2014 Legislative Update For Santa Clarita Valley Lawmakers

Posted by: KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 in Politics June 15, 2014 - 10:50 am 0 117 Views

Political representatives of the Santa Clarita Valley have been busy in 2014, authoring bills ranging from the prevention of school bullying to protecting veterans and the disabled.

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Assemblymember Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita; Sen. Steve Knight, R-Antelope Valley; Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills; and Assemblymember Steve Fox, D-Palmdale, collectively make up the main legislative figures who, at a state level, represent the Santa Clarita Valley area.

With the approval of the state’s budget Sunday, here is a look at a few highlights from some of the main bills that have been authored recently by Santa Clarita Valley representatives:

Assemblymember Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita

Wilk’s Assembly Concurrent Resolution 151 passed the Assembly floor Thursday. The bill proposes to make the week of May 25, 2014 Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma Awareness Week.

“This past year I had the honor of meeting a woman named Janet Demeter from Santa Clarita, who survived one of the most unimaginable devastations a parent could ever go through: the loss of a child,” Wilk said in a press release from his office. “Janet lost her son, Jack, to a rare brain tumor called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG).”

The bill had 66 co-authors and is intended to raise awareness of DIPG, which is fatal within two years of diagnosis for 90 percent of those diagnosed, according to the release.

AB 1707 Water quality: scientific peer review

It requires the State Water Resources Control Board to post all completed external scientific peer reviews on its website; the performance of the peer reviews is already mandated by law, so the only change AB 1707 makes is that the reports be posted for public access. Posting all regional and state peer reviews on one central website will allow for a comprehensive look at the peer reviews being performed throughout the state.

Status: Passed through Assembly, in Senate Committee on Environmental Quality

Open meetings

This bill will make it definite that all standing committees are subject to the transparency of open meeting regulations, regardless of the size of its membership. This bill aligns the definitions in the Bagley-Keene Act to those in the Brown Act, making the clarifying change in the Bagley-Keene Act that the Legislature made to the Brown Act in 1993.

Status: Passed through Assembly, in Senate Committee on Appropriations

Local ballot measures: bond issues

This will establish a minimum standard of transparency for the fiscal analysis of local bond measures that is very similar to what the LAO already does for state General Obligation bond measures. This standard would be equally applied, and because we are simply educating voters as to how the tax rate estimate is achieved, there should be no struggle in complying with these provisions.

Status: Passed through Assembly, in Senate Committee on Education

Assemblymember Steve Fox, D- Palmdale

Assembly Bill 1993, Fox’s Preemptive Solution to School Bullying Act, cleared the Senate Education Committee June 11 with unanimous support. The bill now moves to the Senate Appropriations committee for consideration, according to a press release from Fox’s office.

“Bullying is disruptive both in classrooms and in students’ lives,” Fox said in the release. “It is a root cause of some of the most dangerous situations at schools nationwide.”

If passed, the bill would provide resources to develop an online training program to assist all school staff, school administrators, parents, pupils, and community members in increasing their knowledge of bullying and cyberbullying, according to the release.

Senator Steve Knight, R- Antelope Valley

Senate Bill 1113 and SB 922, two of Knight’s bills, passed the senate floor Tuesday, May 27 with unanimous support, according to a press release from his office.

SB 1113 seeks to give veterans increased tax benefits while SB 922 attempts to employ harsher sentences against those convicted of raping a developmentally disabled victim, according to the release.

On Monday, June 2 SB 1113 was referred to the committee of Revenue and Tax and SB 922 was referred to the committee of Public Safety, according to the Official California Legislative Information website.

Senator Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills

Four bills regarding the modernization of California’s water system, authored by Pavley, have passed the Senate and are currently being held in the committee of Water, Parks and Wildlife, after being ordered to the Assembly, according to the Official California Legislative Information website.

Senate Bills 985, 1168, 1259 and 1036 deal with various parts of California’s water system, including the capture of stormwater, groundwater management, studies of sedimentation’s effect on dams and urban water management, respectively, according to the Official California Legislative Information website.

A fifth bill, also authored by Pavley, regarding California’s water system, SB 1049, remains in the Senate Appropriations committee and is being held under submission.

SB 1049 intends to update the Integrated Regional Water Management Plan process to incentivize the development of energy and climate change models, according to a press release from Pavley’s office.

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