Fiscal Committees Act on Two Year Bills, AB 626 Advanced to Assembly Floor

This week, fiscal committees in both houses acted on a number of two year bills hoping to continue through the legislative process. Today is the deadline for bills introduced in 2017 to be heard and reported to the floor. Two year bills that were advanced to the floor of their house of origin must be acted upon by January 31 to remain in play.

Our weekly CHEAC Bill Chart is available here. Outcomes on bills of key interest to CHEAC are noted below.

Environmental Health

AB 626 (E. Garcia) as amended on 05/02/2017 – Oppose

AB 626 by Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia would create a new type of food facility under the California Retail Food code for “microenterprise home kitchens.” These entities would be allowed to operate in private home kitchens with a limitation on the number of meals that can be prepared per day and per week, along with a gross annual sales limitation of $50,000. Local health departments would be required to permit and inspect these entities.

CHEAC and our county partners including HOAC, CSAC, UCC, and RCRC jointly oppose this bill with specific concerns around the increased potential for foodborne illness and the proposed regulatory role going beyond the scope and ability of local health departments.

AB 626 passed unanimously out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee this week and is scheduled for consideration on the Assembly Floor next week. As a two year bill, the measure must be acted upon by January 31.

Tobacco Control

AB 1097 (Levine) as revised on 01/18/2018 – Support

AB 1097 by Assembly Member Marc Levine seeks to ban smoking on state beaches and parks. Recall the measure is identical to last year’s AB 725 which passed the Legislature and was vetoed by the Governor. The measure allows the director of the Department of Parks and Recreation to post signs within the state beach and units of the state park system designating the areas as exempt from the smoking ban and imposes a fine of $50 for violations.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee passed the measure with Republicans voting no. The bill now moves to the Assembly Floor for consideration.