News

SACRAMENTO, California — The Appropriations Committees in each house announced the fate of 830 remaining bills. The Appropriations deadline is the penultimate – and often the most-challenging – legislative hurdle.

Despite fierce opposition, the committee approved our highest priority bills – which address campus antisemitism, expand Holocaust education, and support refugees – along with most of the other bills we’re supporting!

This has been a very interesting year in the California Legislature. Our work began in January with a massive budget deficit and the introduction of hundreds of bills. Over the course of the year, we’ve worked to balance the budget while protecting school funding and critical programs, and we’ve refined legislation on topics big and small as bills have worked their way through both houses. Many of these bills will have an outsized effect on California’s future. Several of them are mine.

OmniBike Bill Part 2

Last year, Assemblymember Laura Friedman authored the Omnibike Bill, AB 1909, which made several changes to California’s Vehicle Code to make it more bike- and pedestrian-friendly. This year, CalBike is sponsoring Friedman’s Quicker and Better Bikeways Bill, which also makes multiple changes in state policy to better serve people using active transportation.

The Crescenta Valley Town Council has been actively engaging the community through town hall meetings and forums to address various concerns and issues affecting the local area. The recent town hall meeting saw a great turnout by community members and panelists Declan Floyd and Talin Mangioglu from Senator Portantinos’s office, Anthony Mahfood from Assemblymember Laura Friedman’s office, and county representatives Sussy Nemer, Anish Saraiya and Tina Fung coming together to discuss important topics.

Speakers at this weekend’s rally include Burbank mayor Nick Schultz, assembly member Laura Friedman, IATSE vice president Mike Miller, Animation Guild president Jeanette Moreno King, as well as performer Adam Conover and TAG’s “Animation Avengers,” a group of top artists in the field.

A year after a scathing report revealed widespread mishandling of sexual misconduct claims at San Jose State and across the California State University system, two new laws will require stronger sexual harassment policies at its 23 campuses.

What began as reports detailing the failure of the California State University to deal with Title IX complaints has led to a new state law requiring that the system take action. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed the first two bills in a legislative package addressing sexual harassment and violence on college campuses.

California in 2020 passed a law, Senate Bill 3074, that required new defensible standards limiting combustible materials closest to homes in fire-prone areas of the state. Introduced by Assembly Member Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, the bill stated that one in four residential structures in California is in areas vulnerable to wildfires, though some studies have found that figure to be as high as 45%.  

Almost one year later, when I was ready to move out, I was determined to get as much of my security deposit back so I could apply the money to my next place.

So I was shocked and frustrated that management took more than half of my total deposit.

This is why it’s important that California leaders pass the Tenancy: Security Deposit Bill (Assembly Bill 2801), authored by Asm. Laura Friedman, D-Glendale.

An upcoming town hall, a pivotal event that will address the changing residential landscape of our community, will take place on July 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the La Crescenta Library, 2809 Foothill Blvd. We are thrilled to have a panel of esteemed guests including representatives from the offices of Assemblymember Laura Friedman and State Senator Anthony Portantino and members from the County offices who will share their insights and updates on critical issues such as SB 8, SB 9, SB 10, multifamily housing and residential rehab centers impacting our community.