Governor Jerry Brown continues to work through the pile of legislation awaiting his action, issuing both signatures and vetoes this weekend. Measures that found his support included a bill to extend the statute of limitations for lawsuits by human trafficking and torture victims, a bill to allow collection of DNA from felons and a measure that closes a loophole that allowed purchases of ivory and rhinoceros horn. Patrick McGreevy, LAT:
“The governor accepted an extended statute of limitations for civil lawsuits by victims of human rights abuses in California. They will have 10 years, rather than the two to five years now allowed, to file such actions starting Jan. 1, the effective date for all 22 bills Brown signed.
“California is a top destination for human traffickers, and two years is often inadequate for gathering evidence in complex abuse cases, said Assembly Majority Leader Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), author of the measure.
"’I think it's important to understand that victims of human trafficking and other abuses often suffer mental and physical problems that prevent them from filing these cases quickly,’ Holden said. ‘It often takes many years for them to find their way out of perilous circumstances.’"
Brown also signed legislation to protect minorities from racial profiling and excessive force by police. Patrick McGreevy again:
“The profiling legislation the governor approved was a response to ‘the deaths of unarmed black men and other people of color by police,’ said the author, Assemblywoman Shirley N. Weber (D-San Diego). Such incidents ‘have forced us to confront some ugly truths about the persistence of racial bias in law enforcement,’ she said.”
On a lighter note, the Governor signed a bill by Senator Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) that legalizes consumption of beer on ‘brew-bikes’ – and then celebrated with a spin on one of the bikes.
The Governor also had his veto pen handy, shooting down a number of bills regulating drones. John Howard, Capitol Weekly:
“Gov. Brown vetoed three measures over the weekend that sought to block drones from flying over schools or prisons, and which would have allowed emergency personnel to shoot down a drone if it came into a fire zone. The legislation carried penalties of up to $5,000 in fines and six months in jail for drone operators.
“But the Democratic governor said he was loathe to create new categories of criminal conduct. Last month, Brown also vetoed legislation that would have made it a crime to fly a drone within 350 feet above private property.”
Labor and technology companies would seem to be – and often are – at odds. But as the technology industry expands at breakneck speed, many companies find themselves relying on service-sector employees, a traditional strong spot for labor. Some are seeking a way to work together to the benefit of both. Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle:
“The largely nonunion, highly profitable tech sector is ripe with potential recruits. Fifty years ago, roughly 1 in every 3 U.S. workers belonged to a union. But as the nation’s manufacturing base has shrunk, now only 11 percent have a union membership. (In California, 16 percent of workers are union members, a figure that’s been stable for the past decade.)
“A nascent union movement has emerged over the past several months, as tech firms have agreed to contracts with the workers who drive their private shuttle buses. In February, bus drivers for eBay, Zynga, Yahoo, Genentech, Apple and voted to join the Teamsters International union.”
Dan Morain has been covering Kevin McCarthy, Congressional Majority Leader - and current frontrunner to replace Ohio’s John Boehner as Speaker - since he was a freshman Assemblyman from Bakersfield. Morain’s latest column offers his thoughts on McCarthy’s swift rise (and if you need convincing, Deborah Saunders calls it the best piece she’s read on McCarthy’s Speaker bid). From the Bee:
“After a campaign stop in his hometown of Bakersfield a few years ago, Rep. Kevin McCarthy told me some of the guiding principles for his success. Rule No. 1: Every election is won before it begins.”
If you are a person who dislikes puns, just stop reading now. Gizmodo dug up a map listing over 3000 crowd-sourced, pun-named businesses in the United States. This is what makes America great. From “Hair Force One” to “Lawn and Order” to “Nacho Mama,” we love ‘em all.
“What’s striking is not how awesomely awful all these names are, but the fact that so many of them are the same. Every single pet store owner thinks of the same bad doggie style pun whether it’s in Maine or Milwaukee or Maui. The list includes 30—yes 30!—hair salons named Curl Up And Dye. CURL UP AND DYE. It works on at least four levels. I want to meet all 30 of these small business owners.
“Please, I beg of you, take a few minutes to peruse the only proof you need that the American dream is alive and well. Where else can a chimney sweeping company name itself Ash Wipe? Where else???”