Senator Wiener’s Bills to Decriminalize Psychedelics, Increase Housing Affordability, and Strengthen Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Care Are Among Those to be Voted on by the Senate

SACRAMENTO- Twelve of Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) bills, including legislation to decriminalize psychedelics, strengthen mental health and substance use disorder care, and increase the amount of housing affordable to working families, will be taken up for a full Senate vote over the next two weeks.

The deadline for approving the bills is Friday, June 4th, after which they will move to the Assembly. 

Senator Wiener’s SB 57 (legalizing overdose prevention programs, also known as safe consumption sites) and SB 74 (ending mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses) have already passed the full Senate and will move to the Assembly.

The full list of bills heading to the Senate floor are:

SB 10 - Provides a powerful tool for local governments to upzone neighborhoods to 10 unit apartment buildings in an expedited process, as long as the upzoned areas are not sprawl.

SB 110 (Recovery Incentives Act) - Legalizes the substance use disorder treatment known as contingency management, and authorizes Medi-Cal to cover it. Contingency management has proven to be the most effective method of treatment for methamphetamine addiction, and is frequently used as a treatment program by the Veterans Affairs Administration.

SB 221 - Ensures patients receive timely follow-up mental health and substance use disorder treatment.

SB 234 (SUPPORT Act - Supporting Underserved Young People for Positive Resets and Transitions) - Creates a $100 million forgivable loan program to fund new housing, or acquire existing housing, for transition age youth between ages 16 and 26.

SB 252 (PET Act - Prevent Extraneous Testing) - Ends the suffering of cats and dogs by prohibiting these household pets from being used in toxicity tests for products such as pesticides, food and color additives, and drugs.

SB 314 (Bar and Restaurant Recovery Act) - Helps California’s restaurants, bars, and music venues recover economically from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by creating more flexibility in how they can serve alcohol, including where they can serve and how they can share spaces with other businesses (for example, making permanent the popular and successful outdoor dining and parklet regulations currently in place because of the pandemic).

SB 357 (Safer Streets for All Act) - Repeals discriminatory loitering law that targets sex workers and trans women of color

SB 339 (Gas Tax Alternative Pilot) - Extends California’s Road Charge Pilot Program, providing a potential future source of transportation and road funding.

SB 477 (Housing Data Act) - Strengthens California’s housing data collection to ensure the state and the public understand the impact and effectiveness of state housing laws.

SB 478 (Housing Opportunity Act) - Ensures that areas already zoned to allow multifamily housing up to ten units are able to legally accommodate this type of housing, doing away with abusive requirements that make it effectively impossible to build anything other than a large single-family home despite the multi-family zoning.

SB 519 - Decriminalizes possession and personal use of psychedelics.

SB 793 (Entertainment Venue Recovery Act) - Creates a new music entertainment venue license to streamline permitting, and allows localities to zone for “entertainment zone” open container areas to create lively spaces for increased business.

SB 379, the Equitable and Inclusive UC Healthcare Act, will now become a two-year bill, and will be eligible again to be sent to the Senate floor in January 2022. This legislation ensures that the University of California Health System (UC Health) contracts with healthcare facilities that allow UC staff practicing in those facilities to provide a full range of healthcare services, including reproductive and gender-affirming care. Senator Wiener will continue to work with UC so that UC can address this important issue. If UC fails to address this important issue, Senator Wiener intends to move this bill forward in January.

SB 260, the Climate Corporate Accountability Act, will now become a two-year bill, and will be eligible again to be sent to the Senate floor in January 2022. This legislation mandates all companies with over $1 billion in gross annual revenue disclose and set up targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Senator Wiener is committed to working with colleagues and stakeholders to move this important climate legislation forward.

“My 2021 legislative priorities include making housing more affordable, enacting common sense drug policy reforms, reforming exclusionary zoning practices, protecting the LGTBQ community, expanding mental health treatment and more,” said Senator Wiener. “I am thrilled that so many of the most impactful bills in our legislative package made it out of Senate Appropriations and will now head to the Senate floor. Particularly as we enter a post-COVID era, we need bold solutions to the most pressing problems facing our state. I am hopeful that this legislation will help us get there.”