In the News

May 12, 2023

Social media platforms are not in the child-protection business. But, our elected officials are. Enter Senate Bill 287 by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, now pending in Sacramento. The bill would make it unlawful for platforms, knowingly or carelessly, to cause children to become medically addicted to their platforms, to allow their algorithms to deliver “how to” suicide videos into the hands of depressed children, to repeatedly pummel girls with pro-anorexia content, or offer children easy ways to buy lethal fentanyl. 

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May 12, 2023

For decades, investigations of police shootings and beatings, allegations of dishonesty and sexual assault, and other kinds of police misconduct were kept secret from the public. Laws like the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act protected officers from public scrutiny, even those who were disciplined for serious misdeeds. This all changed in 2019 when Senate Bill 1421 went into effect. Authored by East Bay state Senator Nancy Skinner, SB 1421 required cities, for the first time, to hand over certain types of police misconduct case files to the public, when requested.

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May 5, 2023

Hovis said two highlights of the 17 bill package for her are Senate Bill 345 and Senate Bill 36, both authored by Senator Nancy Skinner (D–Berkeley). SB 345 would protect any California doctor providing telehealth to patients that are outside the state and SB 36 would make it illegal for bail agents to come into California and arrest people based on another state’s laws against abortion or gender-affirming care. 

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May 4, 2023

In a Senate Transportation Committee hearing last week, state Senator Nancy Skinner said the mandate would ensure that vehicles sold in the most pivotal years of the state’s electric transition, which is being driven by generous grants and rebates, can become energy assets. “I appreciate that manufacturers don’t like mandates, but we need to make sure the cars have the capability while the rebates still exist,” said Skinner, who introduced the bill.

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May 3, 2023

The California legislature has proposed a new law that, if passed, will require all new EVs sold in the state to be equipped with bidirectional charging beginning in 2027.

SB 233, per ChargedEVs, has already passed the state's Senate Energy Committee and has been sent to the Senate Transportation Committee for additional discussion. For those who don't know, bi-directional charging is a technology that allows an electric vehicle to send its energy to other electric devices.

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May 1, 2023

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, an Oakland Democrat who authored the bill, argues that the bill holds companies liable for their own products and practices, so it wouldn’t be preempted by Section 230. Part of the government’s job, she said, “is to protect consumers from harmful business practices. That’s a very classic role of government.”

 

For the full report, click here.

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