October 2017 Newsletter

September 26, 2017

A Note from Toni

A Note from Toni

On Thursday night, September 14th, with little time to spare before the end of this year’s legislative session, the state Assembly provided the 54 votes needed to pass my highest-priority bill, SB 2. The next day, the Senate sent the bill to the Governor for his signature, and he signed it on September 29th.

SB 2 -- the Building Homes and Jobs Act -- has been a labor of love of mine for seven years, and with the help of many of my colleagues and countless housing, business, labor and environmental advocates, as well as my tenacious staff, we got it across the finish line. 

SB 2 will create a permanent source of funding for affordable housing, generating an estimated $250 million each year.

In the first year, half of the revenue will fund programs throughout the state that reduce homelessness, and half will go directly to local governments to fund updates of community plans, which will help neighborhoods improve quality of life and spur new housing growth where it makes the most sense.

After the first year, 70 percent of the money will go straight to communities to help create new affordable housing for struggling families and people who are homeless; the remaining 30 percent will expand funding for existing state housing programs.

SB 2 is part of a landmark package of Senate bills aimed at increasing accountability, affordability and accessibility of housing throughout California. SB 3 by Sen. Jim Beall asks voters to approve a $4-billion bond to fund affordable housing. SB 35 by Sen. Scott Wiener speeds up housing approvals in cities that aren’t meeting their housing goals. SB 540 by Sen. Richard Roth expands opportunities for housing construction. SB 166 and SB 167 by Sen. Nancy Skinner reduce obstacles to building new housing.

Additional bills that came out of the Assembly further attack the housing crisis. It was a true team effort to create new housing for our lowest-income earners up through the middle class. This package of bills won’t solve the crisis overnight; state leaders, local governments and community representatives up and down California have a lot more work to do. But this package is the most comprehensive effort the state has ever accomplished, and it’s a good start.

Meanwhile, my other priority bill, SB 179 -- the Gender Recognition Act -- is also on the Governor’s desk. It’s the next step in a long line of legislative achievements in advancing civil rights for California’s LGBTQ community.

If signed by the Governor, SB 179 will create a new, third gender marker on state-issued identity documents for nonbinary and intersex residents who identify as neither strictly female nor male. It will also make the process a little easier for transgender, nonbinary and intersex Californians who wish to obtain new identification documents that accurately reflect their gender.

People who are transgender, nonbinary or intersex often have a difficult time when they show their ID and it doesn’t match their gender presentation. It produces unnecessary anxiety and can lead to harassment and a delay or refusal in completing a transaction. It doesn’t need to be this way.

This issue has become personal for me. I’ve heard from many people across the state who are eagerly looking forward to this opportunity. And I have friends in San Diego with children who will benefit, and I am forever changed by the emotion with which they’ve spoken about the good that SB 179 will do.

These are just two policy accomplishments. There are many more. Elsewhere in this edition of the Toni Times, I will fill you in on the rest of my bills that are heading to the Governor and summarize the Legislature’s biggest achievements. I am already looking forward to seeing what we can do for San Diego and all of California next year.

An Update on My Legislation

An Update on My Legislation

At the end of the 2017 legislative session, 12 of the bills I introduced this year passed the Senate and the Assembly and were sent to Governor Brown for his signature. They are:

SB 2: The Building Homes and Jobs Act, SB 2, creates a permanent source of funding for affordable housing by imposing $75 fee on the recording of certain types of real-estate documents – not including the sale of residential or commercial property. This bill will generate roughly $250 million to help thousands of struggling families every year.

This bill has been signed!

SB 179: The Gender Recognition Act, SB 179, would allow nonbinary residents – those who identify as neither male nor female – to choose a new, third gender marker on state-issued identity documents. It would also make it easier for transgender, intersex and nonbinary Californians to obtain state identification documents that accurately reflect their gender, removing several barriers that make it onerous for people seeking name- and gender-change court orders or seeking a gender change on birth certificates, driver’s licenses and identity cards.

SB 214: In 2015, the governor signed AB 392, my bill to make the San Diego River Conservancy permanent. SB 214 builds on that, strengthening the conservancy’s capacity to protect and enhance historic, cultural, and natural resources within the watershed along the 52-mile San Diego River. SB 214 adds representation from the city of Santee and the Kumeyaay Diegueño Land Conservancy to the conservancy’s Board of Directors and provides the conservancy with greater ability to enter into joint-powers agreements.

This bill has been signed!

SB 223: When it comes to healthcare regulation, state and federal laws are not completely in alignment. In some ways, the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) is stronger than state law in nondiscrimination protections and language-services standards. SB 223 would require all health plans in California to meet the highest standards in nondiscrimination measures, consumer protections and language-assistance services – no matter what changes might occur to the ACA. It would ensure equal access to affordable healthcare regardless of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, age, sex, sexual orientation or disability.

SB 230: Right now, a prosecutor attempting to convict an accused sex trafficker is not allowed to bring up the defendant’s past sex-trafficking crimes as evidence in trial. That is not the case for certain other types of sex crimes. SB 230 would add sex trafficking to the list of offenses for which prosecutors may, with a judge’s permission, share this type of information with the jury. This will make it easier to convict sex traffickers.

SB 285: Currently, public employers are barred from interfering with, intimidating, restraining, coercing, or discriminating against employees while those employees are exercising their right to have union representation. SB 285 strengthens the law by making it clear that not only do public employees have the right to form a union or engage in union activities without interference – they also have the right to become members or remain as members of a union without interference, intimidation, or coercion.

SB 310: Transgender people who are incarcerated should have the same right as anyone else to legally change their name or gender and to be recognized for who they are. SB 310 – the Name and Dignity Act – establishes the right of people incarcerated in state prisons and county jails to access the courts to obtain a name or gender change. It also requires corrections officials to use the new name of a prisoner who has successfully obtained a name change. In addition to providing transgender prisoners with a sense of dignity while incarcerated, SB 310 will increase the chances for them to successfully reenter society.

SB 379This bill makes minor changes to current law that could have major impacts on our children’s oral health in the future. SB 379 allows schools to facilitate dental screenings by requiring parents to opt-out if they do not want their children to receive an assessment. However, any treatment of students would still require prior consent. It also adds data on tooth decay to the list of data that must be reported to the county and encourages schools to send oral-health data to the state. The bill will allow us to screen more children, which will in turn lead to more treatment, better collection of statewide data, and improved overall oral-health strategies.

SB 462: This modest but necessary bill clarifies that probation departments may access juvenile case files in order to comply with reporting requirements. It also allows courts to authorize probation departments to engage third-party researchers for limited access to juvenile case files to conduct research on juvenile-justice populations and the programs that serve them. SB 462 ensures that no personally identifying information from a juvenile case file may be released, disseminated or published.

SB 587: Currently, probation officers are not permitted to display blue warning lights on their certified emergency vehicles, as other law-enforcement officers are. But probation officers at times are called on to respond in emergency situations, and without blue lights, they’re not able to alert other officers and the public when responding that they are peace officers and are there to assist. The bill would allow probation officers, after completing appropriate training, to display blue warning lights on their emergency vehicles.

This bill has been signed!

SB 625: This bill would reestablish an “honorable discharge” program for juvenile offenders who meet certain criteria, paving an easier path for them to access higher education or vocational training or get a job after their release from incarceration.

SB 667: The Riverine Stewardship Assistance Program (RSAP) was created in the 2016-17 state budget. SB 667 enables the program to move forward. The RSAP provides technical and financial support for stream restoration, reduced flood risk and improved habitat corridors, empowering communities to reconnect with and take pride in their neighborhood waterways.

Four additional bills, including SB 562, the Healthy California Act, which would create a single-payer healthcare system, remain alive in the Legislature and are eligible to become active again in 2018.

A Productive Session!

I joined the Legislature in 2010, in the depths of a severe economic downturn. In my first year, we faced a $26-billion budget deficit, and the conversations in the Capitol were mostly about which vital programs could or could not be protected from drastic funding cuts.

In the years that followed, the California economy and our state budget recovered, and we began to restore many of the programs and services that were cut. The 2015-2016 budget was an especially good one, highlighted for me by the establishment of a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). As Speaker of the Assembly, I worked hard to create the EITC as a way to help struggling residents.

As great as that was, 2017 was even better. Not only did we expand the EITC to reach more people -- we made significant progress on a long list of challenges facing our state, and at the top of the list is a groundbreaking package of legislation that addresses the housing-affordability crisis with a mix of funding and regulatory reform. But there was so much more.

We passed a transportation bill that will generate $5.2 billion per year to repair our highways, roads and bridges and expand public transit. We extended our innovative cap-and-trade program that uses a market-based approach to improving our air quality and battling climate change.

We passed a bill that will place a $4-billion bond measure on the ballot in 2018 to fund local and regional parks. We increased funding for public schools by more than $3 billion, and now education funding is at its highest level ever. We increased child-care funding and expanded access to healthcare, so that our families are healthy and have an opportunity to thrive. All of these measures will bring state dollars into San Diego County; residents will begin to see real returns on their investments.

We did all of this while also adding another $1.8 billion to our Rainy Day Fund, bringing our total reserves to nearly $10 billion. We are investing in our residents, taking steps to reduce poverty, promote good health, build communities and create good jobs while also being prudent by saving for the next economic downturn.

My Staff at Your Service

My district staff is always available to help constituents navigate a complex web of state agencies.

In September, a constituent reached out to me, asking for help with the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) in processing her nurse practitioner license. The woman is a public health nurse and a recent University of San Diego graduate who has lately been working on the Hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego County, part of a team that has been out in the field, vaccinating members of the community.

She’d been told that the BRN had not received her transcripts after she’d sent them by rush delivery the week prior. She had been waiting since June to start her new job as a nurse practitioner at a local community clinic and was being told that she would not be able to start in early October, as she’d hoped, if she did not have her license.

My staff contacted the BRN the following day, and within short order, the constituent had her license, in plenty of time to start her new job serving the community.

If you’re having trouble working out an issue with any state agency, please call my office at 619-645-3133, and my staff will do everything in their power to help.

My District Staff

Myrna Zambrano: District Director

Deanna Spehn: Policy Director

Jason Weisz: Senior Field Representative

Toni Duran: Field Representative

Chevelle Tate: Field Representative

Ryan Trabuco: Scheduler / Field Representative

David Rolland: Communications Director

Where to Find Me Online

Twitter: @SenToniAtkins

Facebook: facebook.com/SDToni/

Web: senate.ca.gov/atkins

Around the District

I was very pleased to help the Barona Band of Mission Indians present a check to E3 Civic High School to pay for student transit passes.

I was very pleased to help the Barona Band of Mission Indians present a check to E3 Civic High School to pay for student transit passes.

The Fur Ball is always a fun way to support the great work that the Humane Society does for animals in San Diego County.

It was nice to gather with friends to celebrate the life of the late Mel Merrill, an LGBTQ pioneer in San Diego

It was nice to gather with friends to celebrate the life of the late Mel Merrill, an LGBTQ pioneer in San Diego

Supporting the arts at the Old Globe Gala. San Diego is lucky to have such a valuable and iconic cultural institution.

Supporting the arts at the Old Globe Gala. San Diego is lucky to have such a valuable and iconic cultural institution.

Enjoyed the John Lyons Memorial Banquet, honoring our hard-working labor leaders.

Enjoyed the John Lyons Memorial Banquet, honoring our hard-working labor leaders.