We would advise you to stick a fork in Sacramento, but that wouldn’t be nice.
On today’s Mixer, we’ll just say the California Legislature is toast. Over. Fin.
Lawmakers in the state and assembly have passed hundreds of bills this week. Legislation that’s now piling up on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk.
Nannette Miranda from KABC-TV/Channel 7, and Patrick McGreevy from the LA Times joined us to discuss.
A bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to receive driver’s licenses has passed the legislature. But interestingly, this was a bill that appeared to be dead just a couple days ago. Shelved because of fear Governor Brown wouldn’t sign it.
And then its sponsor, in an off-the-cuff conversation with Governor Brown, asked whether – in fact – he would.
Brown said of course he would, if it were the right bill. And voila, the bill came back.
Some lawmakers say they were upset that the bill had been weakened to add special insignia on licenses of residents who aren’t US citizens. Regardless, the Senate and Assembly passed a license measure, and it’s on its way to the governor.
Another bill would streamline the process for disciplining or firing a public school teacher or other school system employee charged with child abuse. The resolution sprouted in response to LA’s Miramonte and other sex scandals. The teachers’ union lobbied the bill, saying it’s important for a timely and efficient investigation process so teachers are unincumbered by the process. School administrators advocated against the bill, saying the investigation itself shouldn’t be encumbered.
One of the biggest bills to pass is a minimum wage hike that’ll take the wage to $10 an hour by 2016. The state’s base pay law would rise from $8 an hour now. It’s the first increase for the state’s the minimum wage for the first time in six years and would make California’s rate among the highest in the country.
Meanwhile, Governor Brown has signed off on a court mandated plan to reduce prison overcrowding in California. Brown and leaders of the Senate and Assembly announced the deal earlier this week. Under the plan, California will ask a federal three-judge panel for more time to reduce prison overcrowding.
The money saved will be put toward programs aimed at reducing recidivism in the state.
The plan will now be presented to the three-judge-panel for its approval. and there’s no guarantee.
Finally, in our Mixer Elixir, a bill headed to Brown’s desk would allow greater access to carpool lanes during non-rush hours on freeways in Los Angeles County. Will that open up traffic a bit at 1 am? Or will it confuse drivers into thinking they can also drive on shoulders and without turn signals?
Oh wait.
But the fact that the bill’s number was 405 was enough to entertain us.