LIS has published its annual Compendium of notable California legislation for 2013 at https://www.legintent.com/legislation/legislation2013.pdf The Compendium is not exhaustive, but it does reflect some of the major bills that were reported on in our California newspapers and were supported or opposed by some of California’s more established stakeholders, such as the League of California Cities, the California Teachers Association, California Manufacturers and Technology, the Consumer Attorneys of California, and the California State Bar. California has been enacting laws since 1850, when it became a state, and at Legislative Intent ... Read More >
Oct 16
Crack Tough Cases with Legislative Intent
Did you know that, according to Guinness World Records, one of the longest running civil cases by an individual spanned more than 34 years? Legislation can be incredibly complex, and courts often spend an inordinate amount of time speculating about, and further researching, unclear laws. When is it appropriate for judges and courts to question laws, and what steps can courts take when legislation is undeniably ambiguous, especially in California? What is Legislative Intent? Legislative intent is a fairly broad term. Simply put, courts explore legislative intent when state or federal laws and statutes are not clear-cut. Sometimes, ... Read More >
Sep 10
IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL TIME
Mid-August signals the return of many American students to public school classes. Over the next few years, states will be implementing a new standard for public school education. The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) was created in 2009 to identify and develop a common set of core knowledge and skills master in two topics, mathematics and English language arts, that every American high school graduate should master to succeed in college or a career. With teachers, parents and community leaders weighing in, the CCSSI is intended to develop academic standards that would be: Common: the standards would be the same across ... Read More >
Aug 1
“DOG DAYS” OF SUMMER FEDERAL LEGISLATION
Throughout these “dog days” of summer, Congress continues to attract media attention and headlines with a few interesting and controversial bills, such as these following measures: HR 2397: “Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014,” introduced on June 17, 2013 by Rep. Bill Young to appropriate funds for FY2013 for the Department of Defense (DOD) for: (1) military personnel; (2) operation and maintenance (O&M), including for the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, environmental restoration, overseas humanitarian, disaster, and civic aid, former Soviet Union cooperative threat reduction, and the DOD Acquisition ... Read More >
Jul 31
CA SENATE BILL 520 SUPPORTS ONLINE COURSES FOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
California Senate pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg is carrying CA Senate Bill 520 through the Legislature to amend Education Code provisions relating to student instruction to create an incentive grant program to assist faculty and individual campuses of the University of California (UC), the California State University (CSU), and the California Community Colleges (CCC), to provide increased opportunities for students to take online courses. In a statement posted at his website, Senator Steinberg offered the following rationale for the proposals in SB 520: “The need for this online lifeline for students is critical,” said Steinberg. Last ... Read More >
Jul 31
Voter Registration Bill Remedies Lack of Place of Birth Now Before Gov. Brown
California Assembly member Das Williams has successfully carried Assembly Bill 131, a voter registration bill, through the state legislature to provide that a person’s failure to identify his or her place of birth on an affidavit of registration would not preclude his or her affidavit from being deemed complete. AB 131 has been enrolled and presented to the Governor for his consideration. AB 131 addresses the existing state law allows county elections officials to process voter registration applications even when certain information has not been provided by the applicant. For example, if no middle name or initial is shown on the voter ... Read More >