Legislature Passes 17 Laird Bills and 3 Resolutions

SACRAMENTO – Assembly Budget Chair John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) today announced the legislature has passed 17 bills and three resolutions he has authored including:   

Environmental issues

ACR 153, Proclaims October 11, 2008, as Coastal Trail Day
AB 2270, Increases water quality and water recycling by removing barriers to controlling water salinity
AB 2455, Creates State Parks Preservation Board
AB 2466, Enables local governments to increase use of renewable energy
AB 2532, Promotes sustainable marine fisheries
AB 2763, Creates Invasive Pest Planning Act in response to CA’s controversial Light Brown Apple Moth program
AB 2921, Modifies the Williamson Act to increase protections for open space and agricultural lands
AB 2945, Designates portion of Limekiln State Park as a Wilderness Area and streamlines wilderness management           

Healthcare and children’s issues

AJR 54, Urges Congress and President Bush to restore access to the State Children’s Health Ins. Program (SCHIP)
AB 55, Helps California’s healthcare system move toward a paperless system
AB 1060, Clarifies and updates tissue bank regulations for dentists
AB 2300, Increases access to school meals
AB 2440, Assists cancer patients with access to essential treatments
AB 2844, Increases access to food stamps and streamlines paperwork for food stamps and CalWorks programs

Civil Rights

AB 2654, Strengthens and clarifies state nondiscrimination laws

Education

AB 1230, Increases efficiency and effectiveness of the California Career Resources Network
AB 3033, Streamlines process for establishing UC research contracts

Government Organization & Public Accessibility

ACR 154, Proclaims October 2008 State Archives Month to encourage access to state records
AB 2472, Resolves long-standing lease-exchange issue between CA and City of Santa Cruz re: DeLaveaga Park
AB 2595, Establishes state procedure for recovering lost public records

For more information about these bills, please visit www.assembly.ca.gov/laird or www.leginfo.ca.gov.