Senator Portantino’s 2018 Legislative Recap 15 Bills Signed Into Law

Sacramento, California – Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D–La Cañada Flintridge) closed out the 2018 legislative session with a string of legislative successes and budget accomplishments.  He sent 18 bills to Governor Brown for action, having 15 signed into law.  As the Chair of Education Budget Sub-Committee 1 on Education Finance, he also achieved significant success through the adoption of the 2018-2019 State Budget. In addition, he authored 4 Resolutions that passed and were chaptered into the legislative record.   

“I am proud of our 25th District staff which worked diligently to move over 20 significant policy proposals through the legislative and budgeting process.  Though I was disapointed that Governor Brown did not sign our school start time bill I believe our complete legislative slate reflects many of the priorities of our friends and neighbors across our foothill communities.  Together, our team worked on increaseing education funding, strong environmental protection, local governrment priorities, economic development, suicide prevention, women and worker protections and increaseing public saftey.  I was also very happy to work collaberately with many of my collegues to co-author many other important proposals this year.” commented Senator Portantino.

Portantino’s 2018 Legislative Highlights & District Issues

SB 25 – Ballot Re-Ordering.  Requires Los Angeles County to conduct a two-election cycle pilot project using an alternate election ballot order that puts local elections first on the ballot.  This bill was strongly supported by many local governments and came to our attention at the suggestion of Glendale City Clerk, Ardy Kassakhian. Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB 419 – Legislature: Whistleblower protection and retaliation prevention.  Senator Portantino was ahead of his time when back in 2012 he proposed extending whistleblower protection in the Capitol.  SB 419 completes his work by extending protection to everyone who does business in the capitol. The Bill further requires the Senate and the Assembly to keep a record of each discriminatory harassment complaint for at least 12 years after the complaint is made.  Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB 502 - Commuter rail systems: availability of automated external defibrillators: Construction Manager/General Contractor Project delivery method: Metrolink commuter rail projects. – Provides authorization for Metrolink to pursue a Construction Management/ General Contractor approach to facilitate the delivery of the Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion program by 2028.  In addition, requires all operators of commuter rail systems, by July 1, 2020, to ensure that each train is equipped with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB 746 - Firearms and ammunition: prohibited possession: transfer to licensed dealer. – A firearms cleanup bill which establishes procedures for the return of ammunition that has been seized by law enforcement or has been transferred to a licensed firearms dealer because of a temporary prohibition on ammunition possession.  The bill requires eligibility to possess ammunition to be established before ammunition can be returned.  Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB 939 - Claims against the state: appropriation. – This bill, an urgency measure, appropriates approximately $6.2 million to the attorney general (AG) to pay settlements for court cases.  Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB 972 - Pupil and student health: identification cards: suicide prevention hotline telephone numbers – Require public and private schools that serve grades 7-12 and higher education to print on all identification cards the National Suicide Prevention Hotline telephone number and would authorize schools to print the Crisis Text Line and a Local Suicide Prevention telephone number. Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB1100- Firearms: Raising the Age Limit to Purchase - This bill prohibits the sale or transfer of any firearm by a licensed dealer, except as specially exempted, to any person below the age of 21 years. Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB 1126 - Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Working Group: river ranger program. – This bill includes the Arroyo Seco Tributary as part of the Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Working Group revitalization plan and extends the timeline for the revitalization plan to be developed on or before June 30, 2020. This bill also authorizes the working group to include representatives from the Cities of La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena, and South Pasadena. Lastly, this bill extends the deadline for submission of the River Ranger Program, both plan and design to the legislature by March 30, 2019.  Tim Brick from the Arroyo Seco Foundation suggested this bill to the Senator. Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB 1133 - Water quality control plans: funding. – This bill authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) to accept donations of moneys from permittees for the purpose of updating a water quality control plan (basin plan), as consistent with the designated use of the funds.  This was a very important bill for the cities in the San Gabriel Valley. Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB 1177 - Classified employees: Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund. – Created a program to allow classified school employees to contribute earnings voluntarily, matched by the state on a one-to-one basis, to provide income during months in which these employees do not currently receive a salary. (This was included in a Budget Trailer Bill with a $50 million allocation)

SB 1195 - Public Employees’ Medical and Hospital Care Act: health benefit plans. - Authorizes the Peace Officers Research Association of California Insurance and Benefit Trust to implement regional ratings for their respective association’s basic health plans, which are offered through the Public Employees’ Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA). Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB 1243 – Public postsecondary education: The California State Pathways in Technology Program. – Established the California State Pathways in Technology (CA P-TECH) Program as a public-private partnership for purposes of preparing California students for high-skill jobs of the future in technology, manufacturing, health care, and finance. Senator Portantino worked in collaboration with IBM on P-Tech. (This was included in a Budget Trailer Bill with a $10 million allocation)

SB 1263 – Ocean Protection Council: Statewide Microplastics Strategy. – Requires the Ocean Protection Council, in collaboration with specified entities, to adopt and implement a Statewide Microplastics Strategy and authorizes those entities to enter into contracts with marine research institutes for the provision of research services that would contribute directly to the development of the Statewide Microplastics Strategy. Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB 1422 - California Safe Drinking Water Act: microplastics. - Requires the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), to adopt a definition of microplastics in drinking water. The bill also requires the SWCB to adopt a standard methodology to be used in the testing of drinking water for microplastics and requirements for 4 years of testing and reporting of microplastics in drinking water, including public disclosure of those results. Signed by Gov. Brown.

SB 1436 - Natural parent and child relationship: establishment. – Clarifies that DNA can be used as evidence to establish parentage for purposes of intestate succession, if the DNA sample is acquired during the parent's lifetime.  The bill also makes gender neutral the intestacy statute regarding inheritance by a person's decedents, to ensure that children are treated the same way for intestate succession, regardless of whether they are born to same-sex or opposite-sex couples.  Signed by Gov. Brown

SR 107 Commemoration of the Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923 – Again this year, Senator Portantino was honored to present the Senate Resolution Commemorating the Armenian Genocide.

SCR 157 – Italian American Heritage Month – Declares the month of October Italian American Heritage Month in the state of California.

SCR 163 – Hydrocephalus Month – Declares the month of September Hydrocephalus Month in the state of California. Hydrocephalus is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the cavities of the brain.

SCR 164 – National Health Center Week – Proclaims the week of August 12, 2018, to August 18, 2018, as National Health Center Week in California.

Senator Portantino Co-Authored the following Bills in 2018

AB 403 (Melendez) Legislature: Legislative Employee Whistleblower Protection Act. – Protects legislative employees who make disclosures about specified misconduct by Members and fellow employees of the Legislature by prohibiting interference with an employee making a "protected disclosure" and prohibiting retaliation in response to such a disclosure.  Signed by Gov. Brown

AB 1968 (Low) Mental health: firearms. – Requires that a person who has been taken into custody, assessed, and admitted to a designated facility because he or she is a danger to himself, herself, or others, as a result of a mental health disorder more than once within a one-year period be prohibited from owning a firearm for the remainder of his or her life, subject to the right to challenge the prohibition at periodic hearings. Signed by Gov. Brown

AB 2103 (Gloria) Firearms: license to carry concealed. – Requires that the training for applicants for a license to carry a concealed firearm (CCW) shall be no less than eight hours in length and specifies safe handling and shooting proficiency requirements.  Signed by Gov. Brown

AB 2639 (Berman) Pupil suicide prevention policies: reviews: updates. – Requires schools that serve students in grades 7 through 12 to review and, if necessary, update their policies on pupil suicide prevention at least every 5 years.  Signed by Gov. Brown

AB 2915 (Caballero) Workforce development boards: mutual disaster aid assistance: memorandum of understanding. – Requires the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) to develop, in conjunction with the Employment Development Department and with input from local workforce development boards, a policy regarding mutual aid agreements between local boards to enable them to effectively respond to disasters. Signed by Gov. Brown

AB 3118 (Chiu) Sexual assault: investigations. – Requires each law enforcement agency, crime lab, medical facility, or any other facility that possesses sexual assault evidence kits to conduct an audit of all untested kits in their possession and report the findings to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Signed by Gov. Brown

SB 918 (Weiner) Homeless Youth Act of 2018. – This bill establishes the Homeless Youth Act of 2018 to better serve the state’s homeless youth population and requires the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (Council) to take on additional related responsibilities that are focused on addressing the needs of youth experiencing homelessness. Signed by Gov. Brown

SB 1004 (Weiner/Moorlach) Mental Health Services Act: prevention and early intervention. – This bill requires the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) to establish priorities for the use of Mental Health Services Act prevention and early intervention (PEI) funds, and to develop a statewide strategy for monitoring the implementation and effectiveness of PEI programs. Signed by Gov. Brown

SB 1346 (Jackson) Firearms: multiburst trigger activators. – This bill clarifies that the definition of a multiburst trigger includes a bump stock, bump fire stock, or other similar devices that are attached to, built into, or used in combination with a semiautomatic firearm to increase the rate of fire of that firearm. Signed by Gov. Brown

2018 Budget Sub 1 on Education Highlights

Senator Portantino is the Chair of Budget Sub-1

The adopted state budget includes the following education proposals that were brought forward by Budget Sub-1.  $78.4 billion from Proposition 98 on K-14 and includes Provides $3.6 billion to increase LCFF, an increase of $673 million above the Jan 10 Budget and $407 million above the May Revision.to help school with the greatest need.    This increase is the planned full funding of LCFF and an additional $673 million increase to the funding base.  And an ongoing Cost of Living Adjustment COLA.

K – 12

Provides $3.6 billion to increase LCFF, an increase of $673 million above the Jan 10 Budget and $407 million above the May Revision.

$300 million in one-time funds to provide support for Low Performing Students

$1 billion in one-time discretionary funding for K-12 school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools.

Hold harmless funding provisions for schools affected by fires and natural disasters

$44 million Federal Funds Block Grant funding for visual and performing arts and mental and physical health services for schools.

Provides over 13,000 new child care slots and increases rates for infants, toddlers, and children with exceptional needs and severe disabilities.

Higher Education

$50 million for campus safety prioritization

A cost-of-living adjustment, COLA, for community college part time faculty and student initiative

$10 million for California STEM Pathways Program. Senator Portantino has been working on this initiative for schools to partner with business leaders for a STEM education pipeline for California students.

$10 million for mental health services for community colleges

$105 million one-time for UC for general purposes spending which may be used to avoid tuition increases 

$40 million one-time to restore Proposition 56 funding for the UC

$25 million one-time to help address UC Berkeley budget issues

$35 million one-time for deferred maintain for UC

$5 million ongoing for small enrollment growth for UC

$25 million in California State University base funding to increase tenured faculty

$105 million ongoing for Graduation Initiative and general use for CSU

$120 million one-time to increase enrollment by 3,000 for four years for CSU

$35 million one-time for deferred maintenance for CSU 

$5.2 million to expand Cal Grants eligibility Foster Youth

Senator Portantino Budget Requests

$50 million for a program to allow classified school employees to contribute earnings voluntarily, matched by the state on a one-to-one basis, to provide income during months in which these employees do not currently receive a salary.

$10 million for the creation of the CA California STEM Pathways Program aka as P-TECH (Pathways in Technology) program for high schools and community colleges.  This will be an integrated partnership between the state of California and the business community. Students who enter the program (grade 9–14) will leave with both a high school diploma and an associate degree.

Hastings College of Law Scholarships for students from Historically Black Colleges and the American University of Armenia (24 scholarships).

Additional resources of $500,000 for study guide implementation to teach about the Armenian Genocide.

$250,000k funding for the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles.

Senator’s Bill Recap

SB 25 “Ballot Order” – Signed

SB 419 “Harassment Retaliation” – Signed

SB 502 “Public Rails AEDs” - Signed

SB 746 “Firearms: Ammunition and Dealer Inspection” – Signed

SB 939 “Claims Against the State: Appropriation” – Signed

SB 972 “Suicide ID’s” – Signed

SB 1100 “Guns 21 Years of Age” – Signed

SB 1126 “Arroyo Seco” – Signed

SB 1133 “Water Quality Plans” – Signed

SB 1195 “PERS PORAC” – Signed

SB 1263 “Ocean: Statewide Micro Plastics Strategy” – Signed

SB 1422 “Plastic in Drinking Water” -- Signed

SB 1436 “DNA Paternity Testing” – Signed

SB 1243 “PTECH” included in Governor’s Budget

SB 1177 “Summer Bridge Program” included in Governor’s Budget  

SB 275 “Young Adults Treatment Recovery Act” – Vetoed

SB 328 “School Start Time” – Vetoed

SB 354 “IEPs” – Vetoed

SB 399 “Autism” – Vetoed

SB 1177 “Firearms: One Gun a Month” – Vetoed

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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, Los Feliz, Monrovia, Montrose, Pasadena, San Dimas, San Marino, Shadow Hills, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, Sunland-Tujunga, and Upland.