2003 Budget Priorities | 2004 Budget Priorities
2005 Budget Priorities | 2006 Budget Priorities
2007 Budget Priorities
2003 Legislative Priorities | 2004 Legislative Priorities
2005 Legislative Priorities | 2006 Legislative Priorities
2007 Legislative Priorities | 2008 Legislative Priorities

2008 Legislative Priorities

AB 158 (Ma) – Medi-Cal Benefits for Individuals with Chronic Hepatitis B
AB 158 requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to expand eligibility for Medi-Cal benefits to individuals with chronic hepatitis B.  Chronic hepatitis B affects nearly 280,000 Californians and is the leading cause for liver cancer and liver transplant in California. Communities of color are disproportionately affected especially Asian/Pacific Islanders (APIs), African Americans and Latinos. In the API community, Chinese Americans have a three to four times higher risk for liver cancer caused by chronic hepatitis B than Caucasian Americans, and Vietnamese Americans have a seven to eight times higher risk for liver cancer caused by chronic hepatitis B. Chronic hepatitis B-related liver cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among API men living in California.

AB 1725 (Lieu) – Judicial Appointment Disclosure
Existing law provides that the State Bar may make public a judicial appointee that has received a not-qualified rating, however nothing in the law requires disclosure. AB 1725 would require the State Bar to make public any judicial appointment that has received a not-qualified rating from the State’s Judicial Nominee Evaluation (JNE) Committee. The Judicial branch is a vital aspect of our government and the make up of that branch is crucial in ensuring justice and equality to every citizen. It is in the public’s best interest to know if a Judge was considered not qualified. AB 1725 creates the transparency in our judicial appointment system that is necessary to maintain public trust and respect.

AB 1930 (Torrico) – Disaster Preparedness
This bill will bring great focus and attention to the needs of LEP individuals in emergency preparedness planning.  This bill would develop a state plan to meet the needs of LEP individuals during a disaster, including developing criteria for local agency plans and developing technologies and information systems to assist in the evacuation of LEP individuals.

AB 2514 (Eng) - Human Remains
In 2005, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority unearthed dozens of human remains during construction in LA County property near Evergreen Cemetery.  Many of the human remains were of Chinese American decent and included other artifacts, dating back to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  It would be six months before Asian American community groups in LA found out about these human remains due to a lack of State protocols on the handling of historical remains.  This measure aims to provide more direction to state projects by establishing procedures for the proper handling and preservation of historical human remains.  Such protocols will ensure the State will provide their services with the proper respect needed for such instances as well as protect the rich, diverse history of California. 

AB 2586 (Torrico)– Renter foreclosure rights
This bill will aid thousands of renters throughout the state who may lose their residences due to foreclosures.   It requires that the tenants, in these situations, must be given 60 days’ notice before they can be required to vacate these premises; thereby giving tenants enough time to find new housing.  These notices must be provided in plain language as well as translated into the top five languages other than English spoken by Californians so that renters will e able to understand the impact of the foreclosure on their housing situation.  In addition, the bill also clarifies protections for tenants to be able to receive their security deposit.

AB 2762 (Eng) – Larry’s Law
Over the last few years, California has experienced an alarming increase in bias-motivated incidents in public schools.  One egregious incident includes the tragic murder of LGBT teenager, Lawrence King, at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, California.  To prevent such hate based violence, this bill will require schools to establish a protocol for reporting threats of violence that are made between students.  In addition, the bill establishes a pilot project grant program to help integrate inter-group relations in the existing curriculum.

ACR 108 (Eng) - Hate Crimes Awareness Month
Hate Crimes are criminal offences committed against persons, property, or society that are motivated by the offender’s bias against race religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender or ethnicity/national origin.  The U.S. Department of Justice’s National Criminal Victimization Survey reveals that 56% of hate crimes are not reported to the proper authorities.  In an effort to improve public safety by promoting a better public understanding of hate crimes, this resolution establishes the month of June as Hate Crimes Awareness Month.  

AJR 65 (Furutani) - Preservation of Filipino Communities
Formally recognizes the significance of Filipino and Filipino American communities on the history and cultural heritage of the state of California.  This ACR recognizes the critical role that Filipino and Filipino American communities have played in the social, economic, and political development of California throughout the state’s history.  It  also demonstrates the state’s commitment to the preservation of these communities.  Recognizing that the contributions of Filipino and Filipino American communities are often marginalized, if not forgotten, this AJR seeks to properly recognize their contribution to the rich history and culture of our state. 

AJR 67 (Furutani) - Citizenship for American Samoans
An AJR to urge the U.S. government to create a less burdensome path to citizenship for American Samoans residing in the U.S. territory, American Samoa. 

SB 1250 (Yee) – Incarcerated Youth Family Communications
This bill increases the rights that incarcerated youth have to communicate with their families, clergy and counsel. Research has proven that people who have more contact with their families and communities during incarceration are much less likely to re-offend post release. SB 1250 requires parents or guardians to be notified in case of serious injury or suicide attempt by their child, allows four phone calls per month to families at no cost to the youth or family, allows the youth to speak in their family’s native language while on the phone with them, and provides a written description of rights to the youth in a language that they speak.