SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California Senate Republicans together pushed major priority bills through their final committee hearing in a historically successful push to advance legislation to help veterans, sexual assault victims, wildfire survivors, and more. The Assembly Appropriations Committee passed an array of priority bills authored by Senate Republicans despite mounting pressure to table said bills due to political, policy, and cost considerations.
“These are meaningful victories,” said Senate Republican Caucus Chair Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta). "These bills deliver long-overdue justice, essential support to those in need, protection for the vulnerable, transparency, and assistance to our veterans. These are the goals we are here to achieve.”
The following represents some of the most significant bills authored by California Senate Republicans that passed through the Assembly Appropriation Committee:
- SB 268 (Alvarado-Gil): Will make rape of an intentionally intoxicated person a violent felony.
- SB 1414 (Grove): Will strengthen protections for children under 18 from being or becoming victims of human trafficking by going after the buyers of children, making the act of soliciting, agreeing to engage in, or engaging in any act of commercial sex with a minor a felony.
- SB 542 (Dahle): Will exclude settlement payments awarded to victims of the 2022 Mill Fire and the 2021 Dixie Fire from gross income, meaning those payments would not be subject to income taxes.
- SB 920 (Seyarto): Will formally establish the Purple Star School Program which helps military families identify schools that specialize in providing support for the unique challenges children of military families face.
- SB 978 (Seyarto): Will help everyday Californians access critical information regarding how their tax dollars are spent by making by making the State Budget accessible on the Department of Finance website.
- SB 1043 (Grove): Endorsed by child advocate and celebrity Paris Hilton, this bill will propose greater transparency for children and young adults who are living in facilities licensed by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), by requiring information related to the use of restraints and seclusion rooms to be accessible to the public.
- SB 1233 (Wilk): Will establish a framework for California’s two accredited schools of veterinary medicine at UC Davis and Western University of Health Sciences, to create a first-in-the-nation High-Quality High-Volume Spay/Neuter (HQHVSN) certification program.
Bills passed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee will be heard next on the Assembly Floor for a vote of the entire body as they make their way to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.