benchmark would reduce air pollution and U.S. dependence on unstable foreign sources of oil, while creating more than 100,000 jobs. That number is based on research by the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, a trade group representing renewable energy companies, according to Simitian’s staff.
“The new law will stimulate the economy and improve the environment, while protecting ratepayers from excessive costs,” Simitian said.
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Tuesday, April 12, 2011
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Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill into law that requires the state’s public and private utilities to obtain at least 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. He talked about the challenges of environmental policy and even invoked his old nickname:
“You can’t be afraid to be called a moonbeam, weird, deviant, interesting, unexpected and let’s get it done. Senator will you come up here so we can sign this bill? Clapping fades.”
The bill was written by Democratic State Senator Joe Simitian, who’s been pushing the change for several years.
“When we have hit 33% by 2020 ,we will look back on this day and say ‘look what California has done.’”
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Tuesday, April 12, 2011
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Today Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 2X, putting California in the national forefront in its commitment to renewable energy. The bill authored by State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) requires private and public utilities to obtain 33% of their electricity from renewable energy resources by 2020, raising the target from the current 20%, while providing the flexibility necessary to meet the higher standard.
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March 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
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The sun, the wind and other sources of renewable power would supply one-third of California’s electricity by the end of 2020 under a bill that finally cleared the Legislature on Tuesday after years of false starts.
The bill would give California one of the nation’s most aggressive policies for increasing the use of renewable power at a time when comprehensive federal energy legislation has been stalled in Washington. State Sen. Joe Simitian, who wrote the bill, cast it as a way of boosting California’s clean-energy industry, which has continued to grow in recent years despite the recession.
“If we send a clear signal to the market, the market will respond, and investment dollars and jobs and tax revenues will come to California,” said Simitian, D-Palo Alto. “If we don’t send a clear signal to the market, those dollars and jobs and tax revenues will go to some other state or country.”
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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
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The lawmaker who wrote California’s hands-free cellphone laws says too many motorists are ignoring it. He’s backing legislation that will make the fines and penalties a lot tougher.
Even though the hands-free law has been around for more than three years, Californians are still breaking the law calling, texting and checking emails on their handheld device while behind the wheel.
“Probably 60 or 70 percent of Californians are complying. That means another 30 to 40 percent of folks out there could do a better job,” said California Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto).
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Tuesday, March 29, 2011
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Legislation authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) that would put California in the national forefront in its commitment to renewable energy is headed to Governor Jerry Brown. Senate Bill 2X would require private and public utilities to obtain 33% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020, raising the target from the current 20%, while providing the flexibility necessary to meet the higher standard.
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Tuesday, March 29, 2011
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California lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday that would require a third of the state’s power to come from renewable energy sources by 2020, setting a new bar for the rest of the country.
The U.S.‘s largest energy consumer is increasing its renewable portfolio standards and continues to pursue a cap-and-trade program that would put a price on carbon after similar initiatives to do so in Congress have flatlined.
California is typically seen as a trendsetter when it comes to setting environmental regulations aimed at slashing harmful emissions. The new law would make it the most aggressive adopter of renewable energy in terms of the amount of new generation that will be needed, which will draw investment dollars and create jobs through wind, solar, geothermal and other alternative projects.
The legislation “sends a signal to renewable energy providers that California wants them here,” State State Sen. Joe Simitian, who authored the bill, said in a statement. “They will respond, as they have in the past, with billions of dollars in investments that will provide jobs and tax revenues.”
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Thursday, March 10, 2011
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In an editorial, NBC Bay Area applauds Sen. Joe Simitian’s Senate Bill 2X, that would require the state to obtain 33% of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020.
Suzanne Shaw, NBC Bay Area Editorial Director, says, “We can lead the nation away from foreign oil and build a greener future for this state. We need our legislators and our governor to pass Senate Bill 2X.”
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Thursday, March 03, 2011
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State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) has announced two winners in this year’s “There Oughta Be a Law” contest. The winning entries would improve screening for breast cancer, suggested by Amy Colton of Soquel, and update privacy protections for library patrons, suggested by Mary Minow of Cupertino. Simitian has introduced bills to turn those proposals into law
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Tuesday, March 01, 2011
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Few 4-year-olds are ready for kindergarten.
That was the message delivered Monday by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, during a countywide education forum at New Brighton Middle School. More than 300 educators, including preschool and kindergarten teachers, superintendents and school board trustees, packed the auditorium for Simitian’s second annual “Together for Kindergarten.”
Simitian shared with the crowd the impetus for a new law he wrote last year that changed the kindergarten entry age. Kids starting kindergarten must turn 5 by Sept. 1 of the fall they wish to start school. Currently, students can start school if they’ll turn 5 by Dec. 2.
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February 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
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The California Senate today passed legislation authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) that would require private and public utilities to obtain 33% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020. Senate Bill 2X would raise the renewable target from the current 20%, while providing the flexibility necessary to meet the higher standard. The measure passed on a vote of 26-11.
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Wednesday, February 23, 2011
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An editorial in the Los Angeles Times calls on the Legislature to pass Sen. Joe Simitian’s bill, SB 2X, requiring that 33% of the electricity in the state come from renewable resources. Some excerpts:
“The state still doesn’t have a renewable energy standard even though a sensible bill to establish one has been taken up annually since 2007. ... We’re once again hoping the political establishment can overcome its legacy of failure and give California an early lead in the struggle to wean the nation off of fossil fuels, clean the state’s air, boost its fledgling green industries and set an example on responsible mitigation strategies for climate change.”
“It’s very important for the standard to take the form of legislation rather than a gubernatorial order, because the latter can be changed at whim by any new administration. Without the force of law, utilities and investors lack the certainty they need to proceed with new renewable projects.”
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January 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
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County governments would be better able to cover the growing number of California children who lack health insurance under legislation, Senate Bill 36, introduced by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto). Counties that provide children’s health insurance could tap additional federal funds at no cost to the state.
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011
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A New York Times story discusses efforts to restrict the use of cell phones, iPods and other electronic devices, not only while driving, but while jogging or walking.
“The ubiquity of interactive devices has propelled the science of distraction — and now efforts to legislate against it — out of the car and into the exercise routine,” the Times reports.
“In California, State Senator Joe Simitian, who led a successful fight to ban motorists from sending text messages and using hand-held phones, has reintroduced a bill that failed last year to fine bicyclists $20 for similar multitasking.”
In other states, legislators have introduced bills to restrict pedestrians and joggers from using cell phones or iPods. Simitian is not proposing similar legislation.
In the Times story, Simitian says “At some point you do have to simply rely on the good judgment of folks as they go through their daily lives.”
“Is there a problem out there with distracted pedestrians? I’d be the first to acknowledge it,” he said. But, he added, “It’s appropriate to distinguish between 4,000 pounds of steel and glass coming at you and a pedestrian who may well put themselves at risk but probably poses less of a risk to the general public.”
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011
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In an opinion article in the San Mateo County Times, Sen. Joe Simitian urges the Legislature to enable San Mateo, and other counties, to provide health insurance to more children. He has introduced Senate Bill 36, which changes state law so that counties can capture more federal funds. There is no cost to the state.
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Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
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State Senator Joe Simitian announced today he has introduced a bill to enhance consumer privacy protection by strengthening the notification requirements when databases of personal information are compromised.
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Tuesday, January 04, 2011
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In an opinion article, Senator Joe Simitian explains the importance of increasing the amount of electricity generated from renewable resources.
In 2006, the California Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ambitiously committed California to obtain 20 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by the end of 2010.
The utilities blanched and the skeptics snickered. But despite much naysaying, we’ll get pretty darned close. The California Public Utilities Commission said we’d reach 18 percent by the end of this month, and move past 20 percent some time in the new year.
That’s good, but we can do better. California’s commitment to green energy has invigorated the renewable-energy market. An explosion of investment in green technology has produced advances in solar and wind power and a smarter electric grid. Combined, they have brought within reach what once seemed an audacious goal: 33 percent renewables by 2020.
With our 2010 goals clearly in sight, I’ve again introduced legislation that calls for a commitment, in state law, to a 33 percent renewable portfolio standard by 2020. That measure, Senate Bill 23, is now before the Senate.
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December 2010
Friday, December 31, 2010
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This opinion article by Senator Joe Simitian appeared in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal
By Joe Simitian
One way to build the economy back up is to take that expression literally—build things. Constructing offices, research parks, houses, schools, roads, bridges, and transit lines puts people back to work and money back into circulation. And the sooner, the better.
Starting January 1, a new state law will remove potential obstacles to those projects. Legislation I authored in 2010 makes it harder to delay construction projects with endless appeals, abuse of the process or frivolous complaints, while at the same time ensuring that developments are studied and essential environmental protections are preserved.
In boosting the economy, timeliness matters. The federal stimulus program sought projects that were “shovel ready,” with plans drawn and environmental reviews completed. Some private developers, eager to turn the sluggish economy into an opportunity to hurry their projects through, or around, environmental assessments, promoted an approach more akin to “just shovel already.”
Not for the first time, pressure to set aside the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) grew as the economy shrank. The California State Senate’s Environmental Quality Committee, which I chair, received a number of proposals to simply brush aside environmental reviews to push projects along. I couldn’t support that.
But after saying “no” to such proposals, I thought I ought to figure out what I could responsibly say “yes” to. After all, the development community had a point about the potential for opponents of a worthy project to force costly delays even after project approval.
The bill that resulted, Senate Bill 1456, earned bipartisan support, and was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Provisions in the law encourage mediation. The bill makes it more likely that people will sit down and work out their differences before suing. If a challenge is taken to court, it will be resolved more quickly.
Johnny-come-lately-opponents will be out of luck. An organization formed to overturn approval of a project must have at least one member who raised the objections before the approval was granted. Government bodies will have more latitude to decide that certain issues do not need to be restudied as projects are modified: For example, parking need not be re-evaluated because a plant’s potential water consumption has changed.
And when a project’s opponents just can’t accept a legitimate defeat, and turn up yet again in court, a judge may impose a $10,000 penalty for a frivolous lawsuit.
Too often, the environment and the economy are presented as opposites in a zero-sum game in which advances for one come at the expense of the other. It’s a false dichotomy.
A healthy environment and a vibrant economy are not competing ideals, but complementary ones. California’s attractiveness as a business destination lies in part in the natural beauty – mountains, ocean, delta, deserts – that lie just beyond the cities that are the heart of its economy. And within its developed areas, business leaders and rank-and-file employees alike want to live in pleasant neighborhoods, breathe clean air, and commute to work as conveniently as possible.
Environmental regulations can protect that quality of life without holding builders and businesses hostage to anyone who dreams up a fanciful reason to file a CEQA appeal. Senate Bill 1456 is a commonsense way to expedite worthy projects and create jobs without compromising environmental quality.
This new law reflects what Californians want – a state that provides a place where we can find work and share in general prosperity, a place where we can live in comfort and good health, a place where we can savor the splendid natural environment around us.
Joe Simitian represents the 11th State Senate District, which includes portions of San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
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Wednesday, December 29, 2010
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Once just a cruel joke, assuming another person’s identity on the Internet and fabricating an e-mail or Facebook account, is no longer a laughing matter.
A state law effective Jan. 1, authored by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, makes online impersonation, when it seeks to harm someone, illegal.
“As a Silicon Valley legislator, I’m nothing but enthusiastic about technology. But the question is, is the technology used wisely and appropriately?” Simitian said this week. “This (‘e-personation’) is one area where some constraint appeared necessary.”
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010
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With the start of the new year, maliciously impersonating someone online – with a phony Facebook page or e-mails apparently sent from their account – isn’t just a cruel prank anymore. It’s a crime. Senate Bill 1411, authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), becomes law January 1, updating California’s 19th century impersonation law to the Internet age.
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010
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The Consumer Federation of California (CFC), a statewide consumer rights organization, has recognized State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) for his 2010 voting record with a 100% score on its annual legislative scorecard.
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Thursday, December 16, 2010
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State Sen. Joe Simitian is again introducing rules that require 33 percent of utilities’ energy mix to come from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, by 2020.
Simitian’s proposal was once vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009. A similar measure died on the Senate floor earlier this year. Both times, the governor objected to provisions that would limit the amount of renewable energy utilities could purchase from out of state.
Schwarzenegger did, however, issue an executive order requiring the higher energy standards, without the restrictions on out-of-state generation.
But executive orders don’t have the permanence of state statute—his successor could have nixed it—and the governor’s order left a lot of uncertainty about whether utilities would actually have to go ahead with the new requirements.
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Wednesday, December 08, 2010
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Even before California’s power companies have met a year-end target of getting 20 percent of their energy from renewables, like wind or solar, state Sen. Joe Simitian is upping the ante.
A bill introduced this week by the senator would require utilities to generate 33 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020, a standard Simitian says will go a long way to fighting global warming, spawning green investment and assuring California a local source of energy. The proposal, Senate Bill 23, failed in past years but Simitian, D-Palo Alto, hopes this time will be different.
“I’m optimistic,” he said Tuesday. “This is sound energy policy.”
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Monday, December 06, 2010
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State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) today introduced legislation to require private and public utilities to obtain 33% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020. The bill would raise the renewable target from the current 20%, while providing the flexibility necessary to meet the higher standard.
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Saturday, December 04, 2010
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After years of frustration at having their ideas vetoed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Democratic state lawmakers said Friday that they are reviving scores of old bills in hopes of having better luck with incoming Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat.
The proposals they plan to revisit would give illegal immigrants access to financial aid at colleges, prohibit the practice of “spiking” in public pensions, require utilities to provide more solar and wind power, ban cellphones from state prisons and require college booster groups to disclose their finances.
“We’re going back to look at every bill vetoed in the last eight years,” said state Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto). “I do think with a change it makes sense to look at bills this governor wasn’t inclined to sign and the new governor might.”
Next week Simitian plans to reintroduce, among others, a measure that would prohibit last-minute bonuses and raises from resulting in sharp increases in state workers’ pensions, and a requirement that 33% of energy produced by utilities by the year 2020 come from renewable sources.
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Thursday, December 02, 2010
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Lauding the efforts of State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) as an advocate for education, the California School Boards Association has honored him as 2010 “Outstanding Legislator of the Year.”
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November 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
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Two Palo Alto teachers, reading specialist Natalie Bivas and kindergarten teacher Diana Argenti, were honored Nov. 9 for suggesting a bill to State Senator Joe Simitian that would require children to be five years old when they begin kindergarten. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill September 30.
In this KQED Radio interview—at the link below—Natalie Bivas and Diana Argenti talk about their experiences in the classroom that led them to propose the bill, and Sen. Simitian describes how they persuaded him to carry it.
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Monday, November 08, 2010
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Columnist Patty Fisher wrote about the two teachers who inspired Sen. Joe Simitian’s bill to raise the age at which children start kindergarten.
We hear a lot about gridlock in Sacramento. We hear that only powerful special interests and highly paid lobbyists have the clout to push legislation through the Capitol maze.
And then every once in a while, we hear about people like Natalie Bivas and Diana Argenti, two Palo Alto elementary school teachers who saw a problem that had baffled the Legislature for two decades, came up with a solution, defied powerful special interests and got a bill passed to fix the problem in just a few months.
Teachers have been complaining for years about California’s Dec. 2 cutoff, one of the latest in the country. But instead of just complaining, Bivas and Argenti wrote letters to elementary school teachers all over the Palo Alto district seeking support to change the cutoff. Armed with signatures from every single teacher, they paid a call to state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto.
What happened next amazed everyone. The bill passed on the last night of the session, with just a few minutes to spare.
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Monday, November 01, 2010
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State Sen. Joe Simitian is holding a reception November 9 to honor two Palo Alto teachers, Diana Argenti and Natalie Bivas, who inspired him to author Senate Bill 1381, the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010, which was signed into law September 30. The reception will be from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
in the Palo Alto Unified School District Board Room, 25 Churchill Ave., Palo Alto.
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October 2010
Saturday, October 02, 2010
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California will require kids to be 5 years old when they start kindergarten and create a new grade level for pre-K children after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation aimed at improving student achievement.
The bill approved late Thursday will push up the date by which children must turn 5 to enter kindergarten from Dec. 2 to Sept. 1. The change will be phased in one month at a time over three years starting in fall 2012.
“This is a victory for kids on two fronts,” said state Sen. Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who authored Senate Bill 1381. “We start kids when they’re ready to succeed in school, and for younger children we provide a ‘get ready’ year of instruction as well.” The estimated $700 million saved by delaying kindergarten for roughly 120,000 children annually will be used to pay for “transitional kindergarten,” a new grade level for children with fall birthdays who will be too young to start regular kindergarten.
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Friday, October 01, 2010
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California’s youngest students have been given a better chance to succeed from their first day in school with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature yesterday on the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto). Simitian’s measure requires children to be five years old to start kindergarten, and provides an additional year of “Transitional Kindergarten” for children with fall birthdays.
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September 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
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KQED Radio reports on Sen. Joe Simitian’s FasTrak privacy bill, Senate Bill 1268
“Bridge commuters will no longer have a conflict between privacy and convenience beginning in January. The governor has signed a bill written by state Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to restrict law enforcement access to FasTrak data. Except in emergencies, the law requires police to go to court for a search warrant to get their hands on pesonally identifiable information.”
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Wednesday, September 29, 2010
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Legislation authored by State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to streamline the state’s environmental review process without weakening essential protections has been signed into law, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved Senate Bill 1456 today.
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Wednesday, September 29, 2010
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Legislation authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to protect the privacy of drivers using the FasTrak payment system for toll bridges and roads has been signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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Maliciously impersonating someone online – out of revenge, or jealousy, or a twisted sense of humor -- isn’t just a cruel game anymore. It’s a crime. California’s 19th century impersonation law was updated to protect victims of e-personation yesterday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation, authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto). Senate Bill 1411 makes it a misdemeanor to impersonate someone online with intent to harm, intimidate, threaten or defraud.
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Friday, September 24, 2010
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Columnist Teryl Zarnow tells how she held her son back a year from entering kindergarten because he was less than 5 when the school year began. She knew she had made the right decision. Over the years, she observed kindergarten as a school volunteer with each of her children. “With three children,” she writes, “I went to kindergarten three times”
“Even then—when kindergarten still had a play kitchen in one corner—it was asking a lot of a 4-year-old. Students spent a week studying the letter ‘A.’ They traced it and glued rice to outline its shape. On Friday, they ate apples.
“Most states require a child to turn 5 by Sept. 1, but California is one of only four states enrolling children younger. This year, after 13 tries, the state Legislature passed a measure to change the cutoff date from Dec. 2 to Sept. 1.
“It’s about time.”
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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Kindergarten teacher Robin Gieman calls them “rollers”—children who lie on the carpet and roll around when they should be listening to a lesson.
They’re not misbehaving. They’re just not quite ready for prime-time kindergarten, usually because they are too young. “Those with fall birthdays can just be very wiggly,” the veteran teacher said. “We prefer children who are able to sit and pay attention.”
Two years from now, Gieman may have fewer “rollers” in her class at Nimitz Elementary School in Sunnyvale. If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs a bill headed to his desk, the cutoff date for children to be 5 before starting kindergarten will gradually move from the current Dec. 2 to Sept. 1.
“We’re used to thinking of kindergarten as a year kids had to get ready for real school. Now kindergarten is real school,” said the bill’s co-sponsor, Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, a former school board member. Educators have long lobbied for changing the kindergarten cutoff date, but for two decades bills to do that have failed, Simitian noted.
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Monday, September 13, 2010
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An editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle calls on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign Sen. Simitian’s AB 1381, to require children to be 5 when they begin kindergarten.
Fourteen studies reviewed by the Public Policy Institute of California in 2008 led it to conclude that the state need to shift its age of entry for kindergarten. Too many 4 1/2-year-olds were struggling in class - and the effects of starting too early reverberated throughout their schooling.
State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, had seen the studies. Even more compelling was a petition he received from 289 teachers.
A legislator who is known for turning constituent ideas into state laws decided to give the idea yet another try. His SB1381 would require that entering kindergartners must turn 5 by Sept. 1 - instead of the current Dec. 1.
SB1381 went through the state Senate and Assembly by wide margins, and with bipartisan support. It is backed by a broad array of policy experts and education advocates. It is a rare opportunity to improve our schools while saving money at the same time.
The fate of SB1381 now rests with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He should sign it into law.
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Tuesday, September 07, 2010
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A bill that would require pupils entering kindergarten to reach 5 by Sept. 1 and that would create another level of instruction for younger children was passed by the Legislature and awaits the governor’s signature.
The bill, SB-1381, which was approved by the Legislature last week, would also provide a year of transitional kindergarten for children with fall birthdays, essentially creating another grade level for an estimated 120,000 4-year-olds.
California is one of only a few states with a kindergarten cutoff date later than Sept. 1, and many educators believe that puts younger children at a disadvantage when entering today’s academically demanding kindergarten classes.
“Today’s kindergarten is not what most of us think of when we remember our own experience decades ago,” said state Sen. Joe Simitian (D- Palo Alto), who wrote the legislation. “It’s a pretty rigorous place these days, and the youngest are struggling to keep up. One thing that caught my attention was a kindergarten report card that had a space for algebra skills, and I thought, ‘OK, this is a lot more challenging.’ Too many kids are just not ready
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Thursday, September 02, 2010
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Thanks to the persistence of some Palo Alto teachers, future kindergartners may be at least three months older than the youngest ones who started school this fall.
A bill introduced by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, and approved Tuesday by the Legislature would increase the minimum age of the state’s kindergartners if signed into law by the governor.
“There’s just a mound of research that indicates pretty clearly that when kids start too young, they struggle to keep up and that struggle continues for years and years,” Simitian said Wednesday.
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Thursday, September 02, 2010
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Legislation authored by State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to streamline the state’s environmental review process without weakening essential protections has passed the Legislature. Senate Bill 1456 now moves to the Governor’s desk.
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Wednesday, September 01, 2010
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Aiming to give children a better chance to succeed from their first day in school, the California Legislature has approved Senate Bill 1381, the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto). The measure increases the minimum age for entering kindergarten from 5 years old by December 2 of the school year to 5 years old by September 1 of the school year. For children born between September 2 and December 2, a new Transitional Kindergarten would be established.
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August 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
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Legislation authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to curb “pension spiking” in the state’s two largest pension systems has passed the Legislature. Senate Bill 1425, which pertains to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, now moves to the Governor’s desk.
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Saturday, August 28, 2010
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As the final days of the 2010 legislative session wind down in Sacramento, a Silicon Valley lawmaker is pushing to give California the most far-reaching mandate for renewable energy in the United States.
But there’s more to it than putting up some wind turbines and solar farms. The lofty goal is struggling through a complex tangle of utilities, labor unions, environmental groups and green energy companies—each concerned about everything from the price of your monthly PG&E bill to the number of jobs the measure might, or might not, create.
“It is an extraordinarily complex task,” said State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, “both in respect to the issue itself and the politics surrounding it.”
The showdown over Simitian’s bill, SB 722, could come to a vote early next week. The bill would require California’s utilities to produce 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
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Wednesday, August 25, 2010
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Legislation authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to protect the privacy of drivers using the FasTrak payment system for toll bridges and roads has passed the Legislature and is on its way to the Governor.
“There’s just no reason for a government agency to track the movements of Californians, let alone maintain that information in a database forever and ever,” said Simitian.
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Wednesday, August 25, 2010
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State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), who authored the California law prohibiting coastal dumping by cruise ships and other oceangoing vessels, praised the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its announcement today that it has proposed to ban all sewage discharges from large ships in state waters the length of the California coast.
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Tuesday, August 24, 2010
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For decades, millions of Californians with children who have fall birthdays have struggled over whether to pack their 4-year-olds off to kindergarten – or hold them back because they might be too young to start school.
This week, California state legislators may be the closest they’ve ever come to making that decision for parents, with room for some exceptions.
A bill by Sen. Joe Simitian, a Palo Alto Democrat, would roll back the date that entering kindergartners must turn 5 from the current Dec. 2 to Sept. 1.
Educators hope the change in the age limit will reduce the number of children in special education and those who are held back, as well as help close the achievement gap that divides affluent and lower-income kids.
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Tuesday, August 24, 2010
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Cruise ships and large commercial ships will be banned from dumping any kind of sewage—even highly filtered wastewater—along California’s coast out to three miles from shore, under new rules from the Obama administration.
The rules, which are scheduled to be announced Wednesday at a news conference in San Francisco, give California among the strictest laws in the nation limiting pollution from large ships.
“This is going to cover the entire California coastline,” said state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto. “Oceangoing vessels should not consider our coastline a place for dumping sewage.”
In 2005, Simitian wrote a bill that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed banning sewage discharges in state waters from cruise ships and commercial ships larger than 300 gross tons.
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Monday, August 23, 2010
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The California Legislature has passed a resolution expressing “deepest regret” for the wartime internment, curfews, confiscations and other indignities that thousands of Italian and Italian American families faced.
When Mike Maiorana was a boy during World War II, his family was like a lot of others in his Monterey neighborhood. In 1942, his mother was declared an “enemy alien,” along with 600,000 other Italians and half a million Germans and Japanese who weren’t U.S. citizens. And when the government seized fishing boats for the war effort, Maiorana’s dad, a naturalized U.S. citizen, saw his livelihood go down the drain.
Families like the Maioranas last week received a formal acknowledgement from California. A measure that swiftly made its way through the Legislature expresses the state’s “deepest regrets” over the mistreatment of Italians and Italian Americans during World War II.
The resolution was the brainchild of a 79-year-old San Jose man, Chet Campanella, who entered a legislator’s annual “There Oughta Be a Law” contest.
Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) sponsored a bill based on Campanella’s idea. “I was wholly unaware of the circumstances he described,” Simitian said. “Somehow this story had passed me by.” Simitian said he saw “contemporary importance” in the effort: “We’re at war on the other side of the world, and I think it’s important to remember that there are millions of Americans who are ethnic Arabs or Muslim by faith, and that they’re good Americans.
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Friday, August 20, 2010
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The California Legislature has acknowledged that the treatment of Italian Americans during World War II “represented a fundamental injustice” and has expressed its “deepest regrets.” Senate Concurrent Resolution 95, authored by State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), has been passed by the Assembly and the Senate “to help repair the damage to the Italian American community, and to discourage the occurrence of similar injustices” in the future. The measure is consistent with action taken in the U.S. Congress earlier in the decade.
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Friday, August 20, 2010
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The California Legislature has passed Senate Bill 1431, authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), to help county governments cover the growing number of California children who lack health insurance. The bill, which unanimously passed the Assembly on Aug. 18, now moves to the Governor’s desk.
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Thursday, August 19, 2010
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The California Legislature has voted to enhance consumer privacy protection by passing Senate Bill 1166, by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), which strengthens the notification required when databases of personal information are compromised. The bill now moves to the Governor’s desk.
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Thursday, August 12, 2010
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Diana Argenti and Natalie Bivas, two teachers who presented a petition to Sen. Simitian urging California to require children to be older when they begin kindergarten, explain in an opinion piece why the Legislature should set the cutoff to start school at age 5 by Sept. 1.
Over the past 10 years, kindergarten has become increasingly academic, though teachers still make time for art, music and play. For some children, it is too much.
They try to keep up, but fall behind right away. They keep lagging their classmates when they are 7 and 10 and 15 - or until they give up.
As teachers, it breaks our hearts, especially when their struggle has such as an obvious cause: They started kindergarten too young. It has an obvious remedy: Require kindergarteners to be 5 by Sept. 1. We’re calling on the Legislature to pass Senate Bill 1381, authored by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, that will make this overdue change.
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Thursday, August 12, 2010
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The California Legislature has taken an important step toward protecting victims of online impersonation, or e-personation, by passing Senate Bill 1411, authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto). The bill would make it a misdemeanor to maliciously impersonate another person online.
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Monday, August 09, 2010
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Two months ago, a reporter received a profanity-laced e-mail critical of one of her stories. The sender appeared to be Carl Guardino, the chief executive of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. He hadn’t sent the e-mail. Guardino was the victim of online impersonation. He soon found out he wasn’t alone - friends, colleagues and relatives had stories of usurped identities and tarnished reputations.
The state law on impersonation is not equipped to deal with the digital age. But a bill making its way through the Legislature is looking to change that. Inspired by Guardino’s story, state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, introduced a bill in June that would make it a misdemeanor to maliciously impersonate someone.
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Sunday, August 08, 2010
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Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Morain writes that the next governor needs to defend a state’s right to protect personal data.
In California, privacy is a fundamental right. This state has a constitutional amendment identifying privacy as inalienable. And for better or worse, legislators don’t see themselves as potted plants. Some actually care about state law. All that means the next governor will grapple with privacy or lack of it right here in Sacramento.
“States often have to lead to get attention at the federal level,” said Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, the Legislature’s most prolific author of bills that seek to provide at least a thin veil of privacy. Simitian helped push a first-in-the-nation requirement that companies tell us when a security breach has spewed our personal information into other people’s hands. Because of a 2004 Simitian bill, California requires companies doing business in the state to post privacy policies on their websites. Lately, Simitian has sought to limit the misuse of radio frequency identification. Now Simitian is carrying legislation to protect people who use FasTrak to pay bridge tolls.
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Thursday, August 05, 2010
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SACRAMENTO -- An informational hearing on the State Water Resources Control Board’s scientific report on the water flow required for a healthy ecosystem in the Delta will be held Monday, Aug, 9, by the Senate Select Committee on Delta Conservation, Conveyance and Governance, chaired by Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto).
The hearing will include 30-minute presentations from heads of state water agencies, the scientists who prepared the report, water providers and environmental groups.
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July 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
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Senate Democrats and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration are embroiled in an improbable fight over renewable energy. They need to resolve it fast, for the sake of the state’s environment and economy.
The battle has its roots in California’s energy crisis of a decade ago. In one of the more significant measures to emerge from the debacle, then-Sen. Byron Sher pushed legislation in 2002 requiring that California’s privately owned utilities rely on the sun, wind, geothermal and other renewable sources for 20 percent of the state’s energy usage by this year.
The legislation made sense, given that energy merchants had been manipulating the supply of natural gas that fires most California power plants, and gouging utilities and, by extension, consumers.
By turning to renewable energy sources, Californians would gain more control over the electric system while also reducing carbon emissions.
Utilities have been racing toward the goal. Southern California Edison is closest. Pacific Gas ad Electric Co. is second. San Diego Gas and Electric Co. is lagging.
In too many instances, the utilities have turned to energy producers outside California for renewable energy. Out-of-state facilities provide no tax benefits or jobs to California. That makes no sense. Californians are expected to pay for renewable energy. As much of that money as possible ought to remain in California.
This issue is especially relevant as voters prepare to decide Proposition 23, the initiative on the November ballot that would suspend the separate mandate that California reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is also more urgent now that Senate Democrats in Washington, D.C., have dropped energy legislation that had contained provisions to reduce greenhouse gases and increase renewable energy requirements.
The jostling on renewables became mind-boggling last year when Schwarzenegger, the governor who champions the environment, vetoed legislation that might have resolved the dispute. Now, Sen. Joe Simitian, a Silicon Valley Democrat who replaced Sher, is pushing a new version of the measure, Senate Bill 722.
Like last year’s measure, SB 722 would increase the mandate that utilities rely on renewable sources for 33 percent of the energy by 2020. That is laudable. Importantly, the bill also urges that 75 percent of the renewable energy come from within California.
On that point, the administration is balking, as are lobbyists for manufacturing industries. There are questions of cost and doubts about whether the state could meet the goal. To meet it, the state may need to streamline permitting requirements and help resolve fights between environmentalists and energy providers on appropriate sites for new wind, solar and geothermal plants.
But there is no reason to bypass California entrepreneurs for energy producers from Montana and other states. California has its own sources of renewable power.
Approval of SB 722 would be a step toward energy independence, and a significant accomplishment for the governor who has tied his legacy to California’s environment. In the process, he and lawmakers would be helping to provide high-paying jobs in an area where they have said they want to direct the economy.
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Friday, July 16, 2010
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Legislation to improve the Election Day experience at polling places, which began as an idea presented to State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) by two of his constituents, has been signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill, Senate Bill 1342, provides more flexibility in designating precincts and polling places.
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Wednesday, July 07, 2010
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With less than three months to go in the Legislature’s two-year session, State Senator Joe Simtian (D-Palo Alto) has introduced legislation (Senate Bill 1456) to streamline the state’s environmental review process without weakening essential protections.
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June 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
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Over the past 10 years, California spent more than $3.5 billion on an agency that failed to solve the water crisis in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Now, the state is trying again - with a newly formed agency.
Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, author of the bill that created the new agency - the Delta Stewardship Council - said there is no guarantee the council will succeed where the old agency, CalFed, failed. But something needs to be done. Decades of “benign neglect and ineffective governance have not served the state well,” Simitian said. “There’s always some risk with a new direction, but I think the old model was a proven failure.”
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Saturday, June 26, 2010
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An editorial in the Los Angeles Times called on the Legislature to pass SB 722
Since 2007, state Sen. Joe Simitian (D- Palo Alto) has been introducing bills aimed at requiring California to get 33% of its power from renewable sources such as the sun and wind by 2020.
California cannot achieve its ambitious goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions without this standard, which is why the Legislature should pass Simitian’s bill and Schwarzenegger should sign it. SB 722 would clean the air, produce jobs and make the state a player in the global race to dominate the green-technology industry.
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Thursday, June 24, 2010
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Legislation authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to require private and public utilities to obtain 33% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020 passed the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee today. Senate Bill 722, passed 9-2, would raise the renewable target from 20%, while providing the flexibility necessary to meet the higher standard.
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Tuesday, June 22, 2010
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A San Jose Mercury News editorial called for online impersonation to be made illegal
Impersonating someone with the intent to harm, intimidate, threaten or defraud is illegal in California — except when it’s done online. Existing state law, written in 1872, didn’t anticipate the existence of Facebook, MySpace or a host of other Internet sites that unintentionally created new ways to harm innocent victims.
State Sen. Joe Simitian has a solution. His SB 1411 would make it a misdemeanor to maliciously impersonate another person online. The Legislature should pass the Palo Alto Democrat’s bill, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should sign into law legal protections against online abuse.
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Sunday, June 20, 2010
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An oped article by Sen. Joe Simitian in the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
On the Internet, it’s easy to be someone else. You can set up a fake page on Facebook or MySpace; you can assume an identity on Twitter; you can appropriate someone else’s name when you create an e-mail account.
As the Internet provides new opportunities for mischief, or worse, state law must provide new protections. I have introduced Senate Bill 1411 to make it a misdemeanor to impersonate someone on the Internet if the intention is to harm, intimidate, threaten or deceive them. In addition, victims would gain the right to sue their tormenters.
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Friday, June 18, 2010
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Legislation aimed at requiring California electric utilities to meet the nation’s toughest renewable power quotas easily passed its first test Thursday, gaining support from a large number of usually conflicting interests.
The bill would require utilities to get 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020, a boost from the current 20% standard. The bill, SB 722 by state Sen. Joe Simitian (D- Palo Alto), was approved by the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee on a 9-2 vote and is expected to win final passage in late summer.
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