Posted on 05/04/2006 9:40:50 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
As the weather heats up in Sacramento, so does the legislating. This month dozens of bills are moving from committees to the floor, across the rotunda and back again. This week Capitol Weekly is taking a look at some of the less-noticed measures up for consideration. And we start with everyone's favorites: sex, drugs and alcohol.
Newly elected Assembly Republican leader George Plescia, R-San Diego, is pushing a measure to take popular erectile-dysfunction (ED) drugs like Viagra off the list of medications covered by state's Medi-Cal laws. The bill, A.B. 2885, would make it so Medi-Cal can only cover those ED drugs subsidized by federal payments. But ED medications are not eligible for federal financial assistance. The bill is sponsored by the Department of Health Services, which estimates savings of $1 million.
This is the second piece of ED legislation that Plescia has carried in as many years. Last year, he introduced a measure to prevent registered sex offenders from access to ED drugs under the Medi-Cal program.
Senator Kevin Murray, D-Los Angeles, is carrying alcohol legislation. In February, Murray introduced a measure to allow for beer tasting in the state--with sample servings of up to 12 ounces. The measure is co-sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, which argues that the current lack of free beer tasting "makes it difficult for the beer industry to compete in California."
But the measure met opposition from within the beer community, including industry heavyweights Coors, Miller and Heineken. At the end of April, Murray stripped his S.B. 1548 of any legal language, leaving it as a simple intent bill, though it remains scheduled for a hearing on May 10. Murray's office says the senator and Anheuser-Busch intend to continue to push the legislation this year.
Meanwhile, Assemblyman Van Tran, R-Westminster, wants to ensure that any traditional Asian fare enjoyed by Californians is up to snuff, meeting all necessary public-health and sanitation standards. His A.B. 2214 requires the Department of Health Services to study the sale of traditional Asian foods, ensuring they meet health-code requirements.
But the bill analysis lists several Asian foods, like banh chung and banh chuoi, that are "potentially hazardous." Perhaps most worrying is the inclusion in the analysis of "cooked green beans, eggs and sausage" as "generally hazardous foods."
The bill passed out of the health committee and is currently in the Assembly appropriations committee.
Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, has gut and amended what was originally an identity-theft bill to clarify that existing law allows public-school students to wear hats in school--without prior physician or parental consent.
A.B. 2645 came about after Parra met with a group of students at John Muir Middle School in Corcoran who were forbidden by school officials from wearing hats during physical-education classes. Although a previous bill by Senator Don Perata, D-Oakland, in 2002 had permitted the use of hats for sun protection, officials had misinterpreted the measure, inspiring Parra's clarification.
"She was impressed by the organization of the students and the presentation and she felt it was an important issue because skin cancer is a problem," said Parra spokesman Ioannis Kazanis.
The bill is set for a hearing on May 10 in the Assembly education committee.
There were some interesting moments in that same Assembly education committee on Wednesday, when Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, R-Monrovia, presented A.B. 2311. Mountjoy's bill adds the following to the state's education code: "The promotion of homosexuality in public education is prohibited."
The committee's chair, Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, is openly gay but was not presiding when Mountjoy presented the bill. Goldberg briefly entered the room while Mountjoy was testifying and promptly left. The bill failed to get out of committee.
Goldberg has an interesting bill of her own moving through the legislative process, A.B. 2154, which would allow vehicles in car-share programs to park in exclusive areas. Car-share vehicles could be assigned a special permit allowing them park in exclusive zoned areas, as determined by the local government. The bill was introduced at the request of the city of Los Angeles.
"It basically is to encourage a shared-use system of automobiles in major metropolitan areas," said Goldberg spokeswoman Wendy Notsinneh.
"Collectively, the goal of car sharing is to encourage a reduction in traffic and parking congestion and an increase in transit ridership." Goldberg's car-share parking measure is scheduled for a hearing in the Assembly transportation committee on May 8.
If Senator Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, has her way, new mobile police-radar units would crack down on speeding cars, but only in the city of Beverly Hills. Kuehl has authored S.B. 1300, which would create mobile photo-radar units that would track offending speeders, taking pictures of the cars and then ticketing them.
But the bill would limit the pilot program to residential, 25-mile-per-hour zones in the city of Beverly Hills, which is lobbying for the measure. The legislation would expire in 2011, and the city would report to the state on the successes and failures of the program.
The bill failed this Tuesday in the Senate transportation committee, but was granted reconsideration and is on schedule for another hearing next Tuesday.
Another Democratic senator from Los Angeles, Kevin Murray, has introduced a measure to raise the amount of political giving necessary to qualify as a major donor in California. Under current law, any individual that donates $10,000 or more in a calendar year must file as a major donor. Murray's S.B. 1693 would raise that amount to $30,000 in annual political contributions.
Interestingly the bill, which on its face would create less disclosure, is sponsored by the state's campaign-finance watchdog, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). The FPPC notes that the major donor limit has not been updated since 1984.
"By increasing the threshold to $30,000 the commission hopes that the bill would reduce the number of less-sophisticated contributors who may become subject to a major donor enforcement action simply because they are unaware of the requirement," said FPPC spokesman Jon Matthews.
The cash-strapped department is inundated with misfiled major donor reports and is hoping to ease its workload through the measure. But, says Matthews, "This is only in part due to FPPC workload concerns."
The measure passed through the Senate elections committee in early April and is headed to the Senate floor. Shane Goldmacher is a Capitol Weekly staff reporter
I don't know where to start.
I don't know if I should make a beer or a Viagra run or file a FPPC complaint..
Bad day in CA if your object is to be stiff, drunk, and stupid.
The poor gay community won't know what hit them....
Drunk and Stupud is the normal fare in Sacramento
"The committee's chair, Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, is openly gay but was not presiding when Mountjoy presented the bill."
Mountjoy??? Gay??? Are you kidding??? LOL That is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. I guess you can't make this stuff up.
So, it looks like the big players were able to kill "beer tasting" since it would have aided micro-breweries in selling their wares. It might have turned areas like Hopland into fun places, with lots of small businesses being built around a entertaining new industry, similar to wine tasting.
Too bad. It was one Dem bill I could get behind.
This legislature is completely lame.
I'd suggest electing a bunch of parrots trained to squeak just one phrase: "none of our business!"
does not being drunk make you stiff and stupid??? ;-)
Taxpayers should not pay for Viagra.
And funding for sex change operations should yanked as well.
Even if there is a "medical reason" for recommendning these 'treatments', there has to be a cheaper therapy even if it is merely palliative in nature.
From the ca.gov site:
" 3)PREVIOUS LEGISLATION . AB 187 (Liu), Chapter 204, statutes of
2001, permits food establishments to sell Korean rice cakes,
as defined, that have been at room temperature for less than
24 hours, and requires manufacturers of Korean rice cakes to
provide a date stamp indicating the date of manufacture and a
warning label that the rice cake must be consumed within one
day of manufacture. "
The new law amends the time to 4 hours instead of the current 24.
If a fellow left those banh chung in a crock of water for a few weeks under the right conditions, maybe it would turn into bia hoi.
Just think, a night of banh chung, bia hoi and boom-boom, what more could a guy want, a fag?
Don't forget to wear a hat. And layoff the sausage and eggs.
Two words: Term limits.
".. is pushing a measure to take popular erectile-dysfunction (ED) drugs like Viagra off the list of medications covered by state's Medi-Cal laws."
Gasp! But won't that infringe on someone's right to a taxpayer financed erection!?.
I'm pretty sure that's right there in the Constitutions somewhere.... Keep looking... Check behind one of them penumbras there..
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