Press Releases

March 10, 2021

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)’s Senate Bill 107, which would expand access to CalFresh food benefits for seniors and for all Californians, passed the Senate Human Services Committee today by a bipartisan vote of 4-0. It will now head to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

March 9, 2021

SACRAMENTO – Today, SB 234 — the SUPPORT Act, authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) — passed the Senate Committee on Human Services by a vote of 4-0. SB 234 creates a $100 million forgivable loan program to fund new housing, or acquire existing housing, for transition age youth between ages 16 and 26. The housing will serve young people who are homeless, in or exiting foster care, or exiting the criminal justice system.

February 25, 2021

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has introduced new language for Senate Bill 252, also known as the PET (Prevent Extraneous Testing) Act. The PET Act ends the suffering of dogs and cats by prohibiting these household pets from being used in toxicity tests for products such as pesticides, food and color additives, and drugs. This bill exempts the testing of pet medications and pet products and testing for biomedical products. Additionally, SB 252 does not impact testing required by federal statutes or medical research in the state.

February 24, 2021

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) released the following statement regarding Berkeley becoming the second California city, after Sacramento, to end exclusionary single family zoning. These zoning reforms come three years after Senator Wiener first introduced his landmark legislation to end exclusionary single family zoning at the state level (Senate Bill 827, followed by SB 50).

February 24, 2021

SACRAMENTO - Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) issued a statement following the United States District Court's decision to uphold the enforcement of net neutrality in California. Senator Wiener authored and passed SB 822, the California Internet Consumer Protection and Net Neutrality Act of 2018, but the legislation had previously been tied up in court since being signed into law by former Governor Jerry Brown.

February 19, 2021

SACRAMENTO – Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced SB 617, the Solar Access Act. SB 617 implements automated solar permitting in local jurisdictions with over 10,000 residents. This will allow for remote inspections and approvals of residential solar and solar-plus-storage systems, which will greatly decrease approval times, cut permitting costs for local governments and homeowners, and help California meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. SB 617 is co-sponsored by SPUR and Environment California.

February 18, 2021

SACRAMENTO - Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 478 and Senate Bill 477, which join previously introduced Senate Bill 10 and Senate Bill 234 to complete the Senator’s 2021 housing package.

February 18, 2021

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 519, which decriminalizes the possession and personal use of the following substances: psilocybin, psilocyn, 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (“MDMA”), Lysergic acid diethylamide (“LSD”), ketamine, Dimethyltryptamine (“DMT”), mescaline (excluding peyote*), and ibogaine.

February 17, 2021

SACRAMENTO - Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) introduced Senate Bill 467, which halts the issuance or renewal of permits for hydraulic fracturing (fracking), acid well stimulation treatments, cyclic steaming, and water and steam flooding starting January 1, 2022, and then prohibits these extraction methods entirely starting January 1, 2027.