Sen. Caroline Menjivar

The California Constitution declares various inalienable rights of the people, including the right to enjoy and defend life and liberty, acquire, possess, and protect property, and pursue and obtain safety, happiness, and privacy. This measure would amend the California Constitution to declare that the people have a right to clean air and water and a healthy environment considering the general well-being and other needs of the people. The measure would specify that the principles inherent in these rights shall serve as a guide to all branches of government in the performance of their official duties and that these rights shall inure to all people in equal measure and shall not be construed or applied in a manner inconsistent with duly enacted laws of the state or other rights set forth in the California Constitution.

Maddy summaryThis Senate Resolution officially designates June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) Pride Month in California. The measure serves to honor the history of the civil rights movement, which began with the Stonewall Uprising in 1969, and recognizes the significant contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals to the state and nation. It also highlights recent legal victories, such as marriage equality, and acknowledges the growing representation of LGBTQ+ people in public office. The resolution is a commemorative action that does not create new laws or alter existing policies.

This measure would acknowledge April 2024 as Child Abuse Prevention Month and encourage Californians to work together to support youth-serving child abuse prevention activities in their communities and schools.

Maddy summaryThis legislative resolution designates March 8, 2024, as International Women's Day within the State of California. The measure serves a commemorative purpose by officially recognizing the date, which honors the history of women's rights activism and global efforts to promote gender equality. It does not create new laws, allocate funding, or change existing policies, but rather formally acknowledges the significance of the day through a ceremonial designation.

This measure would proclaim March 12, 2024, as Women's Equal Pay Day in California, in recognition of the need to eliminate the gender gap in earnings by women and to promote policies to ensure equal pay for all.

Maddy summarySenate Resolution 94 officially designates June 1, 2024, as California Adopt-a-Pet Day to encourage pet adoptions across the state. This proclamation aims to help shelters find homes for 2,024 animals during a special event organized by animal welfare groups. The resolution does not change any laws or policies but serves as a formal declaration to support a one-day campaign. It is intended to raise awareness and facilitate adoptions without altering existing regulations or funding.

Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California to license and regulate the practice of medicine, and establishes examination, training, and other requirements for licensure as a physician and surgeon. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor. This bill, through November 30, 2024, would authorize a physician licensed to practice medicine in Arizona who meets certain requirements to practice medicine in California for the purpose of providing abortions and abortion-related care to patients who are Arizona residents traveling from Arizona, upon application for registration with the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, as applicable. The bill would prohibit the physician from providing care or consultation for other purposes or to other patients, except under specified circumstances. The bill would require an Arizona physician, before practicing in California, to submit specified information to the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, as applicable, including, among other information, written verification from the Arizona Medical Board or the Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery, or documentation printed from an online licensing system, that the physician's Arizona license to practice medicine is in good standing and confers on the physician the authority to practice abortions and abortion-related care. The bill would require the applicant to provide an affidavit attesting that, among other things, the applicant meets all of the requirements for registration, as specified, and would make it a misdemeanor for a person to provide false information. The bill would limit the information the California boards are required to disclose about a registrant. The bill would deem a physician registered pursuant to the bill's provisions a licensee of the applicable board, would authorize the applicable board to take enforcement against a person registered pursuant to the bill's provisions, and would prohibit the applicable boards from collecting any fees for registration. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would repeal the bill's provisions on January 1, 2025. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, until January 1, 2031, authorizes the State Air Resources Board to adopt a regulation establishing a system of market-based declining aggregate emissions limits for sources or categories of sources that emit greenhouse gases (market-based compliance mechanism) that meets certain requirements. Existing law establishes the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sales of allowance as a part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited into the fund and requires the Legislature to appropriate moneys in the fund for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the state, as provided. Existing law, the California Climate Crisis Act, declares that it is the policy of the state both to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, but no later than 2045, and achieve and maintain net-negative greenhouse gas emissions thereafter, and to ensure that by 2045, statewide anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 85% below the 1990 levels. This bill would enact the Polluters Pay Climate Cost Recovery Act of 2024 and would establish the Polluters Pay Climate Cost Recovery Program to be administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency to require fossil fuel polluters to pay their fair share of the damage caused by the sale of their products during the covered period, which the bill would define as the time period between the 2000 and 2020 calendar years, inclusive, to relieve a portion of the burden from climate harms that is borne by California taxpayers. The bill would require the agency, within 90 days of the effective date of the act, to determine and publish a list of responsible parties, which the bill would define as an entity with a majority ownership interest in a business engaged in extracting or refining fossil fuel that, during the covered period, did business in the state or otherwise had sufficient contact with the state and is determined by the agency to be responsible for more than 1,000,000,000 metric tons of covered fossil fuel emissions, as defined, in aggregate, globally during the covered period. This bill would require the agency, within one year of the effective date of the act, to conduct a climate cost study to, at a minimum, quantify the total damage amount, which the bill would define as all past and future climate harms and damages to the state through December 31, 2045. The bill would require the agency to update the climate cost study, not less frequently than every 2 years, through January 1, 2046. The bill would require the agency, within 60 days of the completion of the climate cost study, to determine and assess, as provided, a cost recovery demand for each responsible party listed, which represents the responsible party's proportionate share of the total damage amount that is fairly and reasonably attributable to the covered fossil fuel emissions of the responsible party. The bill would require responsible parties to pay their cost recovery demand, as provided. The bill would require the collected cost recovery demands to be deposited in the Polluters Pay Climate Fund, which the bill would create in the State Treasury. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require moneys in the fund be expended for, among other things, qualifying expenditures, which the bill would define as expenditures for projects and programs to mitigate, adapt, or respond to the damages and costs caused to the state from climate change. The bill would require the agency to determine the initial implementation costs for the act, as provided, and would require the agency to assess an amount allocated equitably among responsible parties to cover those costs. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Maddy summaryThis Senate Resolution establishes May 22 as Harvey Milk Day to honor the legacy of Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city. The measure recognizes Milk's contributions to LGBTQ+ civil rights, including his work passing anti-discrimination laws and defeating Proposition 6, while also acknowledging his assassination in 1978. By adopting this resolution, the California Legislature formally commemorates Milk's life and impact on the state's history of equality and representation.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes April 27 as Harvey Milk Day to honor the first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city. The resolution recognizes Milk's legacy as a civil rights leader who fought against discrimination and advocated for LGBTQ+ visibility and unity among minority communities. It recounts key events in his life, including his assassination in 1978 and the subsequent legal proceedings against his killer. The measure serves as a commemorative acknowledgment of Milk's impact on California and national history rather than creating new laws or policies.