AB 6-Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Addressing Regional Congestion
Existing law requires certain transportation planning agencies to prepare and adopt regional transportation plans directed at achieving a coordinated and balanced regional transportation system. AB 6 will require new climate reduction targets be made by Metropolitan Planning Organizations by 2035 and 2045, and strengthen oversight of the Sustainable Communities Strategies.
Status: Two year bill. Will continue in 2024.
AB 7-Aligning Transportation Planning and Spending with California’s Climate Goals
According to the Strategic Growth Counsel’s 2022 Transportation Assessment (285 Report), only ~2% of California’s transportation funding aligns with any one of California’s thirty three climate goals. AB 7 will align the state’s transportation planning and spending with California’s Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure.
Status: Two year bill. Will continue in 2024.
AB 8-Regulating Ticket Sellers
The lack of competition in America’s ticketing industry continues to put many live performances out of reach for the average consumer. Average ticket prices have more than tripled since the mid-‘90s, and the fees that are tacked on to each ticket can be as high as 78% of the ticket price. AB 8 strengthens consumer protections for people who buy tickets for live events, including transparent pricing to disclose the true cost of a ticket.
Status: Two year bill. Will continue in 2024.
AB 496-Banning Endocrine and Hormone Disrupting Chemicals from Makeup and Cosmetics
While cosmetic products sold in California and the United States are largely unregulated, more than 80 other nations – and even retailers -- have proactively prohibited or restricted the use of hundreds of cosmetic ingredients. AB 496 prohibits the sale in California of personal care products that contain any one of 26 highly toxic chemicals, all of which the European Union has banned from use in cosmetics, beginning in 2027.
Status: Signed into Law by Governor Gavin Newsom
AB 645-Automated Speed Enforcement
Speeding accounts for nearly a third of all traffic fatalities. AB 645 creates a five city pilot program to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists by allowing the use of automated cameras to manage speed in school zones, on high injury streets and in areas with a history of speed racing and side shows. The program is focused on prevention. Drivers will have ample warning as they approach cameras, only those going 11 mph over the speed limit will receive tickets, and the first ticket is a warning. Unlike red light cameras, fines are low and any revenue must go towards safety improvements.
Status: Signed into Law by Governor Gavin Newsom
AB 894-Shared Parking
Parking lots often sit partially empty at predictable times of the day or week. Yet many jurisdictions don’t allow for property owners to share their available parking with adjacent or nearby users. AB 894 designates circumstances where shared parking should be allowed as way to meet parking needs without creating burdensome expenses for businesses and residents, hurting the pedestrian environment, and increasing driving and greenhouse gas emissions.
Status: Signed into Law by Governor Gavin Newsom
AB 1017-Financial Assistance for Striking Workers
Striking workers should not have to risk losing their homes when standing up for their rights in a prolonged labor dispute. AB 1017 establishes the Striking Worker Emergency Homelessness Prevention program which will make zero-interest loans available to striking workers to assist with their housing costs and prevent Californians from falling into homelessness during a prolonged labor dispute.
Status: Early legislation, will conclude in 2024.
AB 1059-Banning Toxic Chemicals from Household Goods
Fiberglass can be irritating to the eyes, skin, and lungs. Rashes, itching, and blisters can occur when fiberglass encounters human skin, even for short periods of time. Long-term exposure is associated with lung disease. AB 1059 increases consumer safety by prohibiting the sale and distribution in California of juvenile products, mattresses, and upholstered furniture that contains fiberglass.
Status: Signed into Law by Governor Gavin Newsom
AB 1132-Keeping Solar Affordable and Attainable
More and more Californians are moving towards solar as a source for clean energy in their homes. AB 1132 extends the statewide cap on solar permit fees levied by municipalities to 2034 in order to keep costs consistent and continue the growth of solar in the state.
Status: Signed into Law by Governor Gavin Newsom
AB 1322-Banning Ecosystem Damaging Poisons
Rodenticides often impact animals beyond their targets. In a 16-year study of urban bobcats in Los Angeles, the rodenticide diphacinone was detected in approximately 30 percent of the blood samples tested. Exposure can be devastating and even deadly for wildlife, pets, and humans that come into contact with the poison or poisoned rodents. AB 1322, The California Ecosystems Protection Act of 2023, places greater restrictions on some of the most dangerous rodenticides which cause widespread poisoning of wildlife, while protecting public health, agriculture, and the environment.
Status: Signed into Law by Governor Gavin Newsom
AB 1377-Homeless Assistance
California’s Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program provides funding to help organizations provide shelter, assistance, and housing for people experiencing homelessness, however those living in transit stations or on transit have often been overlooked. AB 1377 requires applicants for funding from the program to ensure that they are improving the delivery of housing and services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, on transit properties.
Status: Signed into Law by Governor Gavin Newsom
AB 1399-Vet Telehealth
California regulations require veterinarians to conduct a new in-person examination each time that an animal (even a regular patient of the vet) has a new concern, even minor and extremely common ailments and problems such as skin issues or fleas, or for routine prescriptions. AB 1399 allows a veterinarian-client-patient-relationship to be established through either an in-person or synchronous video communication, creating a lifeline to veterinary care for pet owners who face financial, geographic, or logistical obstacles. Due to ongoing veterinary workforce shortage, research shows that 75 million pets in the U.S. could be without veterinary care by 2030. AB 1399 will extend veterinary services that would otherwise be unattainable. Lives will be saved as a result of this bill becoming law.
Status: Signed into Law by Governor Gavin Newsom
AB 1572-Saving Treated Drinking Water
A large portion of California’s treated drinking water is used to irrigate urban landscapes. In a year without drought restrictions, roughly half of all publicly supplied water is used outdoors, primarily for landscape irrigation. AB 1572 prohibits the use of drinking water for nonfunctional turf to help California businesses and communities save water and money, and transition to sustainable alternatives that can keep landscapes beautiful.
Status: Signed into Law by Governor Gavin Newsom
HR26-Armenian Genocide Resolution
Resolution acknowledging that 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives to Genocide conducted by the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. Now Armenians in Artsakh face Genocide again at the hands of Azerbaijan.
Status: Resolution Adopted