SACRAMENTO (May 30, 2024) – Assemblymember Diane Dixon (R-Newport Beach) provides an update on the success of her legislative package this Session.
Last Friday the Legislature met its House of Origin deadline, during which bills introduced by an Assemblymember must be approved to head to the Senate in order to move forward. Similarly, all bills in the State Senate must be approved to begin the Assembly process. This deadline marks the halfway point in the legislative process. Of all the Assembly bills introduced this year, approximately 61 percent passed over to the Senate. This number includes a handful of bills authored by Assemblymember Dixon.
“I am very pleased that seven of my bills have successfully made their way to the Senate,” said Assemblymember Dixon. “My legislative agenda that is still moving through the legislative process consists of bills that deal with public safety, the environment and local control, as well as bills to help the District.”
Earlier this week, two bills passed through their first policy committees in the second house.
“Assembly Bill 1774 passed out of the Senate Committee on Transportation,” said Assemblymember
Dixon. “This measure focuses on the safety of youth in our communities by prohibiting the dangerous sale and use of E-Bike speed modifying kits, or tuning kits.”
Another bill, AB 2504, also passed through without any “no” votes. This bill would name the State’s first seashell.
“I am pleased to name the Black Abalone as California’s first official state seashell,” said Assemblymember Dixon. “The Black Abalone has deep meaning for many Native American Tribes in our state, and it is uniquely found on the coastal zones of California and Mexico. This species is now on the endangered species list and was almost eliminated by Withering Foot Syndrome in the early 1980s.”
Other bills relative to the District to be heard in the Senate include AB 2393, which will extend the Newport Dunes public trust lease for the lands at Newport Bay from fifty years to sixty years. Additionally, AB 2817, sponsored by the City of Laguna Beach, will allow the California Transportation Commission to consider the relinquishment of a segment of State Route 1 to the City of Laguna Beach. While there have been some conversations of completing this transition in the past, the City is unable to continue discussing this possibility without the passage of AB 2817.
Finally, AB 2067 and AB 2337 have both been set for Committee Hearings in the Senate. AB 2067 will require financial institutions with more than nine branches in California to designate four locations for service of legal processes to provide more flexibility to legal services and increase accessibility and efficiency in various counties. AB 2337 will authorize the use of electronic signatures for proceedings with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board to increase the efficiency within the Workers Compensation legal system.
Over the next few weeks, the Legislature will vote on hundreds of policy and budget bills before the August deadline ending the Legislative Session. If a bill receives enough votes necessary to pass both houses, it will head to the Governor’s desk for a signature. The Governor can sign a bill into law, veto a bill preventing it from becoming law, or choose to take no action – in which case it will become law without his signature.
“We will be experiencing an intensely impacted schedule for June and August,” said Assemblymember Dixon. “There is still much work to be done.”