2010 California Legislation

By Caitlin Vega
California Labor Federation

The foreclosure freefall is nothing new in California. We all know families who have lost their homes, and others who are struggling to hold on as their loan rates adjust and balloon payments are triggered. Our state has been devastated top to bottom by the aftermath of this totally preventable crisis.

A new report concludes that the impact of foreclosures goes far beyond economic damage. The study conducted by the Alameda County Public Health Department and the housing rights group Causa Justa found that those who have had homes foreclosed on are twice as likely to report that their mental and physical health has declined.

By Anthony Wright
Health Access

The California Legislature ended their session last week after passing over a dozen patient protection measures. If signed by the Governor, these bills will implement and improve a number of provisions of federal health care reform law, enacting a number of new consumer protections.

A lists of the measures related to implementing federal health reform, and how they fared in the California Legislature, is available on the front page of the Health Access website.

These bills that passed are now on the desk of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

By Traci Sheehan
Planning and Conservation League

At midnight September 1st the gavel came down and the 2009-2010 legislative session came to a close.  While not all bills had the outcome we would have liked, we can happily say that thanks to the hard work of community groups around the state, we have made it through the year without a single bill exempting a project from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) from passing. This is a huge victory that could not have been achieved without the effort of a coalition over 150 (and growing!) environmental and justice groups, housing advocates, businesses and community leaders. 

SACRAMENTO – In this Democratic weekly address, Assemblymember Bill Monning (D-Carmel) highlights legislation passed by the Legislature in its 2010 session to save and create jobs for Californians. Monning says, “As Californians celebrate the contributions of workers this Labor Day weekend, too many workers continue to be threatened by layoffs, or worse, they can’t find a job in this economy. This is totally unacceptable for Assembly Democrats and it’s for this reason that our laser beam-like focus is attacking unemployment.”

By Dan Aiello
California Progress Report

In the last hours of the legislative session, Sen. Mark Leno (D-SF) successfully shepherded a resolution condemning the government of Uganda for the African nation's escalating persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people after finding the 21 floor votes needed to pass the measure. 

Conservative Republican Senator Roy Ashburn, who recently admitted he was gay, voted against the resolution.

A similar House Resolution authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-SF) was scheduled for a vote when the legislature reconvenes for the budget. Both Uganda resolutions are part of a package of 14 bills sponsored by Equality California this year.

By Dan Aiello
California Progress Report

Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, expressed disappointment today in the Senate’s rejection of her bill to ban single-use carryout bags in California supermarkets, pharmacies and convenience stores.
 
AB 1998 failed passage on a 14-21 vote.  

The Sacramento Bee's Susan Ferris reported last minute campaign contributions ahead of Tuesday's vote to moderate Democrats and to Senate Republicans from the Virginia-based American Chemistry Council representing bag manufacturers, as well as Exxon and Poly Hilex, helped seal the bill's fate.  

By Dan Aiello 
California Progress Report

In what may turn out to be this year's most memorable legislative fight in Sacramento, Assembly Bill 1998, the single-use plastic bag ban introduced by Democrat Julia Brownley of Santa Monica, is scheduled for a Senate floor vote Monday, just one day before the legislature wraps up.

If a legislator managed to miss the television ads placed on every Sacramento station by the bill's opponents, a coalition led by the American Chemistry Council representing plastic bag manufacturers, there was no missing the giant blow-up turtle exhibited on the West Steps of the Capitol Friday, part of the bill sponsor, Heal the Bay's, last minute efforts to garner the two-thirds Senate vote required to pass the legislation.

By Traci Sheehan
Planning and Conservation League

Two long sought after bills are nearing the finish line in the legislature before heading to the Governor's desk. These policies could be huge victories for both public health and the environment, but both face intense lobbying from the American Chemistry Council.

Senate Bill 797 (Pavley) bans from children's products the toxic chemical BPA (bisphenol A), which is suspected of wrecking havoc with hormone levels and causing a host of problems including impaired brain development, breast and prostate cancers and early puberty.

This common sense policy was stopped twice before in the Assembly by intense lobbying from the chemical industry, but finally passed in July. Now the chemical lobby has ramped up efforts in the Senate to prevent the bill from making it over this final legislative hurdle.

By Rainey Reitman
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

Employees losing laptop computers, hackers downloading credit card numbers and sensitive personal data accidentally exposed online -- the Chronology of Data Breaches shows hundreds of ways that the personal information of consumers is lost, stolen or exposed.

The Chronology of Data Breaches, a project of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse since 2005, lists incidents involving breached consumer information, such as personal medical records, credit card numbers and Social Security numbers. The most recent total, published August 24, 2010, is a wake-up call to consumers who think identity theft can’t happen to them.

By Rebecca Greenberg
California Labor Federation

Over the last 20 years, at least 2,754 union workers in Colombia have been murdered, simply for exercising their right to organize, bargain collectively and, if necessary, strike. In 2009, 48 Colombian union workers were killed, and 29 have already been murdered this year.

Former President George W. Bush turned a blind eye to this horrific trend of violence against workers when he signed the Colombia Free Trade Agreement back in 2006. However, before it can go into effect, it must be approved by Congress.

Yesterday, California state legislators took action to block the trade agreement with Colombia by voting to approve Assembly Joint Resolution 27, sponsored by Assemblymember Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont), which urges the U.S. Congress to oppose the Colombia Free Trade agreement.