Key bills among many awaiting Newsom’s signature

SACRAMENTO — As voters prepare to decide Gov. Gavin Newsom’s fate in Tuesday’s recall election, hundreds of new proposed laws will be awaiting action on his desk.

State legislators sent Newsom a hefty stack of bills over the last week, before they were expected to adjourn for the year late Friday night. Newsom, if he stays in office, has until Oct. 10 to decide whether to sign or veto the measures.

The list of high-profile bills includes a pair of measures to increase housing density, a bill to create a system to strip problem police officers of their badges and another to stop the misleading use of recycling labels.

But in many ways, the lawmakers’ session was again overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic, particularity as concerns about the spread of highly infectious delta variant limited the ability of legislators, lobbyists and activists to gather at the Capitol.

The effort to recall Newsom has, meanwhile, dominated the conversation in Sacramento, as Democrats and a host of unions and other powerful groups focused their resources on helping the governor stay in power.

Several significant bills died amid those distractions, including a measure to require the state to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 and another to reduce the role of cash bail in the criminal justice system.

However, lawmakers still moved forward with decisions on a host of major proposals. Among the key bills before Newsom:

Housing

The two most high-profile housing bills this session were contentious proposals to increase neighborhood density:

SB9, by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, would make it easier to convert homes into duplexes and split lots in single-family neighborhoods.

SB10, by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would allow cities to rezone some parcels, including those near public transit, for small apartment buildings of up to 10 units. Despite intense opposition from local governments and some suburban homeowner organizations, Newsom suggested he might sign the two measures in a rare statement on pending legislation last week.

SB478, also by Wiener, would try to address California’s housing shortage by loosening regulations that limit square footage for a project based on lot size, which could clear the way for more small apartment buildings.

Policing

Activists fell far short of their ambitious plans last year to overhaul California policing practices in the wake of widespread racial justice protests.

They returned this session with another suite of bills that more successfully navigated the legislative obstacles, though the most significant proposals were scaled back in the face of law enforcement opposition. The measures include:

SB2, by Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena (Los Angeles County), which would establish a statewide process for stripping police officers of their badges when they commit professional misconduct.

AB89, by Assembly Member Reggie Jones Sawyer, DLos Angeles, which would raise the minimum age for officers to 21 and create a required curriculum in the community college system.

AB26, by Assembly Member Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, which sets new standards for what police departments must include in their use-of-force policies about officers intervening when they see excessive force by their colleagues.

AB481, by Assembly Member David Chiu, D-San Francisco, which would require law enforcement agencies to seek approval from their local governing bodies when they buy surplus military equipment.

AB118, by Sen. Sydney Kamlager, D-Los Angeles, which would create a pilot program to test communitybased alternatives to a police response when people call 911.

AB48, by Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, which would prohibit officers from firing rubber bullets or tear gas at a protest unless it is a life-threatening situation.

Criminal justice

Under immense lobbying by law enforcement, supporters shelved AB937, by Assembly Member Wendy Carrillo, DLos Angeles, which would have removed exemptions to California’s “sanctuary state” law that allowed for some cooperation with federal immigration enforcement officials, fully protecting noncitizen prison inmates in California from deportation. But the Legislature did pass some other criminal justice proposals, including:

AB1238, by Assembly Member Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, which would decriminalize jaywalking throughout the state when no cars are present in a roadway. Ting said bans on jaywalking are disproportionately enforced against people of color. The law would sunset in 2029.

SB73, by Wiener, which would remove mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug crimes and allow judges to hand down probation instead of jail time.

AB1171, by Assembly Member Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens (Los Angeles), would eliminate criminal code that treats “spousal rape” differently from rape.

AB453, also by Garcia, which would criminalize the nonconsensual removal of condoms during intercourse, known as “stealthing.”

Environment

Overall, it was tough year for environmentalists at the State Capitol. While legislators approved a budget with a record $3.7 billion for climate resiliency programs, many other eco-friendly measures hit a legislative buzz saw.

Nearly every major environmental measure died earlier in the session, from a proposal that would required buffer zones around oil drilling sites near homes to another that sought to ban online retailers from using certain types of plastic packaging that isn’t recyclable.

Another big defeat came Friday, when the Senate rejected AB1395, by Assembly Member Al Muratsuchi, DTorrance (Los Angeles County), which would have declared that the state must achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. The bill faced fierce opposition from oil companies, farmers and other business interests.

Legislators did, however, pass a handful of buzz-worthy environmental bills:

SB343, by Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, would prohibit manufacturers from labeling products with the word “recyclable” or the chasing-arrows symbol associated with recycling if they are not actually recyclable in most parts of the state.

AB1346, by Assembly Member Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, would ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers and other small off-road engines, which emit disproportionately high levels of pollution, starting in 2024.

AB525, by Assembly Member David Chiu, D-San Francisco, would jump-start the production of offshore wind farms. It would set a specific targets for how much offshore wind power the state should produce by 2030 and 2045.

Other

SB380, by Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, would streamline the assisted death process, making it easier for terminally ill patients to obtain a lethal prescription and end their lives on their own terms.

AB101, by Assembly Member Jose Medina, D-Riverside, would add a one-semester ethnic studies course to the state’s high school graduation requirements, starting with the 2029-30 academic year.

AB1084, by Assembly Member Evan Low, D-Campbell, requires large retail stores to have a gender-neutral area or display for selling children’s toys and items. The bill would not ban boys and girls sections in stores, but require the addition of a neutral area.

AB37, by Assembly Member Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, would require elections officials to mail every registered voter in California a ballot for all future elections, permanently adopting a pandemicera safety measure.

SB332, by Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, would making it easier to conduct prescribed burns to prevent catastrophic wildfires. The bill would protect state-certified burn bosses and private property owners from being sued if the burn goes awry, unless they are found to be grossly negligent.