Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday signed AB 30, the California Racial Mascots Act by Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D-Watsonville), which bans public schools from using the term “Redskins” as a team name or mascot. Melanie Mason, Los Angeles Times:
“As of Jan. 1, 2017, all public schools will be barred from using the term ‘Redskin,’ which many Native Americans consider a racial slur. The measure by Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D-Watsonville) will allow schools that use materials that contain the term, such as uniforms, to phase out their use to alleviate cost concerns. The new law will affect four California high schools in Merced, Calaveras, Tulare and Madera counties.
“Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter and National Congress of American Indians Executive Director Jackie Pata, leaders of the advocacy group Change the Mascot, used the new California law to exert pressure on the Washington Redskins, the professional football team that has faced sharp criticism over its name.
"’This landmark legislation eliminating the R-word in California schools clearly demonstrates that this issue is not going away, and that opposition to the Washington team on this issue is only intensifying. The NFL should act immediately to press the team to change the name,’ Halbritter and Pata said in a statement.”
Brown cleared his desk hours before Sunday’s midnight deadline, having signed 808 bills and vetoed 133 – giving him a veto rate of just over 14% this year. While there was no overarching theme to his rejections, efforts to expand the penal code faced a struggle, and many bills that would have added to the state budget fell under his pen.
Brown rejected two so-called “job killer” bills on Sunday: a measure to expand the unpaid family leave policy and a bill that would ban mandatory employment arbitration agreements. Juliet Williams, AP:
“Brown rejected lawmakers' efforts to expand the state's unpaid family leave policy, vetoing legislation by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, that would have expanded the pool of workers who can take up to 12 weeks off to care for grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and parents-in-law. He agreed with CalChamber's argument that SB406 conflicts with federal law and could require employers to provide up to 24 weeks of family leave in a year.
“Bucking labor unions, the Democratic governor also vetoed legislation that sought to bar mandatory employment arbitration agreements, which CalChamber warned would ‘significantly drive up litigation costs’ and lawsuits for employers. Brown called AB465 by Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, ‘a far-reaching approach that has been consistently struck down in other states’ for conflicts with federal law.”
The Governor also vetoed Assemblyman Ian Calderon’s Right-to-Try bill, which would have allowed patients to petition to try drugs that have not yet been approved by the FDA – a poor wedding present for Calderon, who married the former Elise Lau this weekend. Calderon racked up the worst percentage of vetoes to bills signed, with four out of five of his bills being sunk by the governor. Ah well, he’ll have two weeks in Hawaii to recover…Mazel Tov, you two!
Frankly, the bills that got the guv’s autograph are the bigger news, with the biggest being the New Motor Voter Act, signed on Saturday. The bill, based on an Oregon law, will add millions to the voter rolls… or, as John Myers noted on Twitter: “CA's #NewMotorVoter law will register more potential voters than combined registration of Iowa, New Hampshire, [and] South Carolina.” That's big news.
Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times: “About 6.6 million eligible Californians have not registered to vote, according to Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who sponsored the measure.
"’The New Motor Voter Act will make our democracy stronger by removing a key barrier to voting,’ Padilla said Saturday. ‘Citizens should not be required to opt into their fundamental right to vote. We do not have to opt into other rights such as free speech or due process.’
“Voting rights activists note that the registration gap is widest among young people. Only 52% of eligible Californians between 18 and 24 were registered to vote before the last election, according to Emily Rusch, a voting rights activist and executive director at the California Public Interest Research Group.”
Also a BFD: Brown’s signature on SB 27, a bill banning the use of antibiotics on healthy farm animals.
"’The science is clear that the overuse of antibiotics in livestock has contributed to the spread of antibiotic resistance and the undermining of decades of life-saving advances in medicine,’ Brown said in a signing statement….
"’By 2050, more people will die from antibiotic-resistant bacteria than from cancer,’ said Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, the author of Senate Bill 27, quoting a research study. ‘I heard that statistic, realized nothing was being done and knew I needed to take action to stop this from becoming our reality.’"
And, in the wake of last week’s horrible school shooting stories, Brown’s decision to approve a ban on concealed weapons on California school campuses will give fuel to the fire on both sides of the gun issue.
As the governor sorted through the bills on his desk, President Obama made a quick round of fundraising stops in the Los Angeles area. Faced with filing routine Pool reports, Gardiner Harris, the New York Times White House Correspondent offered some dispatches that went above and beyond the call:
“3:05 p.m.: ‘Obama left the fundraiser at the home of J.J. Abrams, the Star Wars director, at 3:04 PST. The crudités were terrestrial; the view to the Pacific was not. Homes here on San Remo Drive have high hedges, steel fences, gated driveways and pixy dust. Abrams’ low-key Cape Cod-style home had, your pooler is afraid to admit, an understated elegance. Plus the rubber mask of the creature from ‘Alien’ attached to the face was creepily cool. A Secret Service agent had to ask Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post several times – the last time somewhat forcefully – to put down the mic and leave the premises. Your pooler is now comforting Jaffe, recovering from his glimpse of how the other 0.01 percent lives.’
“3:32 p.m.: ‘The motorcade drove all of four minutes before arriving at the next event, reminiscent of Steve Martin’s car journeys in ‘LA Story.’”’
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