Of the 32 legislative endorsements our club made this year, thirteen bills have been signed into law, one proposed constitutional amendments qualified for the November 2024 ballot, four bills were vetoed, and 12 didn’t make it to the Governor’s desk. Some bills died in committee (SB 252 was killed by committee Chair Tina McKinnor) and some were withdrawn when the authors realized they didn’t have the votes. Many of the bills that did not make it out of the legislature this year will return in 2024. Here are the bills that were signed into law:
AB 251 (Ward, Friedman) Requires the state to study the impact of vehicle weight on pedestrian safety to inform possible policy decisions about registration fees. FACT SHEET.
AB 413 (Lee) Increases the visibility of people crossing the street by preventing cars from parking immediately before the crosswalk. FACT SHEET.
AB 421 (Bryan) Majority Leader Isaac Bryan (AD 55) said in a statement: “A confusing referendum process has made it too easy for concentrated special interests to silence and manipulate the voice of voters in our communities, but with Governor Newsom’s signature on AB 421 we are putting power back in the hands of the people.” The law will require referendums that seek to repeal existing law to make it clear whether a yes vote will “keep the law” or “overturn the law.” It will take effect for new measures added to the 2024 ballot.” Editorial
AB 645 (Friedman) Creates a speed safety camera pilot program to slow down drivers on high-injury streets and in areas with a history of street racing. FACT SHEET
AB 1317 (Carillo) Separates parking costs from rent, making sure people who don’t need a parking spot aren’t paying for one. FACT SHEET.
SB 4 (Wiener) aims to make it easier for churches and nonprofit universities to build housing. PRESS RELEASE
SB 261 (Stern) helps protect consumers from the massive potential financial losses associated with the climate crisis by requiring companies to disclose these risks. CALMATTERS
SB 253 (Weiner) requires all large corporations that do business in California to more fully disclose the greenhouse gasses emitted by their corporate supply chain. CALMATTERS.
SB 411 (Portantino) Requires a virtual option for public meetings of Los Angeles agencies. FACT SHEET.
SB 538 (Portantino) Establishes a Bicycle Czar. FACT SHEET
SB 567 (Durazo) will strengthen tenant protections against fraudulent just-cause evictions and illegal rent increases. Here is a recent editorial in support.
SB 695 (Gonzalez) requires CalTrans to report annual data on state highway widening projects, including miles built, dollars spent, vehicle miles traveled, and greenhouse gasses emitted. FACT SHEET.
SB 712 (Portantino) Prevents Landlords from prohibiting e-bikes. FACT SHEET.
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One Club-endorsed measure has qualified for the November 2024 ballot:
ACA 5 (Low) Marriage Equality. If the Supreme Court overturns the right to gay marriage as they did with the right to an abortion with Roe, 2008’s Proposition 8 will go back into effect and same-sex marriage will be illegal in California. This ballot measure will repeal Prop. 8 amending the California State Constitution to protect marriage equality from the Trump/Thomas Court.
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Governor Newsom vetoed these bills:
AB 309 (Alex Lee) aims to address the shortage of affordable homes for all income levels in California by creating the Social Housing Program under the Department of General Services, with the goal of developing social housing on state property. Read more here.
SB 403 (Wahab) would add specific language to California civil rights law to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on their ancestry/caste. LA Times
AB 819 (Bryan) Decriminalizes fare evasion, removing the threat of a misdemeanor and jail time for not paying a few dollars for bus or transit. FACT SHEET
AB 825 (Bryan) Legalizes biking on the sidewalk in areas without safe bicycle infrastructure, so you don’t have to choose between riding your bike on dangerous streets or breaking the law. FACT SHEET
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The list of bills our club endorsed that did NOT make it to the Governor’s desk this year or qualify for the 2024 ballot are:
AB 83 (Lee) Political Reform Act of 1974: contributions and expenditures by foreign-influenced business entities
AB 93 (Bryan) Criminal procedure: consensual searches
AB 364 (Bryan) Street Furniture Data
AB 610 (Holden) Free Youth Transit
AB 745 (Bryan) Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program
AB 793 (Bonta) Privacy: reverse demands
AB 920 (Bryan) to make the unhoused a protected category
AB 1690—CalCare
SB 252 (Gonzalez) to divest state pensions from risky Fossil Fuel investments
SB 238 (Weiner) Child mental health care coverage: independent medical review
SB 466 (Wahab) Costa-Hawkins Reform.
ACA 4 (Bryan) Elections: Eligibility to Vote.
ACA 8 (Wilson) The California Abolition Act seeks to amend Article 1, Section 6 of the California Constitution to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude without exception.