State Government

U.S. state government news from the Neotrope News Network

Calif. Governor Brown Proposes to Reform Prop 65 – get back on track to protect Californians from harmful chemicals

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Yesterday, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. proposed reforms to strengthen and restore the intent of Proposition 65, a three decade old law enacted to protect Californians from harmful chemicals, that has been abused by some unscrupulous lawyers driven by profit rather than public health. “Proposition 65 is a good [...]

Calif. Gov. Brown Announces Appointments for May 7, 2013 including California Air Resources Board

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Tuesday, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced the following appointments: First, John Gioia, 55, of Richmond, has been appointed to the California Air Resources Board. Gioia has been a member of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors since 1999, where he served as chair in 2002, 2006 [...]

Calif. Governor Brown Announces Appointments for May 6, 2013 including the California Fair Employment and Housing Council

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced the following appointments: First, Dale Brodsky, 62, of Orinda, has been appointed to the California Fair Employment and Housing Council. Brodsky is a partner at Beeson Tayer and Bodine, where she served as an attorney since 2002. She was associate editor for [...]

Calif. Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s Bill to Prevent Child Abuse in Schools Passes Key Committee Hurdle

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, Calif. Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) bill to help prevent child abuse in our schools and more closely monitor those accused of the crime passed a key legislative hurdle yesterday, clearing the Assembly Education Committee by a vote of 6-0, with 1 abstention. The bill, AB 349, requires the [...]

Calif. Gov. Brown Announces Appointments for May 1, 2013 including Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Wednesday, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced the following appointments: First, Sid Voorakkara, 42, of San Diego, has been appointed senior business development specialist at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Voorakkara has been a partner at Ten Page Memo LLC since 2012. Voorakkara was statewide [...]

Drone Privacy Bill Clears California Assembly Policy Committees

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, legislation to protect the privacy rights of Californians passed out of the Assembly Committee on Local Government overwhelmingly on a bipartisan vote. AB 1327, jointly authored by Assemblyman Jeff Gorell (R-Camarillo) and Assemblyman Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) protects the privacy rights of Californians by establishing restrictions on governmental and private [...]

Calif. Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s Bill to protect Small Businesses Clears Assembly Judiciary Committee

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s legislation to protect small businesses from meritless lawsuits took a huge step forward yesterday by clearing its final policy hurdle, the Assembly Judiciary committee, by a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 10-0. The bill, AB 227, would allow small-business owners who receive notice of a technical-signage violation of [...]

Calif. Gov. Brown Announces Appointments for April 30, 2013 including the California Commission on Emergency Medical Services

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced the following appointments: First, Linda Broyles, 57, of Coronado, has been appointed to the California Commission on Emergency Medical Services. Broyles has been continuous quality improvement coordinator at the Regional Cooperative Care Program since 2006 and clinical coordinator at American Medical Response [...]

Calif. Congressman Tony Cardenas Sponsors Legislation to Give Veterans Better Mental Health Access

WASHINGTON, D.C. /California Newswire/ — This week, U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-San Fernando Valley) signed on as an original co-sponsor to the bipartisan Veterans Mental Health Accessibility Act, which is intended to allow veterans better access to mental health care. Currently, veterans face a five-year window in which they must seek treatment for mental illnesses [...]

California Bill to Require Condoms in Adult Films Approved by Assembly Labor and Employment Committee

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, legislation by Assemblymember Isasdore Hall, III (D – Compton) to require frequent testing for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) and condom use in all adult films made in California, has cleared the state Assembly’s Labor and Employment Committee with a bipartisan five (5) to zero (0) vote; with Republican Assemblymember [...]

Calif. School Superintendents and Governor Brown Call for Action on Plan to Improve School Funding System

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. joined 20 local school superintendents from across California to call for action on his plan to direct additional resources to the state’s neediest students and restore local control over how money is spent in schools. “This is not an ordinary legislative measure, this [...]

Calif. Congressman Tony Cardenas Holds Congressional Forum on School Safety Improvement

SAN FERNANDO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — In the wake of several horrible incidents of violence by young people perpetrated throughout the United States, U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-San Fernando Valley) will hold a Congressional Forum Sat. April 27, to discuss community-based solutions for improving school safety in Los Angeles and nationwide. The Congressional Forum will [...]

Bill to End California State Worker ‘Moonlighting’ Passes Legislative Policy Committee with Bi-Partisan Support

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 [...]

Calif. Senate Natural Resources Committee approves California Earthquake Early Warning Bill

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 [...]

SF Mayor Lee & Supervisors Sign Mandatory Seismic Retrofit Program for City’s Soft Story Buildings

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 [...]

Calif. Congressman Tony Cardenas and Schiff Call on Senate to Focus on Juvenile Justice Efforts

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 [...]

Regulating Drones in California: State Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Padilla Bill

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 Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Makes Groundbreaking Efforts to Change the Way Citizens Vote in L.A. County

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 [...]

California Anti-Swatting Legislation AB 47 Passes Public Safety Committee

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 [...]

Calif. Congressman Cardenas Demands Comprehensive Immigration Reform Protect Farm Workers

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 [...]

Calif. Gov. Brown Commits to Expanding Cooperation on Trade, Investment and Climate Change with China’s Largest Provincial Economy

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 [...]

Calif. Environmental and Business Coalition supports Padilla Bill to Phase Out Single-Use Plastic Bags in California

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 [...]

SF Mayor Lee Launches Initiative to Improve Pedestrian Safety and Reduce Pedestrian Injuries in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Thursday, S.F. Mayor Edwin M. Lee – as part of the Nation’s first Walk to Work Day – announced the launch of San Francisco’s Pedestrian Strategy to increase walkability around the City and make all neighborhoods safe for pedestrians as outlined in the Mayor’s Pedestrian Safety Executive Directive. [...]

California-China Office of Trade and Investment announced during Governor Brown’s Visit to China

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — During his trip to China this week, and positioning California to attract a growing share of China’s massive foreign investment pool and bolstering California-China trade, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., the Bay Area Council and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced the opening of the California-China [...]

Calif. Governor Brown Meets with China’s Premier Li Keqiang

SACRAMENTO, Calif. and BEIJING, CHINA /California Newswire/ — Further strengthening the bond between California and China, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. met with China’s Premier Li Keqiang before departing for Shanghai on Thursday. In the meeting, Governor Brown stressed the importance of collaboration between California and China on renewable energy, climate change, research, higher education [...]

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