California May Crack Down on Abandoned Mattresses

A new state program would be created to reduce the number of illegally dumped mattresses under legislation narrowly approved by the state Senate May 31.

The bill – SB 1118 by Sen. Loni Hancock, a Berkeley Democrat — would require mattress makers to collect used mattresses with their brand name and force mattress retailers to pick up old mattresses when a consumer buys a new one.    Read more »

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Five Percent Pay Cut OK’d for Governor and Lawmakers

The California Citizens Compensation Commission approved a 5 percent pay cut on May 31 for lawmakers and statewide office holders.

On a 5 to 1 vote, the seven-member commission reduced legislative pay from $95,290 to $90,525.

California legislators would remain the highest paid in the nation.

At $82,026, Pennsylvania lawmakers are the second highest paid.    Read more »

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Protection for Pet Owners from Unscrupulous Groomers

Pet groomers, pet bathers and pet brushers would be certified under legislation approved May 30 by the state Senate.

This bill – SB 969 by Sen. Juan Vargas, a San Diego Democrat – would create a voluntary program administered by the California Pet Grooming Council, a tax-exempt nonprofit organization that would establish standards of education, examination, training and experience.    Read more »

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Another “One-Stop-Shop” Proposal to Improve the State’s Business Climate

Passing a bill that seemed as though enacted numerous times before, the Senate approved creation of a state “one-stop-shop” website on May 29 to provide persons with the information they need to start a business in California.

Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature and the governor’s office have advocated easing the hurdles to business start-ups for decades — at a minimum to help improve the state’s tarnished business climate.    Read more »

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Busy Senate Rules Committee Agenda on May 23

The Senate Rules Committee’s agenda for its May 23 meeting contains a list of 21 measures whose legislative authors wish to have voted on by the upper house outside the normal procedure for debating legislation on the Senate floor.

“Without reference to file,” is the legislative term of art.

All of the bills these 21 lawmakers wish to have taken up “without reference to file” are resolutions originating in either the Senate or the lower house.    Read more »

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“Absentee Florist” Bill Advances

An almost perennial effort to prevent florists from misrepresenting the location of their business was approved by the Assembly on May 3.

Sent to the Senate on a bipartisan 60-11 vote by the 80-member lower house, the bill is the fifth such measure in 13 years to prevent call centers, potentially located hundreds or thousands of miles away, from using a local city or neighborhood in their name and duping consumers into believing they are patronizing a “local” florist.    Read more »

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Why Don’t You Go Foie Gras Yourself!

(Editor’s Note: It is always a pleasure for California’s Capitol to showcase the erudition and linguistic élan of former Senate President Pro Tempore John Burton, who now heads the state Democratic Party. While background on the issue which is the subject of the missive below isn’t  necessary to appreciate the contents, here’s a synopsis:)

In 2004, a bill by Burton — SB 1520 — was signed into law which said that, effective July 1, 2012, it was illegal for birds including, but not limited to, a duck or goose to be forced to “consume more food than a typical bird of the same species would consume voluntarily” in order to enlarge their liver “beyond normal size.”    Read more »

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Pet Lovers License Plate Advocates Win a Reprieve

Gov. Jerry Brown gave spay and neuter advocates an extra year to get 7,500 Californians to buy a “Pet Lover’s” license plate.

The Democratic governor signed legislation April 26 giving Social Compassion in Legislation, a non-profit trying to reduce pet overpopulation, more to reach the 7,500 minimum number of orders before the Department of Motor Vehicles will being stamping what it calls “special interest” license plates.    Read more »

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The Legislature Decides If the Budget It Passes Is Balanced, Court Rules

If lawmakers say they have passed a balanced budget – even if it isn’t — by June 15, they won’t have their pay docked under a tentative ruling by a Sacramento Superior Court judge issued April 24 (See Page 7).

Superior Court Judge David Brown said the Legislature has the sole authority to pass a budget and, under the constitution, if lawmakers say their budget is balanced – it is.    Read more »

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Lawmakers Refuse to Surrender Right to Name Highways

Saying it was an abdication of legislative authority, the Assembly Transportation Committee rejected a bill April 9 that would have prevented lawmakers from naming highways, bridges, overpasses and interchanges.

Such signs — which are erected at no cost to taxpayers — have sprouted across California for decades. The ability to create them offers lawmakers a visible way to honor former colleagues, memorialize dead law enforcement officers, salute veterans or showcase a community or place of historic or tourist interest within their districts.    Read more »

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