Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Plastic Bag Ban and Gun Bill, Vetoes Three Dozen Others

By Jessica Calefati
Mercury News
September 30, 2014

http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_26635094/california-becomes-first-state-ban-plastic-shopping-bags

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed a raft of key bills, including controversial measures that outlaw single-use plastic grocery bags, force juvenile sex offenders to obtain treatment and allow relatives of mentally ill gun owners to temporarily take away their guns.

On his last day to act on legislation, the governor also used his veto pen liberally. He rejected a bill that would have lengthened the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse and dismissed half of the ethics reform bills passed by the Legislature following a series of embarrassing political scandals that rocked Sacramento earlier this year.

"Politicians should be subject to various constraints," Brown wrote in one of 36 veto messages released Tuesday. "I would point out, however, that some balance and discretion is required."

Overall, Brown vetoed 143 of the more than 1,000 bills that landed on his desk in the Legislature's final days in August, making his veto rate for this election year 13.3 percent. That's a few percentage points higher than last year, when he rejected one in 10 bills.

Other notable pieces of legislation that earned Brown's blessing this week include bills that impose tougher safety standards for some limousines; allow public school students to review and delete data collected about them by school districts through social media; and require California college students to hear the word "yes" from their sexual partners.

Brown's actions on the package of ethics reform bills pleased some and angered others, reflecting the same "turn to the left, then turn to the right" philosophy he applied last year to a series of gun bills, Capitol observers say.

The governor, for example, endorsed measures that ban fundraisers at lobbyists' homes and block candidates for statewide office from hiring relatives, while dismissing bills that sought to limit the types of gifts politicians can accept and force lawmakers to disclose the names of groups that bankroll their travel junkets.

For additional clarity and insight on his position, Brown referred lawmakers to an article written by one of his former law professors that was published by the Federal Bar Journal in 1964 titled "The Purity Potlatch: An Essay on Conflicts of Interest, American Government and Moral Escalation."

The lofty essay by Bayless Manning decried the then-growing preoccupation with ethics and conflicts of interest. He argued that there was no evidence that new ethics rules imposed at the time were having any effect on public officials' conduct.

But Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said the governor simply got it wrong.

"Year after year, the same concerns are raised about the same political practices currently permitted by state law, which these vetoed bills sought to address," said Steinberg, who will soon be forced to leave office because of term limits. "This was an opportunity missed."

Environmental groups were among the biggest winners of the 2014 legislative session. Following a bad 2013, when many of their key bills died amid industry opposition, this year they saw lawmakers pass and Brown sign into law many of their top priorities.

The environmentalists' most resounding victories include the first statewide ban on cheap plastic grocery bags in the nation -- which manufacturers have vowed to repeal through the referendum process -- and landmark rules to regulate the overpumping of groundwater, particularly in the Central Valley, where heavy pumping has led to water tables dropping to alarmingly low levels.

Environmentalists also helped push through a measure, SB968, by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Bruno, that requires the State Lands Commission to negotiate a permanent public path to Martins Beach in San Mateo County with tech billionaire Vinod Khosla.

But environmentalists lost on several issues, including an attempt to ban the use of orca whales in entertainment shows; a moratorium on the oil extraction technique known as fracking; and a bill to block construction of Brown's proposed giant tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta without a vote of the Legislature.

"There are some disappointments. But generally, this has been a very good year," said Kathryn Phillips, executive director of Sierra Club California. "Last year, the environmental community was split on a lot of issues and hadn't worked out our differences. This year, we picked a few priority areas and really focused on those."

Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, said through a spokesman that he's thrilled that Brown signed a bill he sponsored known as Audrie's Law, which will require juvenile sex offenders to obtain treatment. The bill is named for Audrie Pott, a Saratoga High School student who killed herself in 2012 after being sexually assaulted by three classmates who received light punishments.

But Beall expressed disappointment over the governor's veto of SB924, a bill that would have allowed future victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits against their molesters until age 40.

Last year, the governor vetoed the most stringent gun control bills approved by the Legislature in the wake of the deadly shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. This year, he signed two bills inspired by Elliot Rodger's rampage in May near UC Santa Barbara, in which six people were killed and 13 wounded.

Modeled on domestic violence laws, Assembly Bill 1014 will let family members or police ask a judge for a "gun violence restraining order." It will require that a mentally unstable person's guns be taken for safekeeping -- and new gun purchases prohibited -- for one year if there's credible evidence of a risk of violence.

Connecticut, Indiana and Texas have similar laws, and a New York State legislator introduced a similar bill Tuesday, modeled on the new California law.

Until now, California allowed the seizure of guns from potentially violent, mentally ill people only after a licensed therapist notifies police of a risk. Family members could call police, but if no crime was committed or the person didn't meet criteria for an involuntary civil commitment to mental health treatment, police couldn't move to take away that person's firearms.

"This reinforces California's leadership in gun violence prevention, and it gives a very effective tool to family members and to law enforcement to take guns out of the hands of people who are threatening to commit acts of violence," said Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, author of the new law.

But many gun owners say the law violates civil liberties.

"Whether by suicide or homicide, people will die as a result of a law that will surely drive some Californians away from mental health care," said Eric Wooten, president of the Oakland-based Liberal Gun Owners Association. "Gun owners can have their homes searched, firearms and ammo taken without a day in court."

Contact Jessica Calefati at 916-441-2101. Follow her at Twitter.com/calefati. Read the Political Blotter at IBAbuzz.com/politics.

BILLS SIGNED THIS WEEK

A package of nine bills to reform practices within the Department of Social Services when it comes to elder care. They included SB 895, by Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, to require the department to post annual inspection reports online. AB 1572 by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, will increase the rights of residents of elder-care facilities and their families.

AB 1014, Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. Lets family members seek restraining orders to take guns away from mentally unstable relatives.

AB 1442, Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles. Allows public school students to review and delete social media data collected about them by school districts.

AB 420, Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento. Eliminates suspensions for very young children and expulsions for students of any age for dress code violations, failure to bring school materials and talking back to teachers.

SB 1177, Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. Prohibits companies from improperly using the personal information they gather about students who use online apps in class.

AB 1666, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens. Doubles fines for bribery of elected officials.

AB 1673, Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, and SB 1441, Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens. The two bills bar lobbyists from hosting political fundraisers at their homes.

AB 2320, Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-San Jose. Prevents statewide office candidates from using campaign cash to employ relatives.

AB 2013, Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance. Allows 15,000 more electric vehicles to drive solo in carpool lanes, bringing the total number statewide to 70,000.

SB 270, Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima. Imposes the nation's first statewide ban on single-use plastic grocery bags

SB 505, Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson. Requires police to develop policies encouraging officers to search federal firearms databases before doing "welfare checks."

SB 611, Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo. Imposes tougher safety standards for some limousines. Inspired by a deadly limousine fire last year on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.

SB 838, Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose. Known as Audrie's Law. Forces juvenile sex offenders to obtain treatment.

SB 967, Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles. Known as the "yes means yes" bill. Requires California college students to seek "affirmative consent" from their sexual partners.

SB 968, Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo. Requires the State Lands Commission to negotiate a permanent public path to Martins Beach with tech billionaire Vinod Khosla.

Contact: jcalefati@bayareanewsgroup.com