Final Hours Of California Legislative Session
Sacramento, CA — Several high-profile bills will be determined ahead of a Wednesday evening deadline at the California capitol.
A two-year legislative session ends at midnight on Wednesday. It also marks a changing of the guard, as at least a quarter of the current lawmakers will be replaced during the November General Election. Of note, both of the Mother Lode representatives, Senator Andreas Borgeas and Assemblyman Frank Bigelow, are declining to seek re-election.
One of the highly debated bills would create a new Fast Food Council comprised of four worker delegates, four employer representatives and two state workplace regulators. The council would set minimum standards for things like wages and hours. The Associated Press reports that many restaurant owners have been arguing that it would increase the price of fast food.
A bill that garnered late support from Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday would spend up to $20 million to help bring women from other states to California abortion clinics. The Governor is currently restricting funds from the “Abortion Practical Support Fund” to in-state travel, but some lawmakers have been pushing to expand it for travel from other states that decide to ban abortion. That bill will be voted on in the coming days.
A contentious bill would allow youth 15 and older to choose to be vaccinated without parental consent. The bill authors initially set the age at 12, but it was revised to 15 in order to clear earlier legislative hurdles.
There is also a high-profile bill that would make it easier for farmworkers to unionize. There could also be a discussion about a plan to extend the lifespan of California’s last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon.
They are among the hundreds of bills that will either be voted on or ignored over the coming three days.
