Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael Callagy, County Manager
Connie Juarez-Diroll, Legislative Officer
Subject: 2022 State and Federal Legislative Update #1
RECOMMENDATION:
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Accept this informational report on the start of the 2022 State legislative session.
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BACKGROUND:
The California State Legislature reconvened on January 3, 2022, to begin the second year of their two-year legislative cycle. This year, the Legislature introduced 2,109 new bills, with 1,422 submitted by the Assembly and 687 introduced by the Senate.
DISCUSSION:
COVID-19 continues to impact the work of the Legislature, with the Senate and Assembly still using remote testimony to conduct legislative business. Construction on the Capitol forced legislators to move into a new, temporary "swing space," creating a shortage of meeting locations. Despite the challenging working conditions, members submitted over 2,100 new bills in January while hearing hundreds of 2-year bills on tight deadlines. Policy committee hearings begin in March after most bills are in print for the mandatory 30 day period.
Major policy areas of newly introduced bills include:
Public Safety:
Curbing firearms and combatting retail theft are areas addressed in many public safety-related bills. Over 25 new bills are focused on firearms, including a package of four bills backed by the Newsom Administration that seek to tighten restrictions on ghost guns (AB 1621 (Gipson)), prohibit the advertising of certain weapons to minors (AB 2571 (Bauer-Kahan)), and expand the ability of the Attorney General and private citizens to sue manufacturers and distributors of firearms (AB 1594 (Ting) and SB 1327 (Hertzberg)). To address theft, multiple proposals aim to amend Proposition 47, The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act of 2014 that recategorized certain nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors rather than felonies. Changes to Propositi...
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