California Senate Approves Senator Wiener’s Bills on Net Neutrality, Housing, Conservatorship, Homeless Youth, Nightlife & Others
Sacramento– This week the California State Senate passed 13 of Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) bills, including those to establish net neutrality in California, fix how California sets local housing goals, strengthen conservatorship laws to help people suffering on our streets, allow cities to choose to extend nightlife hours, and provide more support for homeless youth. Friday, June 1 is the deadline for any Senate bills to be passed out of the Senate.
All 13 bills will now move to the Assembly, where committee hearings start in June the week after the election. The bills must be approved by the Assembly by August 31, after which they must be signed by the Governor.
“I’m proud of the package of bills that we moved through the Senate, and I want to thank my colleagues for their support,” said Senator Wiener. “California continues to be a leader in advancing a progressive agenda around our housing crisis, climate change, ending poverty, criminal justice reform, LGBT rights, immigration protections, and much more. By continuing this work, California serves as an example for the rest of the country.”
Among Senator Wiener’s bills passed by the Senate this week were:
- SB 822 to re-establish Obama-era net neutrality regulations in California, by establishing brightline rules to prevent net neutrality violations, and charging the Attorney General with enforcing these rules.
- SB 828 to reform how housing goals are assigned to local communities by creating a clearer, fairer, more data-driven, and more equitable process for how the state and regional bodies assign Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) numbers
- SB 905 to allow – but not require – cities to extend sales of alcohol at bars, nightclubs, and restaurants (but not liquor stores) to as late as 4 a.m. The bill is a 5-year pilot program that applies to the seven cities whose Mayors have expressed interest in pursuing later hours: San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Sacramento, West Hollywood, Long Beach, and Palm Springs.
- SB 918 to support homeless youth by creating a framework focused toward ending youth homelessness. The bill originally directed $60 million in funding to address the alarming rise of youth homelessness in California, but this money has been included in the Senate budget proposal which Senator Wiener will continue to push forward.
- SB 1045 to expand existing conservatorship laws to support people suffering on our streets. The bill establishes a five year pilot program that authorizes San Francisco and Los Angeles Counties to create a new conservatorship focused on chronically homeless individuals who suffer from mental health and substance abuse issues, and who cannot care for themselves.
The full list of bills passed by the Senate this week were:
· SB 822 -- Restoring Net Neutrality in California
· SB 828 -- Fixing RHNA -- Making Housing Assignments More Equitable
· SB 905 -- LOCAL Act: Allowing Cities to Extend Bar Hours to 4 AM
· SB 918 -- Homeless Youth Act of 2018
· SB 923 -- Strengthening Eyewitness Identification Standards to Reduce Wrongful Convictions
· SB 937 -- Requiring Lactation Accommodations for Working Women
· SB 966 -- Expanding On-Site Water Recycling
· SB 1004 -- Strengthening Early Intervention Mental Health Services for Youth
· SB 1021 – Extending Drug Pricing Protections to Prevent Consumer Price Gouging
· SB 1464 -- Expanding Dental Health Access for People with Special Needs