In the News

January 16, 2020

California is considering raising taxes on some of the country's largest companies, but the size of the tax increase would depend on how much its highest-paid executive makes compared to its employees.

The bigger the gap, the bigger the tax increase.

The bill by Democratic state Sen. Nancy Skinner passed out of its first committee hearing on Wednesday, keeping it alive a head of a Jan. 31 deadline to pass the Senate.

 

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January 16, 2020

After California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Fair Pay to Play Act last fall, several other states have introduced their own bills that would allow college athletes to profit from their name, likeness and image.

 

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January 15, 2020

The law, authored by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, allows diversion for primary caregivers of minor children under certain circumstances, much like the mental health and drug diversion programs already in place in San Francisco.

 

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January 15, 2020

Becerra said the law, the Housing Accountability Act, is an important tool to ensure new housing is constructed throughout the state as California grapples with a multimillion-unit shortage. State officials estimate that more than double the current rate of production is needed to keep up with demand.

 

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January 14, 2020

Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, initially proposed the increase in SB337, but Newsom vetoed the bill in October, saying it would cost millions annually and should instead be considered as part of the budget process.

“I applaud Gov. Newsom’s decision to implement my legislation from last year through his budget proposal in order to help low-income parents and caregivers,” Skinner said in a statement.

 

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January 11, 2020

In a brief Dec. 11 letter, state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Oakland, said that Senate Bill 330 and Senate Bill 167 “may impact a project that is currently before you: the Terraces of Lafayette project.”

Skinner said the Legislature “is keenly focused on accelerating the creation of new housing at a time when the state is facing an extreme crisis in both supply and affordability.” She said California now ranks 49th in the nation when it comes to housing units per capita.

 

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January 8, 2020

“I want to thank Moms 4 Housing for taking that house and for demonstrating that nowhere, nowhere should there be a vacant house anywhere in California when we have the housing crisis that we have,” said Democratic Sen. Nancy Skinner of Berkeley. “And it was totally legitimate for those homeless moms to take over that house.”

 

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January 7, 2020

Dollens’ “Fair Pay to Play Act” closely mirrors landmark legislation California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last year, but that won’t take effect until 2023. Since then, similar legislation has been filed in other states and the NCAA’s governing body said it intends to allow college athletes to earn compensation.

NCAA leaders are still figuring out how to go about allowing college athletes to get paid, and say they will have a plan by early 2021.

 

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January 1, 2020

SB419, from state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, prohibits California public and charter schools from suspending K-8 students for “willful defiance.” Studies have shown that such suspensions drive students out of school and are used disproportionately against students of color. …

The biggest housing bill the state Legislature managed to pass was Skinner’s SB330, which bars local governments from creating new rules likely to reduce housing production and slashes the time it takes to obtain building permits.

 

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January 1, 2020

The new law — known as Senate Bill 310, or "The Right to a Jury of Your Peers" — allows people with previous felony convictions to be called as long as they're not on parole or probation and they aren't registered felony sex offenders.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat representing Berkeley, introduced the bill, which passed the Legislature in September.

 

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