5 CA Bills That Could Change Your Life

CALIFORNIA — Tax Day is an implicitly political day, when many Californians may wonder how their money is being spent. As usual, California lawmakers are hard at work trying to tackle a number of crises, from homelessness and education to the pandemic, the environment and income inequality. While it’s impossible to summarize every bill currently under consideration, we’ve assembled five proposed bills on a number of different topics we think you’ll find intriguing.

1. Kindergarten could be mandatory for all students, and school districts would be required to provide it.

New data demonstrates the importance of high-quality early childhood education, including faster gains in academic skills, higher educational attainment and higher wages. Two new bills aim to require students to attend kindergarten, and for every school district to fund it. Currently, California law requires students to enroll in school from ages 6-18, and an estimated 5-7 percent of students do not enroll in kindergarten in an average year, according to the California Kindergarten Association.

Senate Bill 70, sponsored by Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), would require a child to have completed one year of kindergarten before they’re admitted to first grade, starting in the 2022-23 school year. To make sure that all families will be able to comply with this new rule, AB-1973, sponsored by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), would require school districts and charter schools to offer full-day kindergarten programs to all students starting in 2025-26.

SB-70 passed the Senate in January, and has had one reading in the Assembly. AB-1973 has been referred to the Assembly Education Committee.

2. Companies with over 500 employees could be required to limit the workweek to 32 hours.

On a Monday following a long weekend, this one might really resonate: Assembly Bill 2932, sponsored by Assembly Members Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) and Evan Low (D-San Jose), would require California companies with more than 500 employees to pay overtime (at least time and a half) to any employee who works more than 32 hours a week — a full day reduction from the traditional five-day, 40-hour workweek, but employees would still be paid their current salaries. Several countries and at least 30 UK companies have initiated four-day workweek pilot programs; they've found that workers were happier and just as productive, if not more so, than they were working at least 40 hours. A significant majority of Patch readers agree: A non-scientific statewide survey found that 62.3 percent of readers are in favor of the bill, while 31.4 percent are against it.

AB 2932 had been referred to the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment as of March 28.

3. Employers could be prohibited from discriminating against worker’s off-duty cannabis consumption.

Recreational cannabis use has been legal in California since 2016, but it is still legal for employers to test workers for THC and fire, discipline or refuse to hire them on the basis of the results. Assembly Bill 2188, sponsored by Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward), would make it “unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any condition of employment…based upon the person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace.” The bill clarifies that it would not offer any protection to employees who show up to the job impaired. The protection also applies to employer-required drug screening that finds “nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites” — in other words, cannabis that doesn’t get workers high — anywhere in their system. If passed, the new protections would not apply to construction and building workers, and federal and state employees. Similar anti-discrimination protections have been enacted in Montana, Nevada, New Jersey and New York. Connecticut protections will go into effect July 1.

As of April 7, AB 2188 has been read two times and amended by the Assembly Committee on Labor and Education.

4. Local law enforcement agencies could lose their funding if they don’t enforce public health guidelines.

Senate Bill 1464, sponsored by Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), is one of several controversial bills stemming from the pandemic that are being protested by conservatives as government overreach. It would withhold state funds from any law enforcement agency that “publicly announces that they will oppose, or adopts a policy to oppose, a public health order.” The bill proposes reallocating those withheld funds to public health departments. The bill is a response to law enforcement agencies across the state butting heads with public health guidelines throughout the course of the pandemic. In May 2020, sheriff’s departments in Orange, Sacramento, Tulare, Fresno and Calaveras counties saying that they would not enforce mask mandates. In November 2020, 13 law enforcement agencies said they would not enforce a temporary non-emergency travel curfew. In October 2021, the Los Angeles County sheriff said he would not enforce the county’s vaccine mandate in his agency.

SB 1464 is scheduled for hearings from the Senate Health Committee on April 20 and 26.

5. Local government entities could be required to publicly report everything they’ve done to address homelessness.

The state has taken a number of approaches to tackling its spiraling homelessness crisis, and a new Senate bill wants to know more about them. Senate Bill 1353, introduced by Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita), would require local governments to collect as much information as possible on local homelessness, including expenditures, and report it to local councils, which would in turn be required to post the information four times a year on a publicly accessible online dashboard. SB 1353 is a part of “ACT on Homelessness,” 17 new proposals from Republican lawmakers aimed at tackling the problem. Other proposals include reducing barriers to placing unhoused individuals under conservatorship; providing grant funding for expansion of mental health programs and homeless courts; and investing in employment and training programs for vulnerable youth.

SB 1353 is to go before the Senate Human Services Committee on April 19.