SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown signed two bills last weekend authored by Assemblymember Shirley N. Weber (D-San Diego), bringing this year’s total to eleven.
AB 841: Healthy Food Marketing. Sponsored by the American Heart Association, this bill would limit efforts to market unhealthy foods to students on school campuses. Healthy habits taught by parents and in the health and physical education curriculum should be reflected within the school environment. Schools need to be places where kids receive a consistent set of messages about healthy eating.
AB 1344: Voting Rights. AB 1344 ensures that those who have paid their debt to society or are about to transition out of the corrections system are given accurate information about their voting rights. Civic participation can be a critical aspect of re-entry and has been linked to reducing recidivism. However, many in California’s criminal justice system are not accurately apprised of their voting rights and correct voting information is not readily accessible.
The governor has previously signed the following bills:
AB 90: Gang Database. This legislation will ensure that CalGang and other shared gang databases have an oversight structure under the state Department of Justice that supports accountability for proper database use, limits sharing of information to federal agencies and protects individual rights.
AB 214: CalFresh Benefits for College Students. AB 214 will improve access to federal anti-hunger benefits for California’s low-income college students by clarifying policies and definitions to simplify the administration of CalFresh for college students.
AB 801: San Diego County Redistricting Commission. Jointly authored by Assemblymember Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), this bill will restructure the San Diego County’s Independent Redistricting Commission to eliminate those who have a political or financial stake in the process and to make it more reflective of the regional, racial and political diversity of San Diego County. The bill is paired with Assemblymember Gloria’s AB 901, jointly authored by Assemblymember Weber, which will ensure greater voter participation in the election of San Diego County offices
AB 940: Skilled Nursing Facility Eviction Notification: Local Ombudsman. AB 940 seeks to protect residents of long-term health facilities by requiring written notices of discharge and eviction be given to the resident, and when possible, the resident’s representative. The bill also requires these notices to be sent to the local office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program within 24 hours of the notice being issued to the resident.
AB 1057: San Diego Childcare Center Direct Sale. This bill provides legislative authorization to allow a non-profit San Diego Childcare Center in San Diego to purchase state property adjacent to their center. The Center is a private nonprofit organization that provides behavioral health and educational services to more than 1200 youth and families annually through outpatient, in-home, school-based and residential therapeutic programs, including its K-12 special education.
AB 1106: Childcare for Working Families. This bill reforms funding practices to better ensure eligible working families have access to childcare.
AB 1384: Victim Trauma Centers. This legislation creates clear guidelines for the provision of Trauma Recovery Center services administered by the Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board in California. By setting clear guidelines and bolstering training for new trauma recovery centers, this bill will ensure that victims of crime in California receive the comprehensive and timely services they need to heal, and to avoid negative economic consequences for themselves and their communities.
AB 1448: Elderly Parole Program. AB 1448 codifies the existing Elderly Parole Program implemented by the Brown Administration following the prison overcrowding class action case Plata/Coleman v. Brown (2013). The bill sets the age and time served requirements for receiving a parole review hearing to allow people who are 60 years of age and older and who have been incarcerated for at least 25 years on their current sentence to be reviewed by the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) under the elder parole review guidelines.
AB 1513: Racial Profiling Clean-Up Bill. This measure would revise the term “Citizen” to “Civilian” to the Penal Code to ensure the statute reflects the actual term of art currently being utilized operationally by law enforcement agencies when conducting duties such as reporting their activities with members of the public.
The following resolutions authored by Assemblymember Weber have been chaptered by the Secretary of State.
HR 29: Ethnic Studies Resolution. This resolution affirms the efforts of California teachers and students to establish an Ethnic Studies graduation requirement for all students that meet A-G requirements for students applying for admission to California State University and University of California.
HR 53: Women’s Equality Day Resolution. This resolution recognizes August 26, 2017, as Women’s Equality Day and its historic importance to women’s rights and the ongoing struggle to attain and maintain those rights.
