Assemblyman Leland Yee: Update on Legislative Issues

I have always appreciated that the residents of the 12th Assembly District are eager to maintain a high level of involvement with issues that affect our neighborhoods, our city and our state. Therefore, I feel it important to keep you apprised of significant pieces of legislation as they make their way through the process on their way to becoming law.

My legislative priorities include issues that are important to San Franciscans and to all Californians - protecting our children, holding polluters accountable, expanding access to healthcare and mental health services, reducing prescription drug costs, bringing good jobs to California and ensuring quality and affordable education for our students. 

In the 2003-2004 legislative session, I had 20 bills signed into law (11 by former Gov. Gray Davis and nine by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger). I will work diligently again this year to ensure that the legislation I am carrying will be successful and serve my constituency well.

My 2005-06 bill package contains updated versions of some previous proposals, as well as new legislation. 

Assembly Bill (AB) 41 will protect women and children from becoming victims of intrastate human trafficking; AB 450 will keep harmful, ultra-violent video games out of the hands of children under 17; and AB 1209 requires recreational snowmobile tours to provide reasonable safety standards to prevent undue injuries and deaths. Locally, AB 452 will establish 19th Avenue as a double fine zone to decrease the number of pedestrian deaths and injuries on this dangerous corridor.

In education, AB 171 provides physical, social, emotional, and intellectual supports at our schools to increase student achievement by encouraging schools to collaborate with community service providers to augment options for increased access to physical and mental health services, social services, and recreational opportunities. AB 970 improves the seismic safety of our public schools to ensure that our children will be safe in the classroom. AB 443 and AB 444 would improve school nutritional programs to help raise healthier kids.

Among my new legislation is AB 866, which adds sexual orientation to the list of protections in the code of fair campaign practices to ensure campaigns are conducted ethically. AB 1178 implements an electronic data reporting system of transactions involving secondhand personal property for assisting in tracking stolen property.

In addition to these bills, I am continuing my efforts to recapture jet fuel sales tax revenue for San Francisco and San Mateo Counties lost through a tax loophole exploited by a local airline. In addition, I am working closely with local leaders to help San Francisco and San Mateo counties receive their fair share of Proposition 63 funding for mental health services for the homeless. 

You can read the content of these and other bills at www.leginfo.ca.gov. I encourage you to take a moment to learn not only about the bills I am bringing before the legislature, but also to look into other policy issues currently affecting your community.

Additionally, feel free to contact me or my staff at (415) 557-2312 with questions. I am always happy to hear from you. 

Leland Yee is the speaker pro tempore at the California Assembly.