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<< Dean Right on Israel | Main | CA Health Mandate- Good for Business >> September 13, 2003Don't Know What You've Got......Til It's Gone Updated and moved to Today (Sat.): Not that Davis is a gem and he's signed bills largely to save his butt in the recall, but if Arnie comes in, California will be losing out on a lot of the kinds of bills being passed in this session that Davis will hopefully now sign. Such as: Top Bills Health care: Employers in all larger firms will now provide health insurance or pay into a state fund that will provide that care. Drivers Licenses for Immigrants: A crucial bill for helping immigrant communities in surviving in all the areas requiring an ID. Civil Unions: Legislation would give domestic partners, including lesbian and gay couples, many of the same legal rights as married couples. Clean Air: Five bills to improve air quality in the state. Immigrant Tuition: Students without legal immigration status will now be able to apply to have tuition waived like other in-state residents. Other Key Labor Bills Prevention of Discriminatory Harassment: Employers must take corrective action to prevent racial or other discriminatory harassment of any employee by Living Wage Law: State employees and most contractors for the state will be required to pay at least $10 per hour with health benefits, or $12 per hour without. Wage & Hour Law: would allow employees to file lawsuits over labor-code violations and, if successful, collect part of the penalty as well as reasonable attorney's fees and costs. This accompanies increases in labor law penalties passed a few weeks ago and protection of employees right to appeal administrative decisions. Anti-Retaliation: Creates a rebuttable presumption that any adverse employment decision (i.e. firing) within 90 days of a worker filing a complaint for labor violations is an illegal retaliation. Banning "Dead Peasant" Insurance: Employers are now prohibited from purchasing life insurance for their workers and naming themselves as the beneficiaries. Fighting Underground Economy: Requires that companies must ensure that subcontractors have sufficient funds to comply with applicable state and federal laws regarding wages and working conditions. UI Benefits for Locked Out Workers: A previous one-week waiting period for locked out workers will be eliminated and unemployment benefits will begin immediately. And a whole bunch of anti-worker bills were killed. Other Bills Passed Cars for Food Stamps Recipients: Changes law to allow recipients of food stamps to own a car worth more than $4600- a rule that has not been adjusted for inflation since 1977. Financial Privacy: The bill mandates that companies doing business in California must inform customers if they believe their personal information has been stolen. Off-Shore Tax Havens: Law would bar the state from contracting with companies that have relocated to offshore tax havens where they have no substantial business activities. Local Sales Taxes: Cash-strapped counties and cities would gain more freedom to raise sales taxes to cover services. Clean Needles: In order to fight AIDS, pharmacies in California will be able to sell syringes without prescriptions. Medical Marijuana: Bill would allow medical marijuana users to obtain a special identity card to protect them from arrest by state and local law enforcement officers. Mexican Deporteee Rights: Californians of Mexican descent who were forcibly deported to Mexico during the Great Depression will have until 2007 to seek damages for losses to their families and homes under a bill headed to Gov. Gray Davis. Posted by Nathan at September 13, 2003 07:39 AM Related posts:
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsNote that Davis also signed many good bills while not under the threat of recall, especially those protecting a woman's right to choose. Posted by: pogo at September 12, 2003 07:17 PM Absolutely-- see California: Where Democrats can be Democrats for a list from last year. Although if Davis hadn't set himself so much as an independent operator, he might not have lost so much support from his own party. Posted by: Nathan at September 12, 2003 07:19 PM Post a comment
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