Senator Wiener’s Statement on SB 57 — Authorizing Safe Consumption Sites — Being Heard in January

SACRAMENTO - Senate Bill 57, authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), will be heard in the Assembly Health Committee in January. Senator Wiener released the following statement: 

“The Assembly Health Committee has informed me that it will not be hearing Senate Bill 57 — our safe consumption sites legislation — this year and will instead hear and act on the bill this coming January. Because we are in the first year of a two-year legislative session, the bill can be heard during either year. In other words, SB 57 is very much alive, albeit delayed. The Chair of the Committee has assured me that the bill will be heard in January.

“While I’m extremely disappointed that we are experiencing another delay in passing this life-saving legislation — which has passed both the Senate and Assembly twice in different forms over the past five years — I continue to be optimistic that we‘ll pass SB 57 and get it signed into law. San Francisco and other California cities are experiencing record overdose deaths, and safe consumption sites are a proven strategy to save lives and help people into recovery. I am deeply committed to this legislation — as is our broad coalition — and I look forward to moving SB 57 forward in January.

“I do believe we will pass SB 57 next year. It passed the Senate this year, and the Assembly Health Committee has repeatedly passed the bill over the past five years. I’m optimistic that the Committee will, indeed, pass the bill in January. Moreover, we recently amended the bill to include the City of Los Angeles as one of the pilot cities, based on the recent 14-1 vote by the Los Angeles City Council asking to be included. SB 57 will thus be a pilot for San Francisco, Oakland, the City of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles County.

“In the meantime, I’ll continue to work this year toward new innovative approaches to address addiction and overdoses in our communities. I recently obtained $4.2 million in the state budget to fund a meth sobering center in San Francisco, and I’m authoring Senate Bill 110, which legalizes contingency management — financial incentives for people to stop using meth and stay sober. I’m also authoring Senate Bill 221 to ensure that people with mental health and substance use disorder needs receive timely access to care. Last year, I authored, and we passed, Senate Bill 855, which is the broadest and strongest mental health parity law in the country.

“I’m committed to this fight for our community’s future. We will get it done.”