To find the current status of the bill, an official analysis, and full text of the bill, please go to www.leginfo.ca.gov and type in the bill number.

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma has introduced many bills in her first legislative session in the State Assembly.  As of October 16, the Governor signed 7 bills authored by Assemblywoman Ma.  

2007 Chaptered Bills

AB 101-Muni Reliability Bill

This bill will speed up Muni (San Francisco’s public transportation system) by allowing cameras to be mounted on the outside of buses to be used to ticket cars that park or double park in a bus lane.  Muni services 700,000 people per day, which is the second highest ridership in the state.  Providing Mayor Gavin Newsom with this innovative tool will save the city resources, help the buses run on schedule, and free up transit lanes for their intended uses.  The current fine for parking in a transit lane is $100 and the city maintains about 15 miles of transit only bus lanes.

AB102-Name Equality Act of 2007

The Name Equality Act of 2007 will allow soon to be married spouses and domestic partners equal opportunity, regardless of gender, to change their surnames upon marriage or domestic partnership registration. The bill was introduced on the heels of the case of Michael Buday and his wife Diana Bijon.  The couple wanted to extend the Bijon family name into another generation. A county clerk, the DMV and state records office denied Buday’s name change request on the couple’s marriage applications, leaving them only with the option of paying court fees totaling more than $300.  This law will ensure that all couples in committed relationships are treated equally.

AB 305-Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights

This bill updates the Car Buyers’ Bill of Rights by closing an unintended loophole related to the purchase of leased vehicles. Among other things, the Car Buyers’ Bill of Rights provides consumers, who lease and then buy their cars, the option to return their vehicle within two days, provided that the consumer pay for the fees that they may have incurred during the lease. This bill will prevent an unintended consequence that allowed a buyer to abuse this right in cases of previously leased vehicles, thereby ensuring that honest consumers don’t have extra costs added to their vehicle purchases.

AB 361-Inheritence Tax Loophole Fix

This bill ensures that all taxpayers—including the wealthiest—pay their California tax obligation.  When there is a new administer of a decedent’s estate, this bill will require the executor to notify the Franchise Tax Board (FTB).  This state agency can then follow up to ensure that the proper taxes are paid to support California’s critical public safety, health and transportation priorities.  The FTB predicts that the bill will result in $15 million in additional revenue over the next 3 fiscal years.

AB 402-Foster Care Tax Fix

This bill makes two important changes to current law on property taxes. First, the bill ensures that foster children are treated fairly in real estate transactions.  Under current law, foster children are treated as strangers when a foster parent transfers property.  This bill will eliminate the inequity by providing foster children the same right during the inheritance process. Second, AB 402 will correct a loophole in current property tax law whereby the transfer of individual units within a cooperative development go unreported and therefore are not reassessed at current value. As a result counties are deprived of revenue needed to fund our schools and public safety and transportation needs. AB 402 corrects this by requiring that managers of cooperative developments report the transfer of individual units to county assessors.

AB 649-Justice for Jockeys

This bill substantially increases the minimum riding fee that jockeys receive in horse races beginning on January 1, 2009. Jockeys are some of the best, yet underpaid athletes in the world and they compete in a sport so dangerous that an ambulance is required to be at every event yet some participants make less than the federal poverty level.  Since 1988, California jockeys have only received a 5% wage increase, despite performing excruciating work day in and day out.  Currently, most jockeys make less than $40,000 per year.

AB 1108-Toxic Toys Bill

This landmark, first in the nation law will ban the sale, manufacturing, and distribution of toxic toys.  The bill specifically bans chemicals known as phthalates from being used in toys and child care products that are intended to be used by children under the age of three.  The European Union and 14 other countries already have a similar ban on phthalates.  Four of the six phthalates in this bill are known reproductive toxins on California’s Proposition 65. Phthalates interfere with the hormone system and studies have linked the toxins to reproductive defects, premature birth, and the early onset of puberty, which is risk factor for breast cancer.  This bill was sponsored by the Breast Cancer Fund and Environment California.

2007 Vetoed Bill

 Although Assemblywoman Ma had one bill vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, the Governor stated that he would take steps to implement the bill’s intent administratively.

AB 182
The final version of this bill required counties to individually develop training standards through a stakeholder process for In Home Supportive Service (IHSS) workers.    IHSS workers provide a vital service to California’s elderly and disabled population by providing care to people so that they can live in the comfort of their own home.  A previous version of the bill required the Department of Social Services (DSS) to develop statewide standards.  After discussions with the IHSS public authorities the bill was changed to focus on standards at the county level.

While the Governor did veto the bill, in his veto message he stated “I am directing the Department of Social Services, in consultation with consumers, counties and other key stakeholders, to establish appropriate training standards for IHSS providers administratively to the extent resources are available to accomplish this task”.  This message provides hope that the bill will be implemented by DSS.

2 Year Bills

The following are some bills that are eligible to be heard by the legislature at the beginning of the next session (in January 2008):

AB 659 – HIV/AIDS Research
Assembly Bill 659 requests the Regents of the University of California (UC) to conduct a three-year study on the clinical impacts of HIV in people over 50 years of age. 13% of California's AIDS cases are of patients over the age of 50.  Medical advancements, such as antiretroviral treatments, have allowed persons with HIV to manage and live with the disease for long periods of time.  However, clinical research is inadequate for older Californians.  This lack of scientific understanding means that many older Californians often receive incomplete information from service providers.  By exploring the clinical presentation for older HIV-positive people, clinicians will learn to identify symptoms associated with aging (such as fatigue and memory loss) and assess whether these are HIV-related.

AB 983 – Private Contracting Transparency
Assembly Bill 983 will increase transparency in state government by requiring the Governor to present detailed information on service contracts. AB 983 makes common sense amendments to address the Governor’s concerns while preserving the intent of making service contract information available to decision makers during the budget process.

AB 1591- California’s Competition
Assembly Bill 1591 will grow California’s economy by eliminating a tax-disincentive for companies who wish to invest in this state.  Under the current corporate tax structure, companies that create jobs and build new facilities in California are punished because their corporate tax liability goes up, while companies who add jobs and facilities out of state are rewarded by receiving tax breaks.  This bill will provide a much needed incentive for California companies to again invest in the state.