This Week Inside The Capitol (1/4/2010)
January 4, 2010
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This Week Inside the Capitol is a weekly e-mail update of bills monitored by California Family Council. This Week is intended as a brief synopsis to alert you about which bills are being heard and when. CFC’s complete legislative analyses about these and other bills can be found at www.californiafamily.org.
Today legislators return to Sacramento to begin the second half of the 2009-10 legislative session. In 2009 the Legislature focused much if its attention on California’s $60 billion deficit. They found time, however, to pass several laws, which appealed to their special interest campaign donors, but were unpopular with the vast majority of Californians.
SB 572 – (Leno) was passed and signed into law by the governor. It established a special day of recognition in California’s public schools to commemorate homosexual icon Harvey Milk. SB 54 – (Leno) was also signed into law. It allowed out-of-state, same-gender marriages performed before November 5, 2008 to be legally recognized in California. This is in direct violation of Article I, Section 7.5 of the California constitution, which states only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
As the Legislature goes to work in 2010, policy makers will be intent on passing legislation introduced in 2009. Bills must pass both houses by the “house of origin” deadline. (The constitution requires all bills introduced in 2009 pass both the Assembly and the Senate before January 31, 2010.) Legislative committees will hastily consider these old bills, and legislators will introduce new bills for 2010. Some of these new bills will be reintroductions of previously stalled or vetoed measures, many of which will fail to pass due to the state’s budget deficit.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders are bracing for another tumultuous budget year. According to the Legislative Analyst Office, California’s estimated deficit through 2010 is $20.4 billion. As in previous years, California’s deficit generally dictates policy. Last year hundreds of bills stalled because of the state’s dire financial condition. On January 10, 2010 the governor will release his proposed budget to address the deficit. Once submitted, legislative leaders will begin reviewing the governor’s proposals and conduct budget hearings. The results from those hearings and the pending budget debate will determine the fate of many legislative bills.
You can stay up to date on the latest Capitol activities by following CFC on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. All can be found on our CFC Web site.
Committee Hearings
Week of January 4, 2010
Week of January 4, 2010
On the Assembly Floor
ACA 5 – Initiatives: State General Obligation Bonds (Calderon, C., D-Montebello)
ACA 10 – Taxation: Education Finance District: Majority Vote Taxation (Torlakson, D-Antioch)
SB 543 – Minors: Mental Health Treatment without Parental Consent (Leno, D-San Francisco) OPPOSE
On the Senate Floor
AB 7 – Political Reform Act of 1974: Use of Children’s Images in Political Advertisement (Krekorian, D- Burbank)
SCA 5 – State Budget: Two-Thirds Vote Exemption for General Fund Appropriations (Hancock, D-Berkeley)
SCA 16 – Initiatives: Indirect Initiative: Legislative Review (DeSaulnier, D-Concord)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Assembly Health Committee – 1:30 p.m.
AB 535 – Elder Death Review Teams: Information requests (Ammiano, D-San Francisco)
Upcoming Committee Hearings
Week of January 11, 2010
Week of January 11, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Assembly Judiciary Committee – 9:00 a.m.
AB 939 – Family Law Access to Justice Act: Relating to Divorce (Judiciary Committee)
AB 973 – Minors: Temporary Custody (Strickland, A., R-Moorpark) SUPPORT
Assembly Public Safety Committee – 9:00 a.m.
AB 390 – Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act (Ammiano, D-San Francisco) OPPOSE
AB 575 – Sex Offenders: Restrictions (Torres, D-Pomona) SUPPORT
AB 633 – Death Penalty (Ammiano, D-San Francisco)
Senate Public Safety Committee – 9:30
SB 46 – Sex Offenders: Commencing trial: Time (Alquist, D-Santa Clara) SUPPORT
SB 134 – Juveniles: Communication with children (Liu, D-La Canada Flintridge) SUPPORT
SB 203 – Child pornography: Internet distribution (Harman, R-Huntington Beach) SUPPORT
*Note: Not all bills reflect a CFC position. Others are included for informational purposes.
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Visit California Family Council’s Web site for more information about these and other bills.
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