The day that bills die in CA Legislature

How does it feel to have a proposal you care about get killed in California’s Legislature?

For Sen. Scott Wiener, Thursday’s “suspense file” process — his 15th since he was elected to the Senate in 2016 — never gets “less stressful or anxiety-inducing.” 

Though the San Francisco Democrat says he is grateful that nine of his 12 bills at risk advanced, three were nixed: to ban certain roadside drug tests, to boost housing in downtown San Francisco and to legalize therapy with psychedelic drugs. “I love all my children (bills) and of course I’m disappointed. … It’s my fourth year working on psychedelics and I’m still very committed to the issue,” he said.

Wiener, to CalMatters: “I had bills that had minimum cost and no opposition that get held, and bills that were intensely opposed with lots of cost that made it. It goes in both directions, so I’ve learned to try not to be sad about it because you don’t have a lot of control.”

Many other legislators and advocates are in the same boat. That’s because the state’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit has legislative leaders wary of adding more spending, explain CalMatters Capitol reporters Sameea Kamal and Alexei Koseff. 

Twice each year, the Assembly and Senate appropriations committees hurtle through hundreds of bills with new spending attached, passing or killing them rapid-fire with little explanation. In Thursday’s run-through, 32% of 1,009 bills were held, compared to the 25% average over the past decade, reports longtime lobbyist Chris Micheli. 

Two bills of note that didn’t survive: One to cap and end in 2028 the controversial $24 a month fixed charge on many utility bills, and another to give workers the “right to disconnect” after work hours. Many other measures were changed to become less expensive.

But some bills did make it out of the suspense file, including:

Senate Bill 1043 to expand reporting requirements for behavioral treatment centers for teens, specifically their use of “seclusion rooms” and restraints; 

SB 1214 to establish a commission to help California commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding in 2026;

SB 1413 to set standard time year-round, doing away with daylight saving time permanently;

Assembly Bill 2999 to require school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to develop more “intentional” homework guidelines.

The drama isn’t over yet. The bills that survived Thursday’s hearings face another deadline next Friday to get out of the chamber where they were introduced. So far, about 430 of 2,160 bills introduced have passed their first house.

One bill that successfully cleared this hurdle Thursday is a proposal that calls for the state to issue a formal apology for its history of slavery. The measure is part of a controversial package of reparations bills that seek to address the harms caused by centuries of discrimination faced by Black Californians. But other bills in the package did not advance, including ones to assist descendants of slaves with housing and paying property tax. 

For more on Thursday’s suspense file hearings, read the story by Sameea and Alexei.

While Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling for more than $30 billion in cuts to education, public health, environmental and other programs in the next two years, he left one initiative intact: The 10-year, $4.1 billion rollout for community school programs. 

But the Legislative Analyst’s Office has recommended slashing $1 billion from remaining funds, according to CalMatters K-12 education reporter Carolyn Jones.

Launched in 2020, these programs connect schools with local nonprofits and government agencies to provide services, cultural activities and even medical care to students. Through things such as museum trips, yoga classes and college tours, the programs aim to boost students’ academic performance and attendance.

About half the grant money has been spent already, going to more than 1,000 schools. But the legislative analysts’ suggestions have some community school advocates concerned. 

Anna Maier, Learning Policy Institute senior researcher and policy advisor: “This is an audacious and complicated initiative, and it’s just getting started. We need to keep the momentum going.” 

But so far, evidence of how community schools are working isn’t ironclad, partly because the COVID-19 pandemic forced remote learning just as the programs were getting started.

Assemblymember Diane Dixon, a Newport Beach Republican, said she expected better results and has been dismayed by falling test scores at some schools.

Dixon: “As legislators, we need to make sure all our children are getting a high quality education, and right now, I don’t know how well we’re doing that.”

The program’s fate is now in the hands of Dixon and other legislators, who face a June 15 deadline to pass their budget. 

For more on community schools, read Carolyn’s story.

Would lifting requirements for California doctors to notify police of domestic violence ultimately help victims of abuse?

That’s the question at the center of Assemblymember Tina McKinnor’s bill, which is dividing the three physicians serving in the Assembly, writes CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow. Under current law, doctors must notify law enforcement if they suspect a patient is the victim of domestic violence, and can face misdemeanor charges if they fail to do so. 

But McKinnor’s proposal would require doctors to report suspected abuse only if the patient needs life-saving treatment. Otherwise, if the patient doesn’t want to involve the police, doctors would need to refer them to victim-advocate services instead (suspected child and elder abuse still need to be reported.) 

The Inglewood Democrat and some advocates argue that mandatory reporting discourages victims from seeking treatment. Some victims fear that involving police could lead to children being taken away or deportation for undocumented immigrants. 

Democrats Joaquin Arambula, a former Fresno emergency room physician, and Akilah Weber of La Mesa, an obstetrician/gynecologist, voted for the bill. But Jasmeet Bains, along with 14 other legislators, voted “no.” The family doctor from Bakersfield told CalMatters that families could suffer if doctors are no longer required to report abuse.

Bains: “I worry about the environment that children grow up in should perpetrators not be held accountable, because sometimes it’s that one piece that breaks open that circle of violence in homes.”

Learn more about the issue in Ryan’s story.

The long-planned and divisive Delta tunnel project — designed to help get more Northern California water to populous Southern California — has shrunk from two tunnels to one. But it would still cost a lot of money to build. Find out how much from CalMatters water reporter Rachel Becker.