Senator Wiener’s Nightlife, Increasing Access to PrEP, Solar Bill of Rights, and Reducing Unnecessary Sentence Enhancements Bills Among Those to Be Voted On by the Senate
Sacramento– Thirteen of Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) bills, including legislation to protect individuals consumers’ rights to harvest and store solar energy, increase access to HIV medications, reduce unnecessary sentence enhancements, and to allow cities to choose to extend nightlife hours will be taken up for a full Senate vote over the next two weeks.
The deadline for approving the bills is Friday, May 31, after which they will move to the Assembly.
The full list of bills moving to the Senate floor are:
SB 23- Combating the Vehicle Break-In Epidemic
Sponsored by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, this legislation aims to close a loophole in the Penal Code that allows some auto burglars to escape consequences.
SB 34- The Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary Compassionate Care Act
Will exempt compassionate care programs from paying state commercial cannabis taxes when they are providing free medical cannabis to financially disadvantaged people living with serious health conditions. Due to an oversight in how Prop 64 was drafted, these not-for-profit donation programs that have been serving medical cannabis patients for decades are now being forced to pay taxes meant for businesses, which are forcing these charity programs to shut down.
SB 58- The LOCAL (Let Our Communities Adjust Late-night) Act
Creates pure local control on whether to extend nightlife alcohol sale hours and is limited to ten California cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Coachella, Cathedral City, Fresno, and Palm Springs.
SB 69- The Ocean Resiliency Act of 2019
Will help improve ocean water quality, restore habitats that sequester greenhouse gas emissions, and protect keystone species.
SB 127- Creating Complete Streets
Require Caltrans to make roads safer for people walking, bicycling, or using transit when repairing or upgrading state-owned roadways in urbanized areas.
SB 132- Supporting Incarcerated Transgender Individuals
Ensures that transgender people in prison custody are able to express their own gender identity and be housed in the population in which they feel safest.
SB 136- Repealing Unnecessary and Common One-Year Sentence Enhancements
Repeals a commonly used one-year sentence enhancement that is added to each prior prison or felony jail term that an individual has served.
SB 142- Requiring Lactation Accommodation for Working Mothers
Ensures working mothers have access to lactation facilities in the workplace, and helps create more family friendly work environments.
SB 145- Ending Discrimination Against LGBT People Regarding Sex Offender Registration
Sponsored by Equality California and the Los Angeles County District Attorney, SB 145 puts a stop to LGBT young people going on the sex offender registry, when similarly situated young straight people do not.
SB 159- Increasing Access to HIV Prevention Medication
Authorizes pharmacists to furnish pre- and post- exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP) without a physician prescription and also prohibits insurance companies from requiring prior authorizations in order to obtain PrEP coverage.
SB 268- Increasing Access to Income Assistance
Ensures more individuals are able to access income assistance through the CalWORKs program in order to move more children out of poverty and help families meet basic needs.
SB 285- Reducing Food Insecurity among Californians Experiencing Hunger
Streamlines CalFresh enrollment by setting clear and accountable statewide enrollment goals, improving ease of access to enrollment for eligible Californians, and eliminating questions deemed unnecessary and that only create obstacles in the enrollment process.
Enables more consumers to invest in and generate their own renewable energy by removing barriers, including outdated tariffs and delayed connections to the grid.
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