SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, Calif. Assemblyman Jeff Gorell (R-Camarillo), Vice-Chairman of the Assembly Budget committee, announced his bill, Assembly Bill 208, which will prohibit state employees from receiving a full-time state salary while also concurrently accepting hourly employment positions within the same department for the same work, passed Assembly Committee on Public Employees [...]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — The California Senate Natural Resources Committee today approved SB 135 by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima). The vote was 9–0. The bill would require the development of a comprehensive statewide earthquake early warning system in California. The measure now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration. About 90% of the [...]

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, S.F. Mayor Edwin M. Lee joined the Board of Supervisors and City Officials to mark the 107th anniversary of the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire at the yearly commemoration at Lotta’s Fountain in downtown San Francisco, and signed into law the Mandatory Seismic Retrofit Program for Soft Story [...]

SAN FERNANDO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — This week, in Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-San Fernando Valley) and U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling on the Senate to recognize the critical importance of juvenile mental health in preventing violence, including [...]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Senate Bill 15 by California Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima). SB 15 would establish standards for the domestic use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as “drones.” The federal government has taken action to accelerate both the public and commercial deployment of drones in [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (RR/CC) is kicking off the design phase of the Voting Systems Assessment Project (VSAP) — an unprecedented endeavor to modernize and streamline the voting system for the largest electoral jurisdiction in the United States. In collaboration with IDEO, a global design and [...]

SACRANENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, Calif. Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) legislation to criminalize the dangerous and increasingly prevalent crime known as “swatting” cleared a major legislative hurdle; passing the Assembly Public Safety Committee by a unanimous vote of 7-0. Swatting is a perilous prank by anonymous mischief-makers who alert police to a bogus [...]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, in Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-San Fernando Valley) issued a statement regarding the announcement of a deal on farm worker policies present in the comprehensive immigration reform legislation currently progressing through the U.S. Senate. “I am pleased that my colleagues in the Senate understand the essential need [...]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. and GUANGZHOU, CHINA /California Newswire/ — Today, the Governor’s Office announces that on day six of California’s trade and investment mission to China, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. committed to building stronger ties with China’s most populous and economically productive province, Guangdong. In Guangdong’s capital city on Monday, Governor Brown spoke at [...]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, at a State Capitol press conference, Calif. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) was joined by a coalition of environmental and business groups to show support for Senate Bill 405 (Padilla), which would “phase out single-use plastic bags in California grocery stores, convenience stores, liquor stores, and pharmacies.” The environmental and [...]