March 11, 2019

A proposed law that would phase out diesel trucks in California was introduced Friday in an ongoing effort by state legislators to control pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, but it will likely face major opposition from trucking companies and other businesses that transport products in big rigs.

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March 11, 2019

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, today announced Senate Bill 44, also known as “Ditching Dirty Diesel.” The legislation is designed to phase out, over time, the use of polluting, diesel-fueled medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses in California and to speed up the transition to cleaner vehicle technologies and fuels, including zero emission vehicles (ZEVs).

“Tailpipe pollution not only damages our health, it’s a major source of greenhouse gas emissions,” Skinner said. “And the exhaust from diesel trucks in particular presents a pressing health crisis for families and children living near ports and trucking routes, such as West Oakland and Richmond.”

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March 5, 2019

Among the boldest measures is SB330 by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, which would declare that California is experiencing a “housing supply crisis.” It would prohibit cities with high rents and low vacancy rates from changing zoning laws to reduce the size of potential housing projects, imposing new parking requirements or costly design standards, or capping the number of housing units that could be built for the next decade. It would also force local governments to approve or reject a project within one year after it’s proposed.

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March 4, 2019

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, today honored Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton as the 2019 Woman of Year for the 9th Senate District. Becton is the first woman and the first African American to serve as Contra Costa County district attorney since the office was established in 1850. Over her distinguished career as a judge, lawyer, and manager, she has been committed to safeguarding communities from crime and working on positive outcomes for seniors and youth.

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March 1, 2019

The benefit of the report is giving lawmakers insight into what is working and what is not, said Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, who chairs the Public Safety Committee and budget subcommittee on public safety.

"We have local law enforcement up and down the state, and we only have a limited number of people in the DOJ,” she said. “How can we utilize, strengthen that partnership between our DOJ and local law enforcement and the communication between them?”

Skinner said she is also invested in oversight of the department, and that today’s report will not be the last.

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February 28, 2019

As state Sen. Nancy Skinner put it when she introduced SB 1421 in April 2018, California’s existing confidentiality rules about police conduct are among the most secretive in the country. Sponsored by the California News Publishers Association, the ACLU of California, Black Lives Matter and Youth Justice Coalition, among others, Skinner crafted the bill to make records related to officer use of force, on-the-job sexual assault or instances of dishonesty in the course of doing the job available to hiring agencies or members of the public.

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February 27, 2019

Hoping for a friendlier response from Gov. Gavin Newsom than she got from Jerry Brown, state Sen. Nancy Skinner is again proposing legislation that would ban out-of-school suspensions in all grades for student behavior deemed “defiant and disruptive” by school authorities.

If Skinner’s bill, SB 419, passes the Legislature, it will mark the third time this decade that a ban on these suspensions — which data show are disproportionately meted out to students of color, LGBT students and those with disabilities — has reached the governor’s desk. ... 

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February 27, 2019

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, today unveiled Senate Bill 419, which seeks to keep kids in school by eliminating the suspension of students for low-level offenses known as “willful defiance.” Such suspensions have disproportionately impacted students of color, LGBTIQ students, and those with disabilities in California.

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February 26, 2019

The truth is, the NCAA operates a deeply unfair system. That’s why I have introduced Senate Bill 206, also known as the Fair Pay to Play Act, in the California State Legislature. Under SB 206, college athletes in California would finally be able to receive compensation for their work via corporate sponsorship deals — much like Olympic athletes are allowed to do.

For my full op-ed, click here.

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February 22, 2019

Proudly engaged in a legal battle with the Trump administration over its phony border emergency, California has a real crisis that it has rarely treated as such. It’s the housing shortage, which has given the state the nation’s highest poverty rate and nearly a quarter of its homeless population.

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