San Bruno and Sacramento CA: Speaker Pro Tem Mullin Introduces Four Bills

Speaker Pro Tem Mullin Introduces Four Bills

Recount, Antibiotics in Livestock, Expanding Nurse/Family Partnership and Safe Disposal of

Household Hazardous Waste are part of initial bill package

Sacramento – Monday, December 1 marked the opening of the 2015-16 legislative session and Speaker pro

Tempore Kevin Mullin (D-San Mateo) introduced a total of four bills. In addition to AB 44 which will provide

comprehensive, permanent election recount reform, he introduced three additional bills dealing with Antibiotics in

Livestock, expanding the Nurse/Family Partnership and the safe disposal of Household Hazardous Waste.

AB - 49 will address the overuse of antibiotics in livestock. There is substantial scientific evidence that the overuse

of antibiotics leads to bacterial immunity and diminished effectiveness of antibiotics in humans. Eighty percent of

antibiotics used in the United States are delivered to food livestock and many livestock producers administer

antibiotics when there is no disease present. Currently Federal law only provides for a voluntary reduction of

antibiotics use by the livestock industry.

Speaker pro Tem Mullin previously introduced AB 1437 which sought to prohibit the use of antibiotics for nontherapeutic

uses during the last session. That bill failed to garner sufficient support in the Legislature and ultimately stalled. The new bill expresses the intent of the California Legislature to specifically curtail the overuse of antibiotics in food animals.

“This is a challenging issue which is opposed by powerful interest groups,” stated Assemblymember Mullin.

“I plan to work with my colleagues and the Governor in the coming session, to craft a measure that gets to the heart

of the problem. Everyone should be concerned about increasing bacterial immunity to antibiotics and the very real

threat it poses to public health.”

AB 50 seeks to expand the Nurse/Family Partnership; an evidence-based health program that helps low-income,

first-time mothers pregnant with their first child that has been demonstrated to provide long lasting quality of life

benefits to both mother and child. Prior to the Great Recession, very limited funds were available to the California

Department of Public Health for the purpose of awarding grant funds to eligible counties who in turn provided inhome

visits by voluntary registered nurses to these expectant mothers. While this program exists in 21 counties, their

funding sources are a patchwork of funding sources and only four percent of potentially eligible first time mothers

are currently served by this program.

The successful upscaling of this program will improve pregnancy outcomes, child health and development, as well

as economic self-sufficiency for the families being served.

“This is a program with a proven track record,” stated Mullin. “Fighting poverty should be viewed as a long-term

sustained effort beginning with ensuring that children and mothers get a healthy start.”

“Poverty is not only a major source of suffering and stress for millions of families, but it is also a drag on the

economy and state resources,” continued Mullin. “The potential return on investment is enormous. Research

specifically studying the Nurse Family Partnership model indicates that every dollar invested can yield more than

five dollars in return. This program has measurable impacts, improving people’s lives and fighting generational

poverty.”

AB 45 will address the challenges of providing safe, legal disposal of household hazardous waste (HHW). Since

many types of HHW are small and easily thrown away, they pose a threat to human health, animals and the

environment. Current law requires local jurisdictions to submit an annual report to CalRecycle reporting on their

progress in reducing solid waste and an update of their household hazardous waste element. In spite of these

requirements, collection of HHW at authorized centers has been largely static since 2002. AB 45 seeks to address

this issue by making services more convenient and orient state policy towards “at your door” or curbside pick-up,

which has been shown to be effective in increasing recycling and landfill diversion for other types of waste.

“Current policies on household hazardous waste such as pesticides, batteries, medical waste, and compact

fluorescent light bulbs are fragmented and confusing,” said Assemblymember Mullin. “To increase collection of

these materials, we need to make it cost-effective and convenient for consumers to dispose of these products in a

safe, environmentally friendly way.”

AB 44 will provide comprehensive, permanent election recount reform. This legislation will require the Secretary of

State to order a state-funded manual recount for any statewide office or ballot measure where the margin of victory

is one tenth of one percent or less.

“I look forward to a productive legislative session and look forward to working with all my legislative colleagues to

pass effective legislation that will benefit all Californians,” Mullin said.

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Kevin Mullin and is the Speaker pro Tem of the California State Assembly and represents the 22nd

District . The 22nd district includes the cities of Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Foster City,

Hillsborough, Millbrae, Pacifica, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, portions of South San Francisco and the San Mateo County Coastside communities of Montara and Moss Beach

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Robert Riechel

Photo Credit: San Bruno Patch Archives

Source Credit: California State Assemblyman Kevin Mullin

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