This Week Inside The Capitol (9/8/2009)
September 8, 2009
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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.
The 2009 legislative session ends Friday. Legislators have four days remaining to complete any work before returning to their districts. During those four days, legislators will continue efforts to resolve the $1.2 billion cut to the Department of Corrections budget, address California’s water crisis, and vote on approximately 700 other pieces of legislation.
Last week, the Assembly narrowly approved a modified version of the Senate-approved plan to reduce the Department of Corrections’ budget. The Senate plan, while controversial, cut $1.2 billion from the Department of Corrections as the state budget required. However, the Assembly’s “modified version” removed most of the controversial provisions contained in the Senate proposal, creating a $233 million hole in the budget. As a result, Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) refused to allow the Assembly “modified version” to be heard in the Senate until after the Assembly reconciles the fiscal difference. Assembly budget staff is hastily attempting to locate necessary cuts to garner sufficient support from both legislative houses (Assembly and Senate) and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Meanwhile, California’s water crisis remains the Legislature’s top priority. The water conference committee, meeting regularly over the holiday weekend, is hopeful it can finish its work by Tuesday evening on a compromised plan that both legislative houses will approve on Thursday. The enormity of California’s water crisis can be illustrated by the unusual expansion of the joint conference committee from its traditional six members to a 14-member committee co-chaired by the Speaker of Assembly, Karen Bass (D-Baldwin Vista) and Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. Three years of drought have devastated California’s water supply, left millions of acres of farmland fallow, threatened ecosystems, and magnified the need for storage capacity. While there is wide agreement on the need to fix California’s water system, the means and funding remains an arduous hurdle.
Finally, as CFC previously noted in communiqués before the legislative break, the Assembly was preparing to vote on several bills of great concern to California families: Assembly Joint Resolutions (AJR) 13 (Ammiano, D-San Francisco), 15 (De Leon, D-Los Angeles), and 19 (Brownley, D-Woodland Hills), and Senator Mark Leno’s (D-San Francisco) bills – Senate Bills (SB) 54, 543 and 572 . Last week, on party-line votes, with Democrat-only support, the Assembly approved AJR 19 (47-29), SB 54 (47-29) and SB 572 (46-28). The Assembly majority’s actions again demonstrate the disconnect between the legislators and their constituents, as once again, California legislators have chosen to side with special-interest groups over the expressed will of the voters. These measures now return to the Senate for concurrence (Senate approval of Assembly changes). Prior to a vote on the Senate floor, SB 54 will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee today. Upon Senate approval, these measures will move to the governor for his signature or veto.
Please continue your efforts to oppose these measures with your elected representatives and Governor Schwarzenegger. To find your elected representative, visit our Legislative Action Center on the CFC Web site.
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 new-and-improved Web site.
Results From Last Week
Week of August 31, 2009
Upcoming Committee Hearings
Week of August 31, 2009
Week of August 31, 2009
On the Assembly Floor
ACA 10 – Taxation: Education Finance District: Majority Vote Taxation (Torlakson, D-Antioch)
Vote Not Taken
ACA 13 – Initiatives: Legislative Amendment Process (Hernandez, D-West Covina) OPPOSE
Vote Not Taken
AJR 13 – Blood Donations by Homosexual, Bisexual and Transgender Males (Ammiano, D-San Francisco) OPPOSE
Vote Not Taken
AJR 15 – The United Americans Family Act (De Leon, D-Los Angeles) OPPOSE
Vote Not Taken
AJR 19 – Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) Repeal (Brownley, D-Woodland Hills) OPPOSE
Passed, 47-29
SB 34 – Petitions: Compensation for Signatures (Corbett, D-San Leandro)
Passed, 43-29
SB 54 – Out-of-State Same-Sex Marriages (Leno, D-San Francisco) OPPOSE
Passed, 47-29
SB 118 – Incarcerated Parents (Liu, D-La Canada Flintridge) SUPPORT
Passed, 75-0
SB 158 – Health Coverage: Human Papillomavirus Vaccination (Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa)
Passed, 49-24
SB 471 – California Stem Cell and Biotechnology Education and Workforce Development Act (Romero, D-Los Angeles) OPPOSE
Vote Not Taken
SB 543 – Minors: Mental Health Treatment without Parental Consent (Leno, D-San Francisco) OPPOSE
Vote Not Taken
SB 557 – Human Trafficking: Property Nuisances (Yee, D-San Francisco) SUPPORT
Passed, 77-1
SB 572 – Harvey Milk Day: Official Designation (Leno, D-San Francisco) OPPOSE
Passed, 46-28
SB 597 – Child Welfare Services: Foster Care Services and Adoption Assistance (Liu, D-La Canada Flintridge) SUPPORT
Vote Not Taken
SB 680 – School Attendance: Interdistrict Transfers (Romero, D-Los Angeles) SUPPORT
Passed, 46-15
On the Senate Floor
AB 6 – Initiatives: Paid Circulators (Saldana, D-San Diego)
Passed, 21-15
AB 7 – Political Reform Act of 1974: Use of Children’s Images in Political Advertisement (Krekorian, D- Burbank)
Vote Not Taken
AB 17 – Human Trafficking (Swanson, D-Oakland) SUPPORT
Passed, 36-0
AB 73 – Marriage Licenses: Fee for Domestic Violence (Hayashi, D-Castro Valley)
Passed, 21-17
AB 154 – Adoption Assistance: Federal Law (Evans, D-Santa Rosa)
Passed, 39-0
AB 428 – Adoption: Criminal History Records (Fletcher, R-San Diego) SUPPORT
Passed, 33-0
AB 436 – Elections: Initiatives (Saldana, D-San Diego)
Vote Not Taken
AB 665 – State Adoption Services: Investment
Passed, 36-0
AB 796 – Pupil Attendance: Civic (Political) Engagement Activities (Carter, D-Rialto) OPPOSE
Passed, 23-15
AB 941 – Adoption (Assembly Judiciary Committee) SUPPORT
Vote Not Taken
AB 988 – Human Trafficking: Training Content (Brownley, D-Woodland Hills) SUPPORT
Passed, 31-4
AB 1185 – Birth Certificates: New Issuance - Venue, Gender Change (Lieu, D-Torrance) OPPOSE
Passed, 23-14
AB 1317 – Egg Donation: Advertisements (Block, D-San Diego) SUPPORT
Passed, 30-3
AB 1325 – Tribal Customary Adoption (Cook, R-Yucca Valley) SUPPORT
Passed, 38-0
AB 1397 – Infected Sperm Donation (Hill, D-San Mateo)
Passed, 31-0
SB 635 – Marriage License: Fee for Domestic Violence Programs (Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa)
Vote Not Taken
SCA 5 – State Budget: Two-Thirds Vote Exemption for General Fund Appropriations (Hancock, D-Berkeley)
Vote Not Taken
Upcoming Committee Hearings
Week of September 7, 2009
Week of September 7, 2009
On the Assembly Floor
ACA 10 – Taxation: Education Finance District: Majority Vote Taxation (Torlakson, D-Antioch)
ACA 13 – Initiatives: Legislative Amendment Process (Hernandez, D-West Covina) OPPOSE
AJR 13 – Blood Donations by Homosexual, Bisexual and Transgender Males (Ammiano, D-San Francisco) OPPOSE
AB 15 – The United Americans Family Act (De Leon, D-Los Angeles) OPPOSE
AB 167 – High School Graduation: Foster Children (Adams, R-Hesperia) SUPPORT
AB 796 – Pupil Attendance: Civic Engagement Activities (Carter, D-Rialto) OPPOSE
AB 1317 – Egg Donation: Advertisements (Block, D-San Diego) SUPPORT
SB 118 – Incarcerated Parents (Liu, D-La Canada Flintridge) SUPPORT
SB 471 – California Stem Cell and Biotechnology Education and Workforce Development Act (Romero, D-Los Angeles) OPPOSE
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)
AB 436 – Elections: Initiatives (Saldana, D-San Diego)
SB 597 – Child Welfare Services: Foster Care Services and Adoption Assistance (Liu, D-La Canada Flintridge) SUPPORT
AB 941 – Adoption (Assembly Judiciary Committee) SUPPORT
SB 557 – Human Trafficking: Property Nuisances (Yee, D-San Francisco) SUPPORT
SB 572 – Harvey Milk Day: Official Designation (Leno, D-San Francisco) OPPOSE
SB 635 – Marriage License: Fee for Domestic Violence Programs (Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa)
SB 680 – School Attendance: Interdistrict Transfers (Romero, D-Los Angeles) SUPPORT
SCA 5 – State Budget: Two-Thirds Vote Exemption for General Fund Appropriations (Hancock, D-Berkeley)
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Senate Judiciary Committee – Upon Call of the Chair
SB 54 – Out-of-State Same-Sex Marriages (Leno, D-San Francisco) OPPOSE
There are no committee hearings scheduled next week. Friday, September 11, 2009 ends the 2009 Legislative Session.
*Note: Not all bills reflect a CFC position. Others are included for informational purposes.
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