Downloadable Link: https://vimeo.com/248404116/1a65a326eb
Provide Protections and Resources for Victims of Crimes:
AB 264 – Issuing Protective Orders
AB 264 will allow a court to issue a protective order for victims and witnesses in crimes involving domestic violence, sexual assault, and certain gang related crimes for up to 10 years after a defendant’s final sentencing, in cases that warrant such protection.
AB 280 - Justice for Survivors of Sexual Assault
AB 280 creates the Rape Kit Backlog Voluntary Contribution Fund to allow California taxpayers to help fund the testing of backlogged rape kits. Hundreds of thousands of rape kits sit untested in California.
AB 1227 – (Bonta/Low) Human Trafficking Prevention
AB 1227 establishes the Human Trafficking Prevention Education and Training Act, which requires schools to provide training on human trafficking, includes human trafficking in the definition of “child abuse and neglect,” and expands the scope of the Commercially Sexually Exploited Children Program to include human trafficking.
Increase Voter Access and Participation:
AB 765 – Local Initiative Measures
Assembly Bill 765 prohibits local initiative proponents from timing their initiatives to force standalone special elections that suffer from low and unrepresentative turnout.
AB 837 – Streamline Access for “No Party Preference” (NPP) Voters
AB 837 streamlines and standardizes procedures to ensure non-affiliated voters are informed of their rights when casting a ballot. Specifically, this bill requires the Secretary of State to prepare and provide county elections officials with posters and other educational materials to be used at a partisan primary election to inform voters who are registered as NPP of the different ballot options available to them. This bill is sponsored by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla.
AJR 1 – Abolish the Electoral College
AJR 1 urges the United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States by the popular vote of all eligible citizens of the United States.
Increase Supply for Affordable Housing:
AB 1397 – Affordable Housing: Housing Element
One of the greatest barriers to addressing California’s housing crisis is the lack of appropriate sites on which new housing can be built—in the right places and at the right densities—to meet demand for all income levels. AB 1397 strengthens state planning laws to ensure that local governments are doing everything they can to identify sites that are truly suitable for both affordable and market-rate housing.
Increase Access to Patient Care:
AB 1153 – Podiatry
AB 1153 addresses some of the shortfalls in current statute regarding Doctors of Podiatric Medicine (DPMs). Specifically, this bill authorizes a licensed DPM to treat ulcers resulting from local and systemic etiologies on the leg no further proximal than the tibial tubercle. This means ulcers caused locally (like necrosis from infection) or systemically (like diabetes) anywhere on the leg no higher than the top of the shin/lower part of the knee.
AB 1456 – Time Extension for Psychologists Licenses
AB 1456 brings conformity to the law governing licensure for psychologists by extending the timeline to obtain a license from three years to five years. Other mental health professionals in the state, including Marriage and Family Therapists, Professional Clinical Counselors and Licensed Clinical Social Workers, have four to five years to obtain their license. AB 1456 eliminates the differing timelines to obtain licensure and brings uniformity in the code for our state psychologists. This bill was sponsored by AFSCME.
Level the Playing Field for Workers:
AB 1069 – Provide Level Playing Field for Taxi industry
AB 1069 enacts common sense reforms to provide relief to the taxi industry and open the door to a competitive and fair marketplace for taxicab professionals.
AB 618 – Extending Job Order Contracting to California Community Colleges
AB 618 would authorize Job Order Contracting (JOC), an alternative and optional contracting procedure for a catalog of smaller construction projects, at California Community Colleges (CCC) that have entered into a Project Labor Agreement (PLA). Currently, school districts are able to use JOC and this bill extends the authority to CCC. This bill was sponsored by the State Building and Construction Trades.
AB 1278 – Judgements Against a Contractor
AB 1278 clarifies and strengthens existing law regarding the responsibility of personnel for judgements against the contractor with whom they are associated. Specifically, AB 1278 clarifies that if a judgment is entered against a qualifying person or the personnel of record of the licensee, the qualifying person or personnel of record shall be automatically prohibited from serving as a qualifying individual or other personnel of record of another licensee. This bill was sponsored by the California State Counsel of Laborers.
Increase Broadband Access for All:
AB 1665 – (E. Garcia/Aguiar Curry/Low, et al) California Advanced Services Fund
Makes various change to the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) including revising the goal of the program to approve funding for infrastructure projects that will provide broadband access to no less than 98% of California households in each consortia region, revises the eligibility requirements for projects and project applicants, creates the Broadband Adoption Account (Adoption Account) to increase broadband access and digital inclusion, and requires additional program audits and reporting.
Recognizing Accomplishments of the API Community:
HR 31 – Chinese Railroad Worker Memorial Day
House Resolution 31 designates May 10, 2017, and every May 10th thereafter, as California Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial Day. The resolution honors the Chinese railroad workers who were instrumental in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad.
Protect LGBT Rights:
AJR 16 – Anti-LGBT Actions in the Chechen Republic
AJR 16 urges the President and the Congress of the United States to condemn the government-sanctioned persecution, torture, and murder of gay men in the Chechen Republic, join in solidarity with all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Russians in their fight for their lives, dignity, and respect, and take action to encourage the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to create protocols for expedited asylum status for individuals fleeing persecution due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
AJR 22 – Condemning Trump’s Transgender Military Ban
AJR 22 condemns the statements made by President Trump on Twitter proposing to ban transgender Americans from serving in the military, urges Secretary of Defense James Mattis to continue to allow transgender individuals to serve in the military and calls on Governor Brown to urge the CA National Guard to take no discriminatory action against transgender service members.
General Government:
AB 430 – (Irwin/Low) Marriage
This bill authorizes specified officials, including retired judges and retired commissioners, to accept compensation for solemnizing a marriage.
AB 711 – Free or Discounted Rides
AB 711 allows beer manufacturers to offer free or discounted transportation via taxi, transportation network companies (ex. Lyft), etc. The manufacturers can provide this service through vouchers, codes, or other delivery methods. AB 711 offers another tool to help beer manufacturers ensure consumers drink responsibly.
AB 1338 – Special License Plates for Fallen Firefighters
AB 1338 enables the surviving family member of an active or retired firefighter to apply for and receive a firefighter special license plate as a way of further honoring the memory of their fallen loved one. This bill was sponsored by the California Professional Firefighters.
Protecting Consumers – Business & Professions Sunset Extension Bills:
AB 1229 – The Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians
Extends the operation of the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (BVNPT) until January 1, 2021; authorizes the Governor to appoint an executive officer until January 1, 2020; specifies that, if the BVNPT becomes inoperative or is repealed, the director of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) is authorized to assume the duties of the BVNPT; requires the BVNPT to submit specified reports to the Legislature until 2020; authorizes the DCA director to evaluate the BVNPT's licensing program; requires BVNPT staff to meet periodically with the DCA's Division of Investigation; and authorizes the DCA director to determine the need for and to implement necessary changes to the BVNPT's enforcement program.
AB 1705 – Elimination of Guide Dogs Board of CA
Sunsets the State Board of Guide Dogs effective January 1, 2018 and establishes consumer protections.
AB 1706 – Committee on Business and Professions
Requires legislative review of the Board of Chiropractic Examiners (BCE) before January 1, 2022; extends the operation of the Speech-Language Pathology Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board (SLPAHADB), Physical Therapy Board of California (PTBC) and California Board of Occupational Therapy (CBOT) until 2022; and makes changes to the entities' practice acts intended to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
AB 1707 – Dental Board of California
Delays the date by which the Dental Board of California (DBC) must determine an alternative way, other than the current exam, to measure registered dental assistant (RDA) competency.
AB 1708 – California Board of Optometry
Extends the sunsets for the California Board of Optometry (Board) and its authority to appoint an executive officer from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2022; redefines the term "advertise" to include the Internet for purposes of the Optometry Practice Act; and makes various changes to statute to improve the state's oversight of the optometry profession and related eye health professions.
