Legislative Wrap-Up: What became law, what didn’t

Finally, Brown signed a couple of important electoral reforms that won’t change the game but at least will give union members a little breathing room for the June primaries as we head into next year’s critical national and statewide elections. Spared the need to play defense against ballot measure attacks on labor in lower-turnout primaries, we’ll be able to conserve and consolidate our resources for the major November campaigns.

Sacramento Bee: “Jerry Brown pushes up veto rate at bill signing deadline”

Sacramento Bee: “Jerry Brown's bill actions frustrate, elate, confound”

CA Progress Report: “CA Labor Fed: New Pro-Worker Laws Will Put California on Path to Stronger Economy”

Sacramento Bee: “Cal Chamber praises Jerry Brown for vetoing 'job killer' bills”

AB 438: VICTORY FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Brown signed AB 438 into law, instituting accountability and important safeguards when public library systems are considered for privatization.
The signing marked a huge and hard-fought victory for SEIU library workers, taxpayers and public library supporters, who launched a 14-month statewide campaign for its passage.

SEIU members made dozens of lobby visits, organized events in Sacramento, and spoke out in the pages of the Los Angeles Daily News, the Pasadena Star News, the Whittier Daily News, the Long Beach Press Telegram, and La Opinión.

The thought of privatizing public libraries struck a nerve throughout the country too, and the New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, MSNBC, the Huffington Post and even Fox all ran stories about it. SEIU International invested in the campaign with the privatizationbeast.org video, which now has over 350,000 hits.

Library Journal: “California Governor Signs Bill Imposing Stringent Requirements on Privatizing of Library Services”

UNIONS & BUSINESS

Brown has always been a friend of unions and we’ve always had his back. But during his first year back in the governor’s chair, he’s not hesitated to flash labor his independent streak.

He shocked current and would-be union members this month by vetoing a bill that would have allowed child care workers to unionize; in June he’d vetoed a bill authorizing card check for farmworkers. But then...

Sacramento Bee: “Gov. Jerry Brown signs farmworker bill”

Four months after vetoing labor-backed legislation that would have made it easier to unionize farmworkers ... Gov. Jerry Brown ... has signed the compromise measure he helped negotiate. Senate Bill 126 ... gives farmworkers greater protections in organizing disputes with growers, ...

Brown split on two bills we supported directly. He signed SB459 to stop the misclassification of employees as independent contractors, but vetoed SB364, which would have held corporations accountable for the tax breaks they get when they claim they’re creating California jobs.

In a similar split:

Sacramento Bee: "Jerry Brown signs one union measure, vetoes another"

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a union-backed bill prohibiting grocery stores from selling beer, wine or liquor using electronic self-checkout lanes, Brown announced this morning.

Brown also vetoed legislation that would have required local governments to study the economic impact of proposed Wal-Mart and other superstores before approving them.

And vetoes another:

Sacramento Bee: "Jerry Brown vetoes bill restricting debit card paychecks"

Siding with banks and employers, Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill unions sought to restrict employers from using debit cards to pay employees, his office announced this morning. ... [U]nions got behind Senate Bill 931 -- which would have limited the fees issuers can charge when workers access their wages.

And another:

Sacramento Bee: "Jerry Brown vetoes outsource contract reporting measure"

Gov. Jerry Brown handed labor a legislative loss on Sunday by rejecting a union-backed bill that would have forced the government to post outsource contracts of $5,000 or more on the Reporting Transparency in Government website and then on the Financial Information System for California website, which is still under construction.

EDUCATION

Sacramento Bee: “Jerry Brown signs California Dream Act”

Gov. Jerry Brown today signed legislation allowing undocumented immigrant college students to receive public financial aid, marking California's relatively liberal ground in a bitter row over immigration nationwide.

The California Dream Act allows access to public financial aid, including Cal Grants, for undocumented students who came to the country before turning 16 and attended California high schools. Those students already are eligible for in-state tuition, and Brown in July signed a companion measure affording them access to private financial aid.

HEALTH CARE

In a major victory for hospital workers, Brown signed the Safe Patient Handling bill (AB 1136) to stop a staggering epidemic of workplace injuries among hospital workers. “Too many of our nurses and other healthcare workers have been injured on the job while moving or repositioning the patients in their care,” said Ingela Dahlgren, RN, executive director of the SEIU Nurse Alliance of California, which fought hard for the legislation.

CA Progress Report: “California Continues Its Leadership in Implementing Health Reform...”
By Anthony Wright, Health Access

Yesterday, Governor Brown signed legislation to improve California's health system and provide key consumer protections. One measure, SB51 (Alquist), would allow state regulators to enforce new federal standards that ensure that at least 80-85 percent of health insurance premiums go to medical care. Another bill, AB1296 (Bonilla), revamps eligibility and enrollment systems in public health programs, to better allow millions of Californians to get the coverage they need in 2014 and beyond.

CA Progress Report: “Governor Signs Maternity Bills!”

On Thursday, health, consumer, women's and medical groups cheered the signing of SB222 (Evans/Alquist) and AB210 (Hernandez) to require maternity care as a basic benefit in health plans in the individual (SB222) and small group (AB210) market.

CONSUMER & ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

CA Progress Report: “Consumers Get a Breath of Fresh Air from Jerry Brown”
By Richard Holober, Consumer Federation of California

On issues ranging from household toxics to food safety to elder abuse to personal privacy, Governor Jerry Brown has demonstrated much greater empathy with consumer protection than his predecessor. The 2011 end of session tally stands at 33 signatures and four vetoes on Consumer Federation of California
supported bills that made it as far as the governor’s desk.

CA Progress Report: “Big Wins For The Environment; a Few Veto Casualties”
By Bruce Reznik, Planning and Conservation League

Overall, Governor Brown had an excellent record of signing strong environmental bills into law; a few such measures, however, fell victim to the Governor’s veto pen.

ELECTIONS

Exactly 100 years ago this week, at the height of the Progressive Era and California Gov. Hiram Walker’s first term, Californians approved major changes in the state’s electoral system, creating the ballot initiative, referendum and recall that voters are by now more familiar with than they’d ever wanted. Since 1911, nearly 1,700 initiatives have been circulated and 348 actually made it to the ballot; about a third of them were voted into law.

Sacramento Bee: “Backers of 'paycheck protection' measure submit signatures”

Proponents of an initiative to prohibit unions from automatically deducting dues from members' paychecks for political purposes say they've collected more than 900,000 voter signatures in hopes of placing the measure on next year's ballot. ...

Proponents are seeking to place the measures on the June primary ballot, when voter turnout for the GOP presidential primary would likely boost their chances of success.

That won’t happen now, thanks to Gov. Brown:

Sacramento Bee: “Jerry Brown puts California initiatives on November ballot”

In a victory for Democrats and their labor union allies, Gov. Jerry Brown Friday signed a bill restricting initiatives and referendums next year to the November ballot, when the party's voter turnout is expected to be higher than in June.

The bill language ... could help labor unions defeat a pending measure to limit unions' ability to raise campaign funds from members. ...

According to a recent Field Poll, registered Republicans support the proposed change by a 15-point margin, and 56 percent of voters overall favor the change.

And one final piece of good news:

Sacramento Bee: "Gov. Jerry Brown OKs online voter registration in California"

Californians will be able to register to vote online for 2012 elections under legislation [SB 397] signed into law today by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Supporters had argued that the bill would make it easier for Californians to register to vote, increasing voter participation.
 

SEIU CA 2011 Final Legislative Report