Anthony Portantino Continues Successful Legislative Legacy

Wednesday, June 7 2017

Sacramento, CA:  State Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – La Cañada Flintridge) continues to move his positive legislative agenda through the legislative process with a series of bills and resolutions passing the State Senate.  In all, Portantino has 16 bills that have passed on to the State Assembly and three important resolutions.  Portantino’s agenda includes a strong commitment to public education:  ensuring school start times match health science, helping community college students garner financial aid and transfer degrees, helping our veterans get into community colleges, helping students leaving court schools prepare for success, and translating Individualized Education Programs for families that don’t speak English.

Senator Portantino has also worked closely on several important public safety and community issues: stemming the flow of rifles on main street California, increasing transparency for elected officials, freezing rents for the 710/Caltrans tenants, and increasing financial transparency and accountability for politicians.  

In addition, Portantino is the Joint Author with Senate Pro Tem Kevin de León on SB 569, the most significant higher education bill before the legislature this year.  SB 569 will increase Cal Grants to ensure college affordability for our most needy students and allow grant money to be used for transportation and other related costs.

The following Portantino bills have passed the State Senate:

EDUCATION

SB 25 – Veterans: Nonresident Tuition Exemption

Recent changes to federal law regarding education benefits for eligible veterans and dependents requires statutory changes to maintain compliance by public institutions of higher education in California. If the statute is not revised, the state of California would lose federal funds supporting the educational goals of eligible veterans and dependents, specifically $68 million. This bill requires a California Community College or California State University student, as an eligibility requirement for the nonresident tuition exemption, to be eligible for education benefits under either of the 2 federal “GI Bill” programs, specifically the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Montgomery GI Bill.

SB 304 – Juvenile Court School Transition Plans

This bill requires the county office of education and county probation department to develop and implement an individualized transition plan to meet the academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and career needs of each court school pupil detained for more than four consecutive school days.

SB 318 – CSU Personal Service Contracts

This bill establishes standards for the use of personal services contracts by the California State University (CSU) Trustees. This bill will ensure that CSU personal service contracts result in cost savings to the state, and will provide oversight and accountability of the CSU that have been applied to all other state agencies for the past 30-plus years.

SB 328 – School Start Time

In accordance with recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, this bill requires school start time for middle schools and high schools in California to begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

SB 354 – Special education: individualized education programs: translation services

This bill requires local education agencies (LEAs) to provide the parent, guardian, or educational right holder the individualized education program (IEP) translated into their primary language within 30 days of the IEP meeting, as well as certain documents discussed at the IEP meeting within 45 days; it would further require that the IEP be translated by a certified translator.

SB 478 – Public postsecondary education: transfer of community college students to the California State University or University of California

This bill requires the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to identify those students who have completed an Associate Degree for Transfer in a manner that can be accessed electronically by the California State University and the University of California enrollment systems. The bill would require that a student who has completed an Associate Degree for Transfer be added to this identification system maintained by a community college campus within 45 days of completion of the degree unless the student affirmatively opts out of being included.

TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

SB 24 – Update and increase transparency in the Political Reform Act of 1974: Economic Interest Disclosure Form 700

Revises the dollar amounts associated with the ranges in the Political Reform Act of 1974 to provide for 8 total ranges of fair market value of investments and real property interests and 10 total ranges of aggregate value of income.

 

PUPLIC SAFETY

SB 378 – Alcoholic Beverages: licenses: emergency orders

This bill will allow the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to suspend the alcohol license of a business if the business is found to be involved in severe illegal activity such as human trafficking, prostitution, drug trafficking, illegal gambling, or violence involving severe injury or death.

SB 497 – Firearms

Current California law prohibits the purchase of more than one handgun per month in California, but contains a loophole for rifles and other long guns.  This bill closes that loophole and prohibits a person from making more than one application to purchase a firearm within any 30-day period.

 

PUPLIC HEALTH

SB 565 – Mental Health: involuntary commitment

This bill would require mental health facilities to make reasonable attempts to notify family members or any other person designated by the patient at least 36 hours prior to the certification review hearing.  Currently, patients on 14-day holds do not have the benefit of having their families/loved ones communicate with their health care evaluators.

SB 502 – California Voluntary Tattoo Removal Program

This bill will reestablish a recently repealed program known as the California Voluntary Tattoo Removal Program, to be administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections to the extent that funds are appropriated, to provide funding for the removal of certain tattoos for individuals between 14 and 24 years of age who are in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or county probation departments, who are on parole or probation, or who are in a community-based program serving at-risk youth and meet specified criteria.

Transportation/Housing 

SB 275 – Surplus Residential Property: State Route 710

This bill requires any property purchased at an affordable price in the State Route (SR) 710 corridor to be assessed at its affordable price for property tax purposes, and any property purchased at a reasonable price in the SR 710 corridor to be assessed at a reasonable price for property tax purposes.

SB 400 – Highways: surplus residential property

This bill will, until January 1, 2020, prohibit the Department of Transportation from increasing the rent of tenants who reside in surplus residential property located on State Route 710 in the County of Los Angeles.

Public Employment, Retirements, and Social Security

SB 599 – Peace Officers Research Association of California Insurance and Benefits Trust

This bill will allow the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) to offer regional rates to their members for their Health Benefits Trust. 

Governmental Organization

SB 165 – Horse racing: national thoroughbred racing marketing program

This bill addresses the state’s racing industry participation in the NTRA, which is intended to increase interest in horse racing through national marketing and advertising. The California thoroughbred owners’ participation in the National Thoroughbred Racing Authority expires January 1, 2018. SB 165 simply extends the sunset date to January 1, 2022.

SB 254 – Delivery Network Companies

SB 254 seeks to give clear statutory authority to the Department of ABC to regulate Delivery Network Companies, while at the same time establishing basic consumer protections, including that the driver is over the age of 21, the person they are delivering alcohol to is over the age of 21, and that the delivery is made person-to-person instead of dropping off at a doorstep.

Resolutions

SCR 8 – President Barack H. Obama Highway

This resolution names a specified portion of State Highway 134 between State Highway 2 and Interstate 210 in Los Angeles County as the President Barack H. Obama Memorial Highway.

SCR 25 – State highways: Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial

This resolution requests the Department of Transportation to erect informational signs on the Fair Oaks Avenue exit of Interstate 210 in the City of Pasadena, directing motorists to the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial.

SR 29 – Relative to Commemoration of the Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923

This Senate resolution hereby designates the month of April 2017 as “State of California Month of Commemoration of the 102nd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923.”

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Sen. Portantino represents nearly 930,000 people in the 25th Senate District, which includes Altadena, Atwater Village, Bradbury, Burbank, Claremont, Duarte, Glendale, Glendora, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta,  Lake View Terrace, La Verne,  Monrovia, Montrose,  Pasadena,  San Dimas, San Marino, Shadow Hills, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena,  Sunland-Tujunga, and Upland.