Bill signings and vetoes

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger completed action over the weekend on 1,172 bills sent to him by the Legislature this year. He signed 910 measures into law and vetoed 262.

He OKd laws that will affect millions of Californians and thousands of businesses, including measures to curb industrial greenhouse gas emissions, raise the minimum wage, catalyze competition between telephone and cable TV companies, increase penalties for sex offenders, offer poor Californians cheaper prescription drugs, and ban drivers from using hand-held cellphones.

The governor rejected bills that would have allowed illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses, required children to ride in car booster safety seats until age 8 and imposed fees on shippers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Here are some of the other actions Schwarzenegger took:

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Bills signed into law

Asian delicacies

Requires the state to study ways to allow the sale of ceremonial foods within health standards (AB 2214).

Bad meat

Requires state health officers to notify the public about tainted meat (SB 611).

Bribery

Expands laws to include county supervisors and other local elected officials (SB 1308).

College journalists

Bans administrators from censoring college newspapers (AB 2581).

Community college

Provides an emergency $30-million loan to Compton Community College District (AB 318).

Contact lenses

Requires prescription for all contacts, including those that change eye color (AB 1382).

Domestic partners

Allows domestic partners to file joint state tax returns (SB 1827).

Emergencies

Requires drivers to slow or change lanes for emergency vehicles stopped along freeways (SB 1610).

Fast trains

Moves a $9-billion high-speed rail bond measure from the November ballot to the 2008 election (AB 713).

Firearms

Requires people served with restraining orders to immediately relinquish their guns (SB 585).

Hearing test

Requires that all hospitals test hearing of newborns (AB 2651).

Human eggs

Bans the sale of human eggs and embryos for medical research (SB 1260).

Lead paint

Imposes a fine of $5,000 and possible jail time for landlords who fail to remediate lead-based paint (AB 2861).

Lost keys

Requires carmakers to give owners information on how to get new keys made (SB 1542).

Phone records

Bans the sale of records without consent; makes it illegal to get them by fraud (SB 202).

Plastic surgery

Allows dentists to perform facial cosmetic surgery under certain conditions (SB 438).

Playgrounds

Changes California playground safety standards to match national norms (AB 1144).

Pool safety

Requires new or remodeled pools to include at least one of seven anti-drowning features (AB 2977).

Special election

Reimburses counties $39 million for the 2005 special election (AB 1634).

Voter information

Allows public safety officials to keep their voter registration data confidential (SB 506).

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Bills vetoed

Bullying

Would have directed schools to protect students from harassment based on sexual orientation (AB 606).

Cigarette sales

Would have banned Internet retailers from shipping cigarettes directly to consumers (SB 1208).

Clean vehicles

Would have required half of all new vehicles sold in the state to use alternative fuel by 2020 (AB 1012).

Condoms

Would have allowed nonprofit groups to distribute condoms in prisons (AB 1677).

Gender equity

Would have boosted penalties against employers who pay less based on the sex of an employee (AB 2555).

Health benefits

Would have required large employers to spend the equivalent of 8% of total wages on health benefits (SB 1414).

Health coverage

Would have covered every Californian with health insurance through a government-run program (SB 840).

Hemp

Would have allowed California farmers to grow industrial hemp (AB 1147).

High school diploma

Would have allowed students who failed the high school exit exam to earn a high school diploma concurrent with earning a community college associate degree (SB 1546).

Initiatives

Would have made it illegal to pay initiative signature gatherers per signature (AB 2946).

Television station

Would have allowed an Orange County community college to sell TV station KOCE “for less than fair market value.”

Textbooks

Would have banned school books that “reflect adversely” on people because of sexual orientation (SB 1437).

Workers’ compensation

Would have doubled the time that permanently disabled workers could receive benefits (SB 815).

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For more information, go to www.leginfo.ca.gov.

Source: Times staff