Governor Issued proclamations declaring May to be...

Governor Issued proclamations declaring May to be Travel and Tourism Month and Deaf Awareness and Better Speech and Hearing Month.

Assembly Floor Action: Textbooks: Passed and sent to the Senate on a 53-3 vote a bill (ACR 11) by Assemblyman Bill Leonard (R-Redlands) to indicate the Legislature’s intention that school textbooks not arbitrarily exclude religious references and symbols if they are “essential for an understanding of our history and culture of our society.”

Committee Action: Prisons: The Public Safety Committee approved two bills (SB 279 and AB 522) by Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside) and Assemblyman John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), respectively, to establish panels to study the state’s prison crowding crisis and recommend solutions, which could include alternatives to incarceration. Both bills were sent to the Ways and Means Committee by 4-0 votes.

Senate Floor Action: Cal-Vet Home Loans: Passed and sent to the Assembly on a 31-0 vote a bill (SB 285) by Sen. Newton R. Russell (R-Glendale) to increase from $75,000 to $90,000 the maximum amount of Cal-Vet home purchase loans.

Pesticides: Passed and sent to the Assembly on a 30-0 vote a bill (SB 59) by Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) to prohibit the import of raw foreign foodstuffs that contain the residue of pesticides either banned or unregistered in California. The governor vetoed a similar bill last year because he said it would cost too much to enforce.

Air Pollution: Passed and sent to the Assembly on a 23-4 vote a bill (SB 151) by Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside) to reduce the South Coast Air Quality Management District board from 14 to seven members and revise the board’s appointees. Five members would be appointed by the governor, one by the Senate Rules Committee and one by the Speaker of the Assembly.

Committee Action: Compost: The Local Government Committee approved a bill (SB 1515) by Sen. William A. Craven (R-Oceanside) calling for a state study to determine if it is feasible to recycle household waste to build freeway sound walls and safety barriers. A 4-0 vote sent the bill to the Appropriations Committee.