Such reports led state Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat and a coauthor of the bill, to describe the therapy as “torture.” Although current techniques tend to be less extreme than those of the past, LGBTQ advocates say that they still perpetuate a view of homosexuality and being transgender as undesirable.
“We all want to have good safety standards,” he [Wiener] told the crowd. “But it’s time to modernize this law to reflect the reality of people’s lives.”
“Legalizing cannabis was step one,” he says. “There’s going to be significant cannabis-related policy work happening for years and years. I’m confident that it will be a central issue in the legislature every year. It’s definitely an issue that’s important to me, that’s important to San Francisco, and that we’ve got to get right.”
The communities living near the Cow Palace, the enormous state-owned exhibition hall in Daly City, overwhelmingly want the venue to stop hosting gun shows. The state Legislature has previously passed legislation designed to stop the shows.
Wiener, who led the successful effort to pass a solar mandate for San Francisco construction in 2016, says solar energy is a necessary component of California's zero net energy goals.
"In order to achieve zero net energy, you have to have a renewable energy source," says Wiener. "With everything happening in the country right now and President Trump's obsession with coal and the continuing strength of the oil industry, California needs to be aggressive in moving towards a clean energy future, and this is one step in that direction."
It is time now for California to do what it should have done in 2008 — require police agencies to abide by a set of standards to protect lineups, photo identifications and other eyewitness procedures from improper influence. Those overdue mandates are now set forth in SB 923, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael). Lawmakers should quickly send the bill to Gov. Jerry Brown, who should sign it into law.
This heightening of enforcement priorities presents a clear threat to any undocumented immigrant who steps into a courthouse to hold a dangerous individual accountable
"They will sue, they will raise every conceivable argument," Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the bill's sponsor, told me. "They have every right in the world to do that. But we think we have the right to protect consumers and businesses in the state."
There’s plenty of talk about “greedy developers” being the cause of our housing crisis but the people making out in this crazy market aren’t builders, but existing homeowners.
April 20, 2018
By Markos Moulitsas
For decades, efforts to restrict new housing in Berkeley and the broader Bay Area have driven up housing costs, pushed out low-income residents, and reinforced historical, racially discriminatory housing policies. Our city’s and region’s failure to build adequate housing is also exacerbating climate change by giving our middle-income workers no choice but to commute long distances in their cars.
A California bill meant to replace the FCC's repealed Obama-era net neutrality rules is on its way to becoming law.
Senate Bill 822, written by state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, made it through its first vote before the state Senate's Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee on Tuesday. The committee voted 8-3 along party lines to support the bill with only minor amendments. The next vote will be before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
