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 >
Jul 31
CA SB 131 To Extend Statute of Limitations for Claims of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Senators Jim Beall and Ricardo Lara are lead authors of California Senate Bill 131 to amend California Code of Civil Procedure § 340.1 relating to childhood sexual abuse, statute of limitations and damages. SB 131 proposes to extend the statute of limitations in limited instances for civil actions involving childhood sexual abuse, as follows: Would retroactively apply the current statute of limitations for the commencement of civil actions against third parties regarding recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse, which is eight years after the plaintiff reaches majority (i.e., 26 years of age) or within three ... Read More >
Jul 17
Limousines Catching Fire Targeted by CA Senate Bill 338
Senator Jerry Hill introduced California Senate Bill 338 to require owners of limousines offered for hire in California to equip their limousines with two fire extinguishers, one in the drivers' compartment and one in the passenger cabin. Senator Hill carried SB 338 after an incident that occurred on May 5, 2013, in which a limousine caught fire while traveling on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge over the San Francisco Bay. That limousine was carrying nine passengers. The driver escaped unharmed and four of the passengers escaped through the driver's partition. The five other passengers died in the blaze. Senator Hill asserted that the ... Read More >
Jul 17
California Considering Fracking bill – Senate Bill 4
Senator Fran Pavley, representing portions of Ventura County that include Simi Valley, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, and Westlake Village, has introduced Senate Bill 4 to establish a comprehensive regulatory program for oil and gas well stimulation treatments (e.g., hydraulic fracturing), which includes, among other things, a study, the development of regulations, a permitting process, and public notification and disclosure. The SB 4 analysis of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources explained that hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. fracking) is a form of well stimulation used to obtain oil and natural gas in areas where those ... Read More >