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Is Moonbeam not aware of these bills’ burning urgency? Well, call him. 877-569-8423.
(Originally entitled: Call Jerry Brown to Sign these Three Vital Bills!) UPDATE AT BOTTOM: Jerry signed all three of these bills – most of them today – as well as several other really good ones! See below…
It’s that time, it’s that week. The week where all the bills which the Governor hasn’t already signed, some of which we fought long and hard to get them through both houses of the legislature, begin to slowly crumple up, wither, waste away, until on Friday evening they finally expire with a nearly inaudible but tearful sigh.
Even now, on Wednesday morning, these bills are looking wan, distressed, deprived of oxygen, anemic, feeble. EMT is on standby, but will be of zero help if Jerry doesn’t get off his ass and sign these three vital bills THIS WEEK.* (So call him at 877-569-8423, press 1 and then 6, it takes only three minutes and the hold music’s not that bad.)
*UPDATE: Well, that was fun to write, but I just found out that if he doesn’t sign a bill it still goes into effect but “without his support or endorsement.” Musta been thinking about the US President, and the “pocket veto.” Well, we STILL wanna make sure he DOESN’T VETO these, and it’s best if he signs them, so call!
SB 1421, Police Misconduct & Use of Force. Needed in Anaheim and Santa Ana as much as anywhere in the state. (Sadly, the only OC legislators to support this important police reform bill were our fine senators John Moorlach and [the tragically recalled] Josh Newman – no others had the intestinal fortitude to take on bad cops. Maybe when it’s not an election year?) The ACLU writes:
“Although California is often thought of as a beacon of progressive values, the Golden State is actually one of the most secretive states when it comes to information about police use of force and serious and confirmed misconduct by police. This must change. The public has a fundamental right to know about cases in which officers have been found guilty of committing sexual assault or dishonesty during the investigation, reporting, or prosecution of crimes. That includes confirmed instances of officers lying, planting evidence, or falsifying police reports. Equally important is access to records related to police shootings and other serious or deadly uses of force. We give law enforcement officers tremendous power to stop, detain, arrest, and even use force on members of our communities. We, the people, have a fundamental right to know how police use – and abuse – their powers.”
AB 2188, the Social Media DISCLOSE Act. Crucial sister to the popular and successful DISCLOSE Act (which even Ling-Ling Chang [perhaps accidentally] voted for), this bill will “require online social media platforms to disclose information regarding the funders of political advertisements and to keep a database of the political ads they run” – particularly important after all the meddling and fake news impacting our 2016 election. I’m happy to say this bill was backed by all OC legislators except the following enemies of transparency: Matt Harper, Pat Bates, Philip Chen, Travis Allen, and Steven Choi. When you have time, you might wanna ask them why. More info here.
SB 822, California’s Net Neutrality Law. We’ve written plenty about Net Neutrality here, and I’m tired of it but I hope you all support it. Trump killed it for the nation, but we’ve saved it in the beautiful Golden State. I’m happy to see that our two Democrats (Tom and Sharon) voted for it, and sad to see that ALL our Republicans, including my buddy Moorlach, opposed it. BIG TELECOM WHORES! But now we need the Governor to sign it, or it ain’t worth the paper it was printed on. Here’s the bill’s author:
And here is the blessed chola “La Tiny” (at 1:16) explaining it as best she can:
AGAIN, CALL GOVERNOR JERRY, 877-569-8423, press 1 and then 6, it takes only three minutes and the hold music’s not that bad!
UPDATE SUNDAY
Apparently either a long hard thinker or a lover of drama and suspense, Governor Moonbeam waited till the last possible moment – this evening – to sign the above controversial bills, as well as a few others I hadn’t included in this story. (Actually the Social Media DISCLOSE Act he signed a few days ago.) SO, here are a few of the bills he signed mere minutes ago that *I* think are very helpful and important:
SB 822 Net Neutrality for California! The article concludes with something like what Sean Paden warned me yesterday:
The law will now face significant legal challenges, if not from the FCC itself, then the ISPs that have already promised to sue. “It’s very odd that Ajit Pai and the FCC apparently think that this unelected agency has the power to stop 50 states from acting to protect the internet,” said Wiener, conceding the industry has a right to ask the court to interpret the law. “We will vigorously defend this law,” he added. “And the law is defensible.”
SB 1421, Access to Police Records, written about in a great Times article here, and starting to chip away at the Police Officers’ Bill of Rights.
Also in the same article, AB 748 for release of body cam footage. Again, we have only our cool liberty-loving Senator Moorlach to thank for supporting this bill, out of all our OC Republicans and Democrats. And these two bills should really be helpful to our new Police Review Board here in Anaheim!
On the topic of police reform, Brown also today signed AB 2327, putting obstacles in the way of employment of officers with a record of misconduct. THIS BILL PASSED UNANIMOUSLY so I guess it wasn’t so controversial.
And also SB 1412 making it easier for someone with an irrelevant criminal background to get employment. ALL OF OUR OC LEGISLATORS VOTED AGAINST IT BUT IT WON AND GOT SIGNED ANYWAY.
A good day for progress in California. Thank you Jerry!
Correction…just talked to the governors office, and those bills WILL pass into law, even if he does not sign them; they just do so “without his support”. (Direct quote.)
Yeah, damn, I called them again, and they told me the same thing! I must have been thinking of the President – I thought it was called a “pocket veto.” If he doesn’t sign them by Friday evening they go into effect “without his support or endorsement.” I’ll have to change this story, especially the title.
The “Clean Money” people who contacted me about the second and third bill made it sound crucial that he sign them this week, but I guess we just have to make sure he doesn’t VETO them. You learn something every day. Sometimes two things.
pock·et ve·to
noun
an indirect veto of a legislative bill by the president or a governor by retaining the bill unsigned until it is too late for it to be dealt with during the legislative session.
I guess we don’t have that in California.
I guess i get to find out why the Yak was fired from the Buena Park PD
Vern note: Read this classic again to see what Paul’s referring to:
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2014/02/the-triumph-of-paul-lucas-pt-2-bad-buena-park-cops-and-feckless-druggies/
FYI he left bppd (Fired? We may find out soon thanks to sb 1421) and is now a junior real estate agent in north oc. https://www.facebook.com/YourTrustedRealtorsRegandSteve/
Yak? i thought he got fired years ago and was looking for security work in stores.
Behold the power of POBOR. He ceased being a police officer about 2 days after his assault on me my roommate and my home. His partner Alex Kim who tried to mask himself as James Woo was busted down to traffic division from detective at the same time.
Although it would seem obvious to the casual observer that this is disciplinary in nature, we could not know for sure at the time due to the protections of corrupt police officers afforded by POBOR.
Typically what a disgraced officer will do when hes burned bridges with the professional standards officer at a department they are employed at will do a lateral transfer to another department. in this case, The Yak, left the field of law enforcement entirely and apparently got into real estate.
Now think about that for a second. No one and I mean NO ONE would willingly surrender the lucrative salary and pensions and health benefits as well as the Him-pathy and adoration of sheeple on the right with the weight of protection from a corrupt county DA. And I mean no one..
That is something that must be wrested away via force of being compelled. In my estimation, I believe what he did in my case was essentially the last straw for his Professional Standards Supervisor.
*OK…..OK….OK……join the EFF.ORG and support Net Neutrality…..This is the best organization to stay in tune with our Digital Rights and Lack there of…….Get on their
mailing list…..they have it together!
There are two other important bills, one to ask him to sign, and another to be sure he vetoes.
If you live in an HOA, which is an amazing number of people, these matter! One assures that the really really bad corporate HOA Management and Attorney companies that want to take over your HOAs, and their tame Boards of Directors don’t pass rules to keep any and all reformers and supporters of your constitutional rights off the Board! Ask him to SIGN Senate Bill 1265.
Ask him to VETO Senate Bill 1128 that would allow these same tame Boards of Director, egged on by Management, to announce that there are no “suitable” candidates so they are re-elected by default and acclimation.
Thanks, Sharon! I’ve gotten plenty of complaints over the years about how HOAs are squeezing homeowners (including condo owners) of both their rights and their money. It’s a form of “private governance” that is ripe for abuse — and the steps you promote have at least a chance of reining it in.
And thank you, Greg (during the break in the Senate hearing so I can do this!). A very good bill passed last year and went into effect this January, and I bet most HOA members don’t even know it, because it will be hidden from them. Yes! You now have freedom of speech — and you may not have had it before, even though you may have foolishly thought your constitutional rights even reigned in your own neighborhood — and you can take petitions around, put up signs during campaigns, and even use your clubhouse WITHOUT paying ANY fees, not just for political and HOA campaign events, but for ANY community purpose. Book club, anyone? Just be sure it’s open to the whole community, and if the clubhouse is not already reserved, it should be yours! When I have more time, I’ll post the dirty story of what my association did to me when I organized the fifty year celebration of our founding as the very first Irvine Village Community. Were they proud? No, they wanted to arrest anyone who came and stepped on the grass! Make those calls!
Has anyone here ever filed a California public records act request before?
One down, two to go – Jerry has signed the Social Media DISCLOSE Act.
Probably the least controversial of the three.
He has not yet signed OR vetoed SB 1421 (police records accessibility) and SB 822 (net neutrality.) It turns out he has until Sunday night Sept 30 to do that, but today’s the last day you could call him.
That’ll be big news (among other things, for our new Police Review Board) if SB 1421 goes into effect (by his signing or ignoring it.) Michael Genacco gave a presentation on it last night just in case.
Look at you, Mr. Chairman! Wonky even by my standards! Nicely done.