Tag "Mark Leno"

Back to homepage

Gov. Brown opposes CA minimum wage hike

Opening another fissure with members of his own party, Gov. Jerry Brown has come down on the opposite side of a proposed statewide increase in the minimum wage. Changing course In an indication of the mood in the governor’s office, Brown’s

Read More

Anti-smoking bills falter in Sacramento

A surprise switch to a bill that would tightly regulate vaping has caused its sponsor to repudiate the legislation. State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, had advanced SB140 confidently, riding a wave of anti-smoking activism that sought to treat vapes, or e-cigs, the

Read More

CA Senate votes to hike smoking age

Adding another bill to its reputation as a trend-setting Legislature, Sacramento has taken a big step toward raising the statewide smoking age to 21. By an overwhelming tally of 26 to 8, the state Senate voted to prohibit sales of

Read More

State senate committee approves minimum wage hike

California’s minimum wage workers will receive a 62.5 percent raise over three years if Senate Bill 3 is approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee recently passed the bill on

Read More

Four bills could wrap charter schools in red tape

Since their introduction in California 23 years ago, charter schools have grown like kudzu. According to the California Charter Schools Association, the state now boasts 1,184 charter schools, teaching an estimated 547,800 students. Charters are public schools that generally work

Read More

Tech giants back privacy bill

Bolstered by crucial support from industry leaders and Republicans across the aisle, Sacramento’s most prominent privacy-rights proponent took another stab at restricting the state’s access to personal information. State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, repackaged some of his long-cherished plans for

Read More

Minimum wage debate: history and examples

  With rallies in Los Angeles and Bay Area cities seeking a $15 minimum wage for fast food workers and state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, introducing a bill to increase the state minimum wage over the recent boost the Legislature approved,

Read More

Cell kill-switch bill moves ahead

California could soon become the second state in the nation to force so-called “kill switches” into cellphones. The technology causes equipped devices to be disabled remotely, by a figurative flip of the switch. An owner might throw the kill switch

Read More

State budget: Governor, lawmakers expected to finalize deal

State lawmakers reached a tentative agreement on the state budget Thursday, after Gov. Jerry Brown caved to Democratic lawmakers’ demands over more funding for in-home support services for elderly and disabled Californians. “We are at this point prepared to bring

Read More

CA oil industry celebrates defeat of fracking moratorium

  California’s oil industry is celebrating the defeat of a bill that would have placed a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing — but warned that the fracking war is far from over. Senate Bill 1132 by Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles,

Read More