Rectification Is Not Infusion, Senate Bill Says

One of the more intriguing – and powerful – words found in the state’s alcoholic beverage laws is “rectifier.”

The word is also the subject of legislation that would change its definition to allow bars and restaurants to create their own infused drinks.

A reaction to a crackdown by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control on creators of drinks like lemoncello, the measure by Sen.    Read more »

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Perhaps Third Time is the Charm for Stricter State Tattoo and Piercing Laws

For the third time in as many years, a San Francisco lawmaker has won approval by the Assembly for a bill to strengthen regulations on piercing, tattooing and branding.

Democratic Assemblywoman Fiona Ma’s Safe Body Art Act cleared the lower house on a unanimous vote April 11. Two previous measures were vetoed by Gov.    Read more »

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What’s in a Name? Depends if It’s In the File or On the Ballot

A terrific resource for those interested in California’s Assembly or Senate is the Daily File each house publishes, not surprisingly, every day.

Among the information to be gleaned is how many pieces of legislation have been introduced – 1,427 in the Assembly through March 22 and 939 in the Senate.

The files contain compendiums of legislative committees and their membership, committee meeting times and bills slated for consideration as well as important deadlines and holidays such as Spring Recess – April 14 through April 25 — and June 3, the last day to pass bills out of their house of origin.    Read more »

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Political Sightings at Sacramento’s March 23 Lady Gaga Show

Despite a population of more than 400,000, Sacramento still seems like a small town.

Consider the sold-out show at Power Balance Pavillion, formerly Arco Arena.

Among the political denizens sighted were several lobbyists, none in short skirts or high heels or otherwise costumed in outfits mimnicking Lady Gaga, as anumber of audience members were.    Read more »

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Assembly Bill Total This Year Is Much Smaller Than Past Years

As of March 21, the 80-member Assembly has introduced 1,415 pieces of legislation.

Many are placeholders that state the “intent” to change state law in some way or offer “technical, nonsubstantive changes” to existing law.

By any measure, this seems like scads of legislation, particularly for the first year of a two-year legislative session.    Read more »

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The Senate Sends All Californians Best Wishes for Arbor Week

In the absence of a vote on the Legislature’s budget plan, California’s Senate approved two resolutions March 10 relating to food and flora.

The more sweeping of the two resolutions, neither of which carries the force of law, declared the week of March 7 to March 14 as “California Arbor Week.”    Read more »

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More than 2,000 Pieces of Legislation Introduced in February

Shattering its January output of 248 bill introductions, the Assembly and the Senate produced nearly 10 times as many measures in February – 2,023, to be exact.

In the Senate and the Assembly, the deadline to introduce bills was February 18 although committee bills rather than those introduced by an individual members could be logged later.    Read more »

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Finally, An End to Bureaucratic Red Tape and Over-Regulation

Three state senators held a press conference next to California’s 28,000 page Code of Regulations on February 16 to tout a bill they’ve introduced to implement “regulatory reform.”

The bill, SB 366, instructs state agencies to identify any regulations that are “duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent or out of date” and then adopt new regulations and amend or repeal existing ones to correct the problem.    Read more »

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Everything Old is New Again Except Now Wrapped In Green

With a flurry of media advisories, a press kit and a press conference, the Democratic leaders of the Legislature introduced a package of four bills February 2 they said would create green jobs and boost the state’s economy.

The Clean Energy Jobs Initiative, as they called it, was touted as “a plan to jumpstart California’s clean energy business sector and spur job creation.”    Read more »

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Lawmaker Seeks More Public Notice of Legislative Meetings

Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries is some kind of killjoy.

Not only has the Riverside Republican introduced a constitutional amendment that would require the Legislature to meet only between the hours of 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. but he’s also introduced a second constitutional amendment to require public notice of hearings and the meetings of either house.    Read more »

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