It’s crunch time in Sacramento as state Senate and Assembly members reach this year’s legislative deadline tonight.

At that point, anything not passed is dead and bills approved by lawmakers head to Gov. Gavin Newsom to be signed into law or vetoed.

Speed cameras may be coming to some cities’ streets

Speed cameras have been used in other states and cities as an effective tool to reduce traffic deaths.

After an arduous and digressive journey, Assemblymember Laura Friedman’s bill to allow a few cities to test whether cameras can help curb dangerous speeding passed out of the legislature.

• California could become the 19th state to install speed cameras that automatically issue tickets to the owners of speeding cars. The measure is aimed at reducing the unusually high pedestrian death rate in the state.

Ornamental grass—the kinds of grass that line medians and roadsides but never serves for recreation—is a vanishing amenity in a drought-stricken West.

California legislators approved a bill, AB 1572 (Friedman), to ban the use of drinking water for ornamental grass—also known non-functional turf—grass never used for walking or recreation.

The legislative session that started Jan. 3 — and kept going and going, other than spring break and summer recess — is set to end tonight. 

Here are some noteworthy developments:

LOS ANGELES - A bill that would set up a pilot program in six California cities, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, that would ticket speeding drivers through the use of speed cameras instead of police officers, is headed to Governor Gavin Newsom's desk for approval. 

After an arduous and digressive journey, Assemblymember Laura Friedman's bill to allow a few cities to test whether cameras can help curb dangerous speeding passed out of the legislature.

Outdoor watering accounts for roughly half of total water use in Southern California’s cities and suburbs, and a large portion of that water is sprayed from sprinklers to keep grass green.

Under a bill passed by state legislators this week, California will soon outlaw using drinking water for some of those vast expanses of grass — the purely decorative patches of green that are mowed but never walked on or used for recreation.

California businesses and institutions will have to stop irrigating decorative grassy areas with drinkable water under legislation approved by state lawmakers.

The bill now goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature. Newsom’s office declined to comment today, but he previously called for an irrigation ban that led to a similar emergency measure that’s in effect until next June. 

Legislature wraps up Thursday; governor has until Oct. 14 to sign bills

Lawmakers wrapping up the legislative session this week have sent dozens of bills to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk seeking his signature, covering weighty topics — guns, drugs, education, environment, discrimination, crime and punishment — and some far out stuff too, from marijuana cafes to magic mushrooms.