2,900 Bills Were Introduced in the State Legislature

By Assemblymember Marie Waldron

This year over 2,900 bills were introduced in the State Legislature, an excessive number in my opinion. All those bills had to pass by the “house of origin” deadline on May 31st. Any bills that failed to pass are held for now, though some will become two-year bills to be considered again next year.

Several of my bills beat the deadline, including Assembly Bill 1352, which strengthens local mental health boards and oversees community mental health systems to improve care to patients. Assembly Bill 9, which I jointly authored with Assemblymembers Reyes and Friedman, extends the time frame for filing a sexual harassment complaint from one to three years. To provide more sources of water for our arid region, AB 1304 will allow water districts to purchase water from tribal governments and has been assigned to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

My co-authored bills also include AB 526, which streamlines access to medical care for over 200,000 uninsured children in California; AB 1116, to ensure that California’s first responders have access to trained peer support teams; and AB 128, which requires persons purchasing horses at auctions to sign a sworn statement agreeing to comply with the prohibition on the sale or resale of horses for slaughter.

Once voted out of their house of origin, all bills must be approved by the alternate house no later than September 13. This final floor vote is often the only time members not assigned to a bill’s specific committees actually see the bill. After approval by both houses, the Governor will have until October 13 to sign or veto all legislation.

The next few months will be very busy in Sacramento