Panel defeats bill banning public transit strikes
SACRAMENTO -- A Republican measure that would have prohibited public transit workers from striking was rejected by a state Senate panel Monday with Democrats in opposition.
Senate Republican leader Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) introduced SB 423 in response to two recent Bay Area Rapid Transit strikes in the San Francisco area that disrupted service to thousands of commuters.
Huff declared the measure dead for the year after three Democrats on the Senate Public Employees and Retirement Committee voted against the bill and it received support only from two Republicans.
“We have made the public rely on public transit, but as a Legislature, we have failed to make public transit reliable,” Huff said after the vote. “That’s a major failure. Californians deserve a government that works for everyone, but today they were let down.”
He said other legislators have said they plan to introduce similar bills in the coming months.
The measure was opposed in the committee by Democrats Jim Beall of San Jose, Marty Block of San Diego and Leland Yee of San Francisco.
The bill was supported in committee by Republicans Mimi Walters of Laguna Niguel and Ted Gaines of Granite Bay.
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