Last minute legislation is pouring through both chambers

by Brian Leubitz

Session is technically scheduled to start at close of business tomorrow. However, with Yom Kippur starting tomorrow at sunset, legislative leaders are hoping to close up shop tonight. There are a number key piece of legislation in play today. Here are a few highlights:

• Gun safety – You can find a quick summary of the gun safety legislation in this WaPo article. Forgive the journalist his folly saying that the legislators could face political blowback. Apparently he thinks that the politics in Colorado is somehow a reasonable analog for California. It is not. However, here are a few highlights from the “LIFE ACT” (PDF):
  
  • require gun owners to report stolen guns within a week
  • further limits who can own a gun, and requires gun owners lock up their guns around people who aren’t eligible
  • limits assault rifles: semi-automatic magazines limited to ten rounds, increases registration requirements
• Minimum wage – Luis Alejo’s AB10 to increase the minimum wage to $10 by 2016 has the support of both legislative leaders and the Governor.
• Domestic workers – Asm. Tom Ammiano’s AB 241 domestic workers bill of rights would provide all domestic workers who care for California’s homes and families with some of the basic labor protections they have been denied for decades. The Senate passed it yesterday, but the Governor has not said anything about the bill. Which way he will go is unclear.
• CEQA – It looks like at least some reform will get done. Sen. Steinberg’s SB 743 doesn’t completely overhaul the system, but it does ease restrictions on infill projects, especially ones close to public transit.
• Bay Bridge – The Legislature passed a resolution to rename the Bay Bridge in honor of Willie Brown. The governor opposed it, on the basis that our names for the bridges are good enough as they are. However, as it is a resolution, the Governor doesn’t have a veto.

As somebody who uses the Bay Bridge frequently, I tend to agree with the Governor on this last one. It isn’t a new road, the name has been the same for the better part of three generations. While Willie Brown is certainly a legend to the state and the region, I liked the name Bay Bridge. I have to imagine that the old name won’t go away quickly.

There will surely be more to come as the legislative session wraps up this evening; I’ll try to update with anything major.