The “House of Origin” deadline, when all Assembly bills have to be passed on to the Senate or wait until next year, is in the books.
For Californians wondering what the Legislature would do to bring down costs, promote public safety, ensure a reliable water supply and protect democracy, this year was a mixed bag.
THE GOOD:
🚔 Republicans and law enforcement groups defeated two radical anti-cop bills – one to ban police dogs and another to make it harder to search suspects.
💊 Bills to fight the fentanyl epidemic by improving mental health and expanding treatment for Californians struggling with addiction passed unanimously (but Republicans are not done fighting to hold fentanyl traffickers accountable).
🐘 Republican-authored bills to reduce wildfire risk, improve law enforcement training and recover illegally-owned guns sailed through the Assembly with bipartisan support.
THE BAD:
📚 Democrats keep trying to take away local control from education, this time advancing a bill to direct the California Department of Education to issue top-down guidance on how schools discuss sensitive issues.
🚜 After struggling through years of drought and expensive new mandates from the state, the farmers who feed California got hit again this week with Democratic bills to increase costs and erode water rights advancing through the Assembly.
🧾 Despite all the problems facing California, Democrats tackled the less-than-critical issue of banning businesses from automatically printing receipts. #priorities
THE UGLY:
🏛️ Democrats hate that voters have the power to overturn their radical left-wing policies, so they pushed through an attack on California’s system of direct democracy by making it harder to get a referendum on the ballot. Wonder if Newsom will speak up against this authoritarian move…
⚖️ Just ahead of National Gun Violence Prevention Day, Democrats blocked an effort to increase the penalty for using a firearm to commit a violent crime, proving they aren’t serious about protecting Californians from gun crime.
⛽️ Democrats passed two bills to continue punishing drivers – raiding gas tax money for projects that will make commutes even worse.
###