News

Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Debra Kahn, Politico
 
The Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee approved a bill today that would give the state far more power to restrict chemicals in cosmetics.
 
CA AB495 (19R), by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) and Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), would model the state's rules after the European Union's by specifying a list of toxic chemicals that can't be contained in cosmetics, including formaldehyde, asbestos, mercury and several categories of a chemical known as PFAS. The bill would give the state the authority to impose recalls, injunctions and civil or criminal penalties for violations.
 
The bill passed 5-0 with Assemblymembers Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), Devon Mathis (R-Visalia), Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) and Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear Lake) not voting.
 
Read more
Saturday, December 7, 2019

Denton Staff Contributor, Denton Daily

LOS ANGELES (AP) – California courts could be going to the dogs – and maybe cats, too – under a new law granting judges authority to settle disagreements over who keeps the family pet in divorce cases the same way they handle child-custody disputes.

Until now, Fido and Kitty have been considered family property, a status giving them little more standing in a divorce than a family‘s big-screen TV.

Under a bill signed Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown, pets will still be considered community property but a judge deciding who gets to keep them will have the discretion of weighing such factors as who feeds them, who takes them to the vet and on walks, and who protects them.

Read more
Friday, October 11, 2019
AB 1596 will also set standards on property cleanup procedures where the drug was used
 
Evan Symon, California Globe
 
Fentanyl became the second drug in California to have specialized decontaminate laws after Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1596 into law earlier this week.
 
AB 1596 revises the Methamphetamine Contaminated Property Act to the Methamphetamine or Fentanyl Contaminated Property Cleanup Act. Under the newly revised act, statewide cleanup standards will be created and enforced by health officers.
 
Before the addition of Fentanyl, only methamphetamine had been listed in California as a type of drug that would contaminate a property to such an extent that it made it unlivable for the next tenant until it was cleaned.
 
Read more
Monday, October 7, 2019
Olivia Buccieri, The Daily Californian
 
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of 22 bills for California’s wildfire mitigation and preparedness efforts Wednesday, building on the $1 billion allocated for wildfire and emergency investment in the budget.
 
Multiple Assembly members and senators contributed individual bills related to wildfire intervention, ranging from fire prevention techniques to mitigating climate change through clean energy policies.
 
Lenya Quinn-Davidson, an area fire advisor for the UC Cooperative Extension, worked closely on AB 38 with Assemblymember Jim Wood’s office, D-Santa Rosa. AB 38 works to develop community-wide resilience through home-hardening techniques and defensible space development. Assemblymember Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, author of AB 1584, wrote about the relevance of climate change in enhancing wildfire risk.
 
Read more
Thursday, October 3, 2019
I recommend a petnup.
 
Steven Petrow, New York Times
 
“I have some good news,” my divorce lawyer told me during our second consultation in her downtown Durham, N.C., office. Before divulging it, she asked a question: “Are you willing to pay $16,000 for Zoe?”
 
In our first meeting I’d explained to the lawyer, Milan Pham, that I didn’t really care about our “stuff.” “North Carolina state law is clear,” she told me. “Community property — property acquired during the marriage — is to be divided equally.” Anything Jim and I had owned separately before the marriage was still his and his.
 
But Zoe was not “stuff.”
 
Read more
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
AB 733 directs Department of Toxic Substance Control to implement modern methods
 
Business Wire
 
SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The California Senate has shown unanimous support for Assembly Bill 733, authored by Assemblymember Bill Quirk. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Social Compassion in Legislation are co-sponsoring the bill, which could save tens of thousands of fish every year.
 
Read more
Friday, September 6, 2019
Laura Mohoney, Bloomberg 
 
A bill to ban California cities from giving a portion of their sales-tax revenue to companies like Apple Inc. and Best Buy Co., to entice them to locate in their boundaries, is on its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
 
S.B. 531 by Sen. Steve Glazer (D) passed the Assembly 43-16 Sept. 5, six days after members voted it down with a 35-21 vote. Eleven Democrats who didn’t cast votes Aug. 30 voted in favor on the second try. The bill passed the Senate in May.
 
“We want to prevent right now a race to the bottom where billions are given away to corporations when other cities are deprived of that revenue,” Assemblyman Bill Quirk (D) said as he presented the bill on the Assembly floor.
 
Read more