California Legislature faces call for special session on its final day

The caucus said in a letter issued Saturday it remains focused on its reparations package of bills that the caucus had approved. The caucus was unable to be involved in the legislative process for Senate Bill 1403, writing that work will continue on it and it’ll be reintroduced next year.

Senate Bill 1331 wasn’t part of the caucus’ package, and it wouldn’t advance, it wrote.

“Yes, we’re frustrated,” Griffin said. “We’re upset. Just do your job.”

Iris Peoples, also with the coalition, said the caucus was playing hardball because Bradford collaborated with grassroots organizations when crafting his bills as opposed to working with the caucus. The caucus in its letter said it remained committed to its long-term goals, adding the efforts will take more than a year.

Bradford said he’d continue on Saturday in his attempts to bring the bills up for a vote. However, the bills were shelved later that night, a move Bradford said he opposed.

A chaotic day

The last day of any session is chaotic. The second floor of the Capitol was filled with people, some of them crowded around televisions broadcasting both chambers’ activities live.

Assemblymember and Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Wood, standing at the speaker’s lectern at the start of Saturday’s session, said he didn’t know when his chamber would adjourn that evening.

But he assured those gathered: They would go no further than midnight.

Chaos quickly appeared as time passed. As midnight approached, and lawmakers kept debating, Wood called for arguments to be limited to 30 seconds per member. That led Republicans to denounce the move. Ultimately, Wood ruled that he would no longer call on Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Corona Republican, after saying he was using delaying tactics.

Essayli responded by shouting with no microphone, at one point calling the move "a dictatorship." He later stormed from the Assembly chambers.

On the other side of the Capitol, the final minutes went smoother. Both houses started their final legislative day in the early afternoon and both had dozens of bills they needed to vote on before midnight, the constitutional end of the session for the year.

Assembly Bill 98, which would impose statewide standards for warehouses, barely made the cut. It passed the Senate and, much closer to midnight, the Assembly. It's now before the governor.

Written by Democratic Assemblymembers Juan Carrillo and Eloise Reyes, the bill received rare opposition from multiple Senate Democrats.

Democrats and Republicans speaking against the bill shared many of the same arguments. The bill, which would prohibit local governments from approving new or expanded developments unless they met certain standards, came at the last minute. It would impose a “one-size-fits-all” standard across the state. And, some senators warned, it could stifle development.

“This one-size-fits-all approach undermines local control,” said state Senator Shannon Grove, a Bakersfield Republican.

State Senator Caroline Menjivar, a San Fernando Valley Democrat, said the bill appeared in the last moments of the legislative session, with not all those affected at the negotiating table. She also said that no environmental groups favored the bill — a point state Senator Josh Becker, a Menlo Park Democrat, also noted.

“Sometimes a solution for one area doesn’t fit every area in California,” said state Senator Angelique Ashby, a Sacramento Democrat.

State Senator Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, said that opponents characterized the bill as just arriving from outer space. Instead, lawmakers have been working on aspects of the bill since late 2016.

“Is it perfect?” he asked. “No. No bill is going to be perfect.”

Carrying the bill in the state Senate, state Senator Monique Limón said no standards currently exist. Additionally, local governments could opt to impose stricter requirements on warehouses if they want.

“This allows for a floor,” the Santa Barbara Democrat said. “It does not set a ceiling.”

The Legislature sent several bills to the governor before the session ended:

• Senate Bill 961, written by Wiener, would require all new cars in California starting with 2030 models to have a passive audio and visual alert when a driver exceeds the speed limit by 10 mph.

• Senate Bill 1414, written by Grove, increases penalties for someone convicted of soliciting a minor under the age of 16. Grove's original bill would have upped the penalty for a victim under 18, though the age range was changed in the committee process.

"Thank God we got SB 1414 off the floor," Grove said after the vote. "I will never stop fighting for kids."

• Senate Bill 268 — written by state Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil, a Jackson Republican — passed the state Senate unanimously and now heads to the governor. It makes rape of an intoxicated person a violent felony, when the offender drugs someone with the intent to commit sexual assault.

• The Assembly passed Assembly Bill 224, written by Baldwin Park Democratic Assemblymember Blanca Rubio. It extends to 2030 a legal exemption for qualifying newspaper carriers from a state law that places more requirements on employees as opposed to contract workers like carriers.  

• Senate Bill 1053 — written by state Senator Catherine Blakespear, an Encinitas Democrat — passed its final vote on Friday. It will change the state’s plastic-bag ban, removing the exemption for thicker plastic bags currently in place. That will leave customers a choice of only paper or canvas bags.

If signed into law, the revised plastic ban becomes effective Jan. 1.