2010 Legislation
SB 906 - Civil Marriage and Religious Freedom Act Some opponents of equal marriage rights for all couples have cited fears that churches and religious institutions will be forced to perform any and all marriages. This bill resolves any uncertainty by reaffirming that religious denominations and individual clergy members are free to determine which marriages they solemnize and that they will not lose their tax exempt status for refusing to solemnize marriages contrary to their faith.
SB 1163 – Health Insurance Transparency & Accountability Act This consumer protection measure requires health care plans and insurers to publicly disclose the criteria used in determining premium increases so that consumers can hold plans and insurers responsible for how their health care dollars are managed. The bill further requires that consumers be notified 90 days before premium increases. Additionally, it requires plans and insurers to publicly disclose the criteria used in determining who is refused coverage as well as how many California businesses and individuals are denied coverage or offered a policy at a higher premium.
SB 1200 – Timely Access to Care for Students Federal law protects students with medical conditions such as diabetes who require medical care during school hours, and mandates that health care services including insulin injections be administered by appropriately licensed medical staff. This bill ensures that health plans and health insurers pay for timely access to care for school aged enrollees who must receive medically necessary health care services during school hours.
SB 1212 - Cell Phone Radiation Disclosure This bill requires the disclosure of a cell phone's radiation (known as the Specific Absorption Rate or SAR) level at the point of sale, on the cell phone's packaging and in the instruction manual. This information will better inform consumers and mobile phone users about potential health impacts associated with a particular cell phone.
SB 1254 – Unlicensed Contractors Under current law, property owners can be held liable for injuries to uninsured workers and the Contractors' License Board (CSLB) has no direct authority to intervene. This bill gives the CSLB the tools they need to fight unlicensed contractors by providing the Registrar with the authority to issue administrative Stop Work Orders and an increased number of enforcement officers to ensure compliance. This will help eliminate the unfair advantage unlicensed construction contractors have over legitimate licensees.
SB 1264 - Airline Passenger Bill of Rights This bill establishes standards and provides needed protections for passengers who are forced to remain on a plane for more than two hours by requiring airlines to provide water, food, fresh air, and functioning restrooms. The bill codifies and gives the force of law to recently enacted federal regulations, including fines for failure to comply.
SB 1275 – Home Foreclosure Prevention The bill requires a loan servicer to provide an application for a loan modification to a homeowner, and determine eligibility for a modification or other alternative to foreclosure for those who complete the application, prior to filing of a Notice of Default. This will help avoid unnecessary foreclosures of residential properties when a loan modification or other alternative is a viable and economically desirable option for both the borrower and the holder of the loan.
SB 1291 - Toxics Reform for Consumer Goods This bill states the legislature’s intent to suspend a bedding flammability standard until it has been evaluated in light of the health and environmental hazards posed by flame retardant chemicals.
SB 1317 – Combating Chronic Truancy Chronically truant children are at extremely high risk of falling into our juvenile justice system later in life. This bill places greater responsibility on parents and strengthens local jurisdictions’ ability to combat chronic elementary school truancy by making it a misdemeanor for parents to allow their children to miss 10% or more of the school year. The bill also emphasizes the importance of effective intervention strategies by empowering counties to combine family services with court monitoring to make sure students get back into school before it’s too late.
SB 1329 – Foreclosure Protection for the Elderly Under current law, residents living in Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFEs) may not receive any notice that they are losing their home to foreclosure until sheriffs arrive and have them forcibly removed, causing great trauma and stress. This bill requires RCFE operators to notify residents, their legal representatives, and Community Care Licensing whenever a facility falls into foreclosure or severe financial distress.
SB 1347 - Taser Safety Standards In response to inconsistent use-of-force policies statewide, a growing number of excessive force allegations and mounting public concern, this bill aims to establish appropriate uniform standards governing peace officers’ use of tasers and stun guns which balance the value of these weapons in saving lives and preventing officer injury with the risks the devices pose to the public and the pain they cause.
SB 1360 - Misclassified Employees This bill would help small businesses and the workers they hire avoid costly disputes regarding the worker’s independent contractor status. The measure makes the definition of an independent contractor in current law more specific to prevent hardships for employers and employees alike.
SB 1373 - Asphalt Contractor Tax Equity This bill would correct an inequity that gives large contractors a competitive advantage over small contractors by requiring vertically integrated asphalt/paving contractors who fabricate their own materials to pay sales tax on those raw materials.
SB 1399 – Medically Incapacitated Inmates This bill will help the state capture federal dollars while providing taxpayers some relief from the high costs of prison health care by authorizing a program which will allow some of the state’s sickest and most incapacitated inmates who no longer pose a threat to public safety to be paroled to less costly medical facilities which are better suited to provide their care.
SB 1413 - School Drinking Water Access In order to improve the number of healthy beverage options available to school children, this bill would require a school district to provide access to free, fresh drinking water in school food service areas by January 1, 2012.
SB 1433 - Air Quality Management District Fines This bill would help improve local air quality by updating the penalty schedule that Air Quality Management District’s use to control pollution and curb violations in the state. The bill would tie the current penalty ceiling amounts in statute to inflation, to prevent further erosion of their deterrent effect over time.
SB 1441 - Utility Rate Reform This bill authorizes the California Public Utilities Commission to take into consideration certain activities of a utility and evaluate their impact on rates when considering the utility's rate adjustment application.
SB 1449 – Marijuana Infractions This bill reclassifies the possession of small amounts of marijuana as an infraction, rather than a misdemeanor, thereby bringing the offense into alignment with the penalties provided under current law. This reclassification will allow prosecutors to expedite hearings and free up much-needed court resources for more serious offenses.
SB 1472 – Work Sharing Program Expansion Work Sharing is an Employment Development Department (EDD) program allowing employers to reduce employee wages and hours as an alternative to layoffs. Employees who would otherwise be laid off and receive full unemployment benefits instead stay employed and receive partial benefits. This bill would increase awareness of and participation in the program by requiring the EDD to develop and implement an aggressive outreach plan and to collect data on the effectiveness of Work Sharing in reducing the State’s unemployment insurance expenditure and unemployment rate.