Opinion: Death, drones, drugs -- and other legislation that needs the governor’s blessing

The California Legislature sent 941 bills to Gov. Jerry Brown this year, and he’s working his way through them to make the Oct. 11 deadline. (Only 566 to go!)

Most of the legislation is innocuous, uncontroversial or would have little effect other than to give the legislator who introduced it a “victory.” Only a few -- five -- that passed through both houses received the editorial board’s seal of disapproval.

Many more were beneficial enough that we wrote editorials supporting them. Just in case Brown doesn’t have a folder full of Los Angeles Times editorials at hand, here’s short guide to the bills we think he should sign, in no particular order. With links!

Motor-voter law: AB 1461 by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-Chula Vista) is based on a proposal by Secretary of State Alex Padilla that would automatically register Californians to vote when they get or renew a driver’s license. Our editorial.

Drones be gone: SB 168 by state Sen. Ted Gaines (R-Roseville) and Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) would allow firefighters to knock drones out of the sky in a fire zone, while imposing stiffer penalties on violators. Our editorial.

Whoa on wireless snooping: SB 178 by Sens. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) would require state and local law enforcement agents to obtain a warrant before demanding “electronic communication information” such as stored emails or metadata from a service provider, or reading the contents of a seized mobile phone. Our editorial.

Protecting pachyderms: AB 96 by Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) would ban the sale of almost all ivory in California. Our editorial.

Policing and race: AB 953 by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) would require police agencies to start collecting racial data from incidents when they stop people, and then report that information to the state. Our editorial.

Stop student warehousing: AB 1012, by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) would ban fake classes and also prohibit two other practices schools use to disguise their scheduling deficiencies: sending students home early and signing up a handful of them as teachers’ “assistants.” Our editorial.

Deferred action for drug charges: AB 1351 by Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) would tweak the deferred-entry program to remove the guilty-plea requirement for noncitizens. Our editorial.

Gun-free school zones: SB 707 by Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis) would end the campus exemption for all people holding concealed-carry permits, while granting the top school administrator the power to make case-by-case exceptions. Our editorial.

Rules for medical marijuana: SB 643 by Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) would create a new Office of Medical Marijuana Regulation to establish rules for the industry and issue licenses to people who grow, transport and sell cannabis. AB 266 by Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) would create the Governor’s Office of Marijuana Regulation to oversee the new regulatory system. Our editorial.

Helping healthcare shoppers: SB 137 by Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) would require insurers to fix the errors in their provider lists and keep them up to date, while penalizing doctors who don’t respond to insurers’ inquiries about their status. Our editorial.

Fighting wage theft: SB 588 by Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) addresses the problem of employers not paying workers all they are owed. Our editorial.

The right to die: AB 15 by Eggman is a special-session revival of a Senate bill that died earlier this year in committee. It allows a terminally ill patient to receive a lethal prescription to self-administer if she or he chooses. Our editorial.

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