Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed into law Senate Bill 44, “Ditching Dirty Diesel,” by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley.
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The California Legislature has approved SB 337, “The Child Support Reform Act,” by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. SB 337 will help low-income families by ensuring that more child support payments go to kids and less is taken by the state. The bill increases the amount of the child support payment that is passed through to custodial parents from $50 to $100 for families with one child and to $200 a month for those with two or more kids.
“California takes the lion’s share of support payments that rightfully belong to families and kids. SB 337 helps right that wrong by ensuring that more money is directed to the children, rather than to the state,” Skinner said.
The California Legislature has approved Senate Bill 42, also known as the Getting Home Safe Act, by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. SB 42 is designed to end the dangerous practice of county jails releasing people in the middle of the night.
SB 42 was inspired by the tragic case of Jessica St. Louis, who died July 28, 2018 after she was released from Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail at 1:30 a.m.
The California Legislature has approved SB 44, “Ditching Dirty Diesel,” by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. SB 44 is designed to incentivize the move away from pollution-belching, petroleum-diesel trucks and speed the transition to zero emission fuels and technologies for medium and heavy duty vehicles.
“Families and children living near ports and trucking routes, like many neighborhoods in West Oakland and Richmond, are especially harmed by diesel emissions,” Skinner said. “Air pollution particularly associated with diesel emissions increases the risks for asthma, especially for kids, and childhood asthma rates in Richmond and West Oakland are far higher than in other parts of California.”
The California Legislature today approved Senate Bill 310, also known as “The Right to a Jury of Your Peers,” by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. SB 310 allows people with a prior felony conviction to serve on juries in California for the first time.
“SB 310 will ensure that Californians can be tried by a true jury of their peers,” Sen. Skinner said. “Currently, 30% of African-American men living in California are denied the basic civil right to serve on a jury. SB 310 will right that wrong.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed into law Senate Bill 330, the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. SB 330 is designed to speed up housing construction in California during the next half-decade by slashing the time it takes to obtain building permits, limiting fee increases on housing applications, and barring local governments from reducing the number of homes that can be built.
Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed into law Senate Bill 394 by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. SB 394 is aimed at keeping children with their parents when a parent or guardian is charged with a nonserious, nonviolent crime by allowing counties to create a pretrial caregiver diversion program. Such a program would allow a primary caregiver of a dependent child to enter alternative supervision and avoid incarceration — if both the judge and the prosecutor agrees.
“SB 394 is a commonsense reform,” Skinner said. “When incarceration separates a child from their parent, the outcomes for the child are rarely good. Kids often end up in foster care, with the absence of strong family ties impacting children’s physical, emotional, and psychological health. SB 394 will improve kids’ lives.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed into law Senate Bill 310, also known as “The Right to a Jury of Your Peers,” by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. SB 310 allows people with a prior felony conviction to serve on juries in California for the first time. It will also help ensure that the fundamental right to a jury of your peers applies to all defendants.
“It’s easy to take for granted the notion of a jury of your peers, but in reality, if you’re Black and a man, it’s almost impossible. Why? Existing law excludes 30% of California’s Black male residents from ever serving on a jury,” Skinner said. “SB 310 rights that wrong by giving those with a former felony conviction the ability to be at the heart of a fair and impartial judicial process.”