Free Republic

SACRAMENTO -- -- Insurance companies could no longer cancel with impunity the health coverage of sick people under a measure passed Sunday in the last hour of the Legislature's session. Lawmakers also moved to require that chain restaurants tell patrons the calorie content of their food; restrict unscrupulous practices by mortgage lenders; launch state review of chemicals; ban the sale of recalled products; and give college financial assistance to illegal immigrants. The Legislature finished its work on bills Sunday, but because lawmakers have yet to agree to a budget -- it is 63 days overdue -- they will return next...

A California bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses is one step closer to becoming a state law. State senate bill 60 passed through the assembly Friday. If the bill becomes law, legislators say the estimated 2.2 million undocumented immigrants in California will apply for one, an idea that's creating a lot of controversy. "I think they should be able to get licenses just like everybody else," said Nicole Holland, a Fresnan who supports the bill. "They are already committing a crime coming over here," said Albert Ratliff, a Fresnan who opposes the bill. "I don't think...

SACRAMENTO – California is on the verge of initiating a historic rewrite of local planning laws, fusing for the first time the issues of urban growth and global warming. Unprecedented nationally, the complex legislation would steer communities toward land-use policies to contain sprawl, using as much as $12 billion a year in state-controlled transportation funds as an incentive. “This bill will change the way California grows,” said state Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, its author. Under the measure, the state Air Resources Board would establish targets for 17 regions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of a broader campaign to...

Former Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown is waging war on California suburbs because of global warming, says Joel Kotkin, a presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University. Brown is concerned about the alleged environmental damage caused by the suburbs. He wants to compel residents to move to city centers or to high-density developments clustered near mass transit lines: • Brown has threatened to file suit against municipalities that shun high-density housing in favor of building new suburban single-family homes, on the grounds that they will pollute the environment. • He is also backing controversial legislation -- Senate bill 375 --...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — For decades, California cities and counties knew one way to grow — by sprawling outward. That approach, which has led to ever longer commutes, jammed freeways and worsening air quality, is being challenged under a bill that was approved Saturday in the state Legislature. If signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has not yet indicated whether he would do so, the bill would require local governments to plan their growth so that homes, businesses and public transit systems are clustered together. The goal is to help California meet the emission mandates spelled out in a wide-ranging...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California lawmakers have approved a bill that would allow drivers to be charged a fee to use car pool lanes on two Los Angeles freeways. The Senate bill passed Saturday would let the Metropolitan Transportation Authority use a $210.6 million federal grant to convert car pool lanes on congested stretches of the 10 and 110 freeways to toll lanes. The fees would vary depending on how bad the traffic is.

Catholic physicians and other doctors in California who oppose mercy killing would be forced to provide terminally ill patients with information on morally questionable “end-of-life care options” under a bill now pending in the state legislature. The bill, AB 2747, is a repeatedly amended and watered down version of an original euthanasia measure sponsored by Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka. Berg’s original bill, termed a “stealth assisted-suicide bill” by opponents, would have allowed doctors to administer “palliative sedation” to deliberately induce a coma, and to starve patients to death under a provision called “voluntary stopping of eating and drinking.” Also excised...

Just as Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama was in Denver preaching to a crowd of thousands of fans about the "change" he wants to see in the United States, his party compatriots in the California Legislature were making a "change," by approving a controversial plan that would allow nurses to assist terminally ill patients with suicide. "AB 2747 allows a physician assistant or a nurse to opine that a patient is 'terminal,' and then push for unnatural death by 'palliative sedation,'" said Randy Thomasson, chief of the Campaign for Children and Families shortly after the vote. "Depressed patients who...

Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who promised not to sign any bills until lawmakers reach a budget deal, reversed his position today and signed a bill for a statewide bullet train system that he strongly supports. The governor also wants to make exceptions for three other proposals that he has been promoting: budget reform; changing the state lottery to allow California to borrow against future ticket sales; and a bond proposal for water infrastructure. The high-speed rail legislation will replace a $10 billion bond measure on the November ballot with a revised version of the proposal that makes the bullet...

The plastic grocery bag is fighting for its crinkly life.From the city of San Francisco to Los Angeles County, more than a dozen local governments around the state have proposed or passed plastic-bag restrictions, ranging from recycling mandates to outright bans.Now, a proposal in the Legislature would put a 25-cent fee on all disposable bags – paper or plastic – given out at drug and grocery store check stands starting Jan. 1, 2010. It has won key support from the grocery and retail industries and faces its next legislative step today. Those in favor of the fee, led by Assemblyman...

Shorter commutes. Less sprawl. Cleaner air. Denser housing closer to downtown near transportation hubs. "Smart growth" it's called. California policy makers have been yakking about this -- dreaming about it -- for decades. But too many interests have been prospering from dumb growth or have merely been skittish of a future they can't quite visualize. Enter a tenacious policy wonk with roots in local government: state Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). He has just managed to finesse to the verge of legislative passage a visionary smart growth bill that, by its nature, also fights global warming. ... (snip) The measure (SB...

California legislators have approved legislation to circumvent the Electoral College. But the measure could face a veto from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill by Senator Carole Migden, a San Francisco Democrat, would ratify an interstate agreement in which states award their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. That would avoid a repeat of the 2000 election, when George Bush won the presidency but not the popular vote.

Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), a leading California organization protecting parents' rights and children's innocence, condemns the passage of AB 2567, which will instruct all California public schools to "conduct suitable commemorative exercises" in support of the anti-religious, sexual-anarchy agenda of the late San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. Yesterday, the California Assembly passed AB 2567 on a 43 to 26 vote, Democrats for, Republicans silently against. Earlier this week, AB 2567 passed the California State Senate on a 22-13 vote, Democrats for, Republicans against. AB 2567 now goes to Governor Schwarzenegger, whose position is unknown. "If signed into law,...

CCF MEDIA: News Releases CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES For Immediate Release August 07, 2008   California Legislature Approves Gay Day in Public Schools Democrats send AB 2567 to Governor Schwarzenegger Sacramento, California – Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), a leading California organization protecting parents’ rights and children’s innocence, condemns the passage of AB 2567, which will instruct all California public schools to “conduct suitable commemorative exercises� in support of the anti-religious, sexual-anarchy agenda of the late San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk.Today, the California Assembly passed AB 2567 on a 43 to 26 vote, Democrats for, Republicans silently...

California public students will stick to reading, writing and arithmetic, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decided as he vetoed a bill late Friday that would have required climate change be added to schools' curriculum. The measure, sponsored by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, also would have required future science textbooks to include climate change as a subject. In January, the state Senate approved the bill, SB 908, by a 26-13 vote. Only two Republicans supported the proposal. In his veto statement, Schwarzenegger said he supported education that spotlights the dangers of climate change. However, the Republican governor said he was opposed...

...As with so many marginal ideas, this one is coming out of California. A proposed bill there would have required foundations with more than $250 million in assets to report the racial, gender and sexual orientation of their board members, staffs and grantees. The bill's sponsors recently agreed to drop the issue in return for a political payoff of millions of dollars from 10 of the state's biggest charities...

California will be the first state to ban trans fats in restaurants and bakeries under legislation signed today by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The measure requires restaurants to quit using trans fats by January 2010, and for bakeries to follow suit one year later. "Consuming trans fat is linked to coronary heart disease, and today we are taking a strong step toward creating a healthier future for California," Schwarzenegger said in a written statement. The legislation, Assembly Bill 97, was proposed by Democratic Assemblyman Tony Mendoza of Artesia and opposed by most Republicans. Trans fats, also known as trans fatty acids,...

For the second year in a row, a Los Angeles assemblyman is pushing a bill that would create a handgun-ammunition licensing system for firearms dealers statewide. The bill would require dealers to purchase an annual license from the Department of Justice to sell more than 50 total rounds of handgun ammunition each month. These licenses would cost an estimated $50, according to the department.

California is poised to become the first state in the nation to ban restaurants and other food facilities from using trans fats, which are known to increase the risk of heart disease, under a bill approved by the state Legislature Monday and sent to the governor. The measure, passed with a bare majority, comes two weeks after a similar ban in New York City became fully effective. California doctor and consumer groups support the law, while restaurant groups have offered a lukewarm response. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position, a spokesman said. Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia (Los Angeles...

SACRAMENTO, May 29, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An assisted-suicide bill that allows doctors and nurses to suggest death by unconscious dehydration has barely passed the California State Assembly. AB 2747 would authorize total sedation without nutrition and hydration for depressed and confused patients, whether or not their natural death was imminent. The bill would also allow family members to order the death of a mentally disabled person when a nurse opines they have less than a year to live, similar to Terry Schindler Schiavo's death at the hands of her husband. AB 2747 passed the Democrat-controlled Assembly Wednesday afternoon on...

California Assembly to Vote on Anti-Gun Bills Any Day!·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   California Assembly to Vote on Anti-Gun Bills Any Day!   Wednesday, May 28, 2008   Please Continue Contacting Your State Assembly Member!Today, Wednesday, May 28, the Assembly passed Assembly Bill 2948 by a vote of 41-25.  Sponsored by State Assembly Member Mark Leno (D-13), AB2948 seeks to ban the sale of firearms and ammunition on the property or inside the buildings that comprise the Cow Palace.  The bill now heads to the Senate for its consideration.Assembly Bills 2235 and 2062 are still awaiting...

SACRAMENTO -- Dick Messer likes driving around Los Angeles with Peaches, his Pomeranian, in his lap and thinks it's ridiculous that a proposal in the Capitol would make him an outlaw for doing so. The proposal, which would prohibit drivers from carrying "live animals" on their laps behind the wheel, is one of several that would regulate who can drive, when, where and how. Bills regulating cars and drivers "It's just nuts, the stuff legislators come up with instead of dealing with the real problems facing the state: crime, the economy, the . . . budget deficit," said Messer, director...

California Senate on Thursday passed legislation that would delete membership in the Communist Party as a reason for firing a public employee, a Cold War-era prohibition intended to root out communists. Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, called communism a "failed system" and said his bill – Senate Bill 1322 – was intended to protect "the constitutional freedoms that we have fought so valiantly for," including freedom of political affiliation. California is the only state that allows public employees to be dismissed for membership in a political party. In addition, current law requires that any organization that applies to use a...

Anti-gun hysteria has reached a fever pitch in the Golden State.  The California Assembly is considering a bill (Assembly Bill 2062) this session that, if passed, will have dire consequences for California’s law-abiding gun owners. AB2062 is scheduled to be heard on Wednesday, May 7 in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.  Sponsored by State Assembly Member Kevin De Leon (D-45), AB2062 would require that law-abiding gun owners obtain a permit to buy handgun ammunition and would impose severe restrictions on the private transfers of handgun ammunition.  Applicants for a “permit-to-purchase” would be required to submit to a background check, pay a...

In California, the Democratic-led Legislature since 2000 has rejected a dozen Republican bills related to voter identification. Current law does not require California voters to show ID at polling places except for limited cases in which voters do not provide a Social Security number or driver's license upon registration. The Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting killed a proposal in January by Assemblyman Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, requiring California voters to show one of six forms of ID at a polling place. Under Assembly Bill 9, a voter without identification could use a provisional ballot but would be required to...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken a keen interest in how California draws its political boundaries, already chipping in a quarter-million-dollar donation to finance a redistricting measure for the Nov. 4 ballot. Now Bloomberg plans to host a Thursday night fundraiser for the governor's "California Dream Team" political committee after the two leaders discuss political philosophies in a public New York City forum the same day. It should be a prosperous night for the governor's committee - cosmetics billionaire Ron Perelman is hosting a separate fundraiser for Schwarzenegger the same evening, according to Julie Soderlund, the governor's campaign...

With businesses and individuals fleeing California for states with lower tax burdens, the senate in Sacramento is taking up a pressing issue: allowing the Communist Party access to the state's public schools. Sure enough, a Democratic state Senator from Long Beach, Alan Lowenthal, who is a longtime professor of "community psychology" at Cal State Long Beach, has introduced a bill to allow Communist groups to use space in the schools and to allow Communists to teach in the schools.

With businesses and individuals fleeing California for states with lower tax burdens, the senate in Sacramento is taking up a pressing issue: allowing the Communist Party access to the state's public schools. Sure enough, a Democratic state senator from Long Beach, Alan Lowenthal, who is longtime professor of "community psychology" at Cal State Long Beach, has introduced a bill to allow Communist groups to use space in the schools and to allow Communists to teach in the schools. A Communist regime still exists in the planet's most populous nation, China, which operates espionage rings in this country. A Stalinist with...

Driver fee would help fight warming L.A. County motorists would pay at pump or on vehicle registration. By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer April 1, 2008 SACRAMENTO -- -- Motorists in Los Angeles County could end up paying an extra 9 cents per gallon at the gas pump, or an additional $90 on their vehicle registration, under proposals aimed at getting them to help fight global warming. Voters would be able to decide whether to approve a "climate change mitigation and adaptation fee" under legislation being considered by state lawmakers and endorsed by the board of the Los...

Republican legislators trotted out the first parts of their anti-illegal immigration package of bills Tuesday, and things went about as well as could be expected. Which is to say, not well at all. In case you missed it, the Reeps have determined that illegal immigrants are to blame for most of the state's gaping budget deficit. (Democrats are to blame for the rest of it.) To remedy this problem (the illegal problem, not the Democrat problem), GOP lawmakers put together what they call a "border security" package of "20 common-sense measures" they said "would help the state secure the border...

NRA Members' Councils of California << Please cross-post & distribute this CAL-ERT >> << Please cross-post & distribute this CAL-ERT >> << Please cross-post & distribute this CAL-ERT >>  CAL-ERT  04/01/08 --- 4:00 PM  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE UPDATE  This information is accurate at the time this CAL-ERT was written and originally distributed. The scheduled times and dates for hearings are subject to change, by the legislature, with little or no advance notice. The NRA Members' Councils of California will keep you informed as the legislative situation changes in Sacramento.LEGISLATION PENDING:  AB2062 (De Leon) AMMO SALES RESTRICTIONSIn AB2062, the proponents seek...

Legislation to grant collective bargaining rights to grandmas, aunts and other subsidized child-care providers was vetoed Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Senate Bill 867 targeted a pivotal service for low-income parents, with about 90,000 providers assisting 700,000 families at a public cost of more than $3 billion. Schwarzenegger's veto message cited the state's massive budget deficit, which despite recent trims is pegged at $8 billion. "Given California's significant budget challenge, I cannot consider bills that would add significant fiscal pressures to the state's structural budget deficit," he wrote. SB 867, similar to legislation vetoed last year, was sponsored by the...

Give birth, get a parking pass? California lawmakers are considering granting special parking privileges to women in the final three months of pregnancy and the first two months after birth. The legislation would apply to more than a half-million women who give birth every year in California. Assemblyman Chuck DeVore's bill would qualify pregnant women for "temporarily disabled" parking placards from the Department of Motor Vehicles. "Let's be reasonable here: There are challenges, physical challenges, that arise as a natural part of life," DeVore said of pregnancy. The Irvine Republican said it makes little sense to force a pregnant woman...

Next Wednesday, March 25, the Assembly Public Safety Committee will consider legislation that would require gun owners to obtain a “permit-to-purchase” before buying handgun ammunition. Introduced by State Assembly Member Kevin De Leon (D-45), Assembly Bill 2062 puts ammunition sales in the crosshairs. AB2062 would require that law-abiding gun owners obtain a permit to buy handgun ammunition and would impose severe restrictions on the private transfers of handgun ammunition. Applicants for a “permit-to-purchase” would be required to submit to a background check, pay a $35 fee, and wait as long as 30 days to receive the permit.

Bradley J. Fikes reports in the N.C. Times: Home control of thermostats would be guaranteed under a new bill introduced in the state Legislature.The bill would forbid the California Building Standards Commission from mandating thermostats that are remote-controlled by anyone other than the building’s resident. Called Senate Bill 1491, the bill by State Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, is in draft form. Good ol’ Tom McClintock — my hero. Not much of a surprise that he’d be behind something sensible like this. The California Energy Commission attempted earlier this year to mandate so-called “programmable communicating thermostats” in new and substantially...

Yes, that's right. The headline is no exaggeration. California Democratic Sen. Alan Lowenthal has proposed an amendment to the Educational Code that will explicitly allow the promotion of Communism in schools, and also allow groups who want to violently overthrow the US government to meet on public school property. Here’s the PDF file: sb_1322_bill_20080220_introduced.pdf (1) The Civic Center Act requires the governing body of a school district to grant the use of school property, when an alternative location is not available, to nonprofit organizations, and clubs or associations organized to promote youth and school activities. Existing law also prohibits an...

A new plan by a California lawmaker would allow schools to be used to promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, and let teachers in public district classrooms "inculcate in the mind of any pupil a preference for communism," according to a traditional values advocacy organization. "Just when we thought the indoctrination in California's public schools couldn't get any worse, state lawmakers introduce bills that will further brainwash innocent children," said a statement from Capitol Resource Institute, a traditional values and family advocacy organization based in California. "We're in California. Of course it has a chance of succeeding," CRI spokeswoman...

Don't look now, but the Democrats in the California Legislature want to unionize Grandma. Really. A bill pending in the Senate would create a union to organize family members who provide child care for their kin and are paid by the state so that mothers can work outside the home. The measure already has passed in the Assembly. The child care providers – grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings – would pay dues and be represented collectively in negotiations with the state over pay, benefits and working conditions. Child care providers who did not want to join the union would still...

Reading, writing and . . . global warming? A Silicon Valley lawmaker is gaining momentum with a bill that would require "climate change" to be among the science topics that all California public school students are taught. The measure, by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, also would mandate that future science textbooks approved for California public schools include climate change. "You can't have a science curriculum that is relevant and current if it doesn't deal with the science behind climate change," Simitian said. "This is a phenomenon of global importance and our kids ought to understand the science behind...

No one can accuse the fine public servants of California’s Department of Food and Agriculture of sitting on their hands, and letting raw milk coliforms threaten the health and safety of California consumers. No, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. The junior he-men, working on behalf of the senior he-man-terminator, are out there…fighting the common enemy, raw milk coliforms.

Last Oct. 12, California’s Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a controversial Democratic-authored measure, SB 777, that subtly redefines how sexuality and gender may be taught and dealt with in public schools. This law had been held in abeyance until this month while conservatives were given 90 days to collect signatures to qualify a June ballot referendum that would let voters approve or overturn it. On Thursday, the referendum deadline, activists acknowledged that they had fallen short, gathering only 350,000 of the 433,971 signatures required. With the new law in effect, said referendum supporter Karen England, executive director of...

Just the facts on SB 777 By: ROBERT TYLER Forget everything you learned in kindergarten about the difference between boys and girls. According to Gov. Schwarzenegger and the California Legislature, schoolchildren can now choose their own sex. I'm not talking about choosing "sexual behavior or sexual preferences." Kids are going to be taught that they have the right to completely ignore their physical anatomy and choose the status of being "male" or "female." Ignore your common sense, ignore your chromosomes and ignore your anatomy. This is what your politicians want to teach your kids in school. After all, California's kids...

They say that true character is seen under pressure. Perhaps the inverse is true for politicians. When it comes to the pressure of facing the electorate during voting season, some politicians will adopt the character or policies that will get them elected. But when the pressure of re-election is lifted, these officials’ true character is unmasked. Governor Schwarzenegger’s signing of SB 777 is the most glaring example of this sad truth. During last year’s legislative session the governor was wary of signing any legislation that would anger specific voting blocks that could help him win re-election. Such was the case...

Children as young as two years of age are in the bull's-eye of coming changes in California's school curriculum, which "gay rights" advocates now admit will alter the very foundation of information presented to public school classrooms. Gov. Schwarzenegger A list of school resources, sponsored by a homosexual-advocacy group called Safe Schools Coalition, suggests that for those who are only two years old, there's "Felicia's Favorite Story," which tells how she was "adopted by her two mothers." The list also promotes a book called "Are You a Girl or a Boy?" by Karleen Jiminez, a resource for children ages...

On the heels of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature on S.B. 777, which opponents describe as a homosexual indoctrination plan for education districts, a pro-homosexual lobbying organization in California has launched its campaign to infuse a "gay" influence into public school curricula. The Gay Straight Alliance recently forwarded an e-mail to its California chapters with information on how to make sure homosexuality is taught in the state's schools, and warned that having students and parents simply "tolerate" homosexuality simply is not enough. "In many schools, learning about LGBTQ issues takes the form of very necessary tolerance education where students are educated...

While the SB 777 referendum campaign continues to surge forward with increasing strength, the homosexual lobby is busy preparing schools for the new law's implementation. Last week the Gay Straight Alliance, a homosexual rights group that promotes their agenda in schools, sent out an e-mail instructing their California chapters on how to integrate homosexual history into curriculum. In October-the same month that SB 777 was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger-each GSA school unit received a "campaign guide" entitled "Sharing Our Stories: The Fight for LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum". This guide was designed to assist students in lobbying their peers and school...

California's scandal-plagued government-run workers' compensation insurance company spent more than half a billion dollars over the last decade for outside marketing help that often provided "minimal services," a scathing new state audit shows. About half that money went to organizations with direct financial ties to two former board members of the State Compensation Insurance Fund, said the audit to be released today. The company sells workers' compensation insurance to 220,000 California employers. Some marketing groups were paid millions of dollars for merely sending members quarterly newsletters, providing few other services, the report said. The report paints a picture of an...

Despite all his tough talk about securing borders and immigration reform, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last month signed AB 976, making California the first state in the union to prohibit landlords from asking tenants about their immigration status. Talk about your dubious distinctions. Not a single Senate or Assembly Republican voted in support of the bill, but the governor -- never one to fret over party loyalties -- signed anyway. The governor's approval of the bill made Bakersfield Assemblywoman Jean Fuller so mad, she fired off a letter to The Californian's editorial page, blasting the bill for "making it easier for...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a quick-trigger, guns-a-blazing action hero in Hollywood, is being blasted by firearms groups as a Second Amendment wimp in the Capitol. Schwarzenegger's signing of bills to require microstamping of semiautomatic pistols and to ban lead bullets in condor country has prompted gun groups to paint him as one of the state's most anti-gun Republican governors. "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger might as well change his last name to Kennedy because he is acting just like radical, anti-gun U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, his uncle-in-law," read a recent statement by Gun Owners of California, a nonprofit advocacy group. "We don't believe...

Transportation commission proposes levying 10 cents a gallon on fuel to help curb greenhouse gases - In a proposal that fell on deaf ears in Sacramento last year, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's staff is recommending legislation that would make a gas tax a "fee," and thus make it easier to prevail at the ballot box. Only this year, transportation officials say, the idea could be more palatable as but one arrow in a quiver aimed at reducing the Bay Area's contribution to global warming. Under legislation that went into effect in 1997, the MTC has the authority to put a...