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2021 Legislation

2021 Legislation

Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan's 2021 Legislation Includes:

Bills Signed into Law

  • Constitutional Officer Gender Neutrality  - AB 378 - In current code, California’s constitutional officers are often referred to as “he”, despite the fact that we have a majority of women currently serving in these roles. This bill systematically eliminates gendered language like "he" in this section of the government code and replaces it with gender neutral language, updating this woefully outdated wording.

  • Nonbinary Options on Death Certificates - AB 439 - Adds nonbinary options for gender identity on death certificates, in line with the same options currently available on birth certificates, driver’s licenses etc., enabling nonbinary individuals to be correctly identified and respected in death as they are in life.

  • Youth Transfer Appeals - AB 624 - Strengthens the existing mechanism for review of a juvenile court’s order transferring a youth from juvenile to adult court. This bill authorizes the appellate courts to review, on appeal, a decision to transfer a youth to adult court, as long as every other options has been pursued throughout the process, thus preserving the rights of juveniles in our system. 

  • Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Phone Line - AB 988 - The Miles Hall Lifeline Act creates an alternative to 911 for individuals having a mental health crisis by creating an easy three digit phone number – 988 – for immediate, non police, response of mental health support, including in-person support from mental health professionals. 

  • Small Business Paid Family Leave Mediation - AB 1033 - This bill creates a quicker and fairer process for small businesses and employees to resolve employer/employee disputes around paid family leave. This bill requires that both sides go through a mediation process to resolve disputes, avoiding the burden of the time and the costs of going to court. 

  • Consumer Help Line for Digital Money Transfers - AB 1320 - Protects customers of online cash transfer services by requiring a publicly and prominently posted help line on a company’s website so that consumers have a method to contact companies handling their money.

  • Reproductive Health Clinic Patient Security - AB 1356 - Confronts the increase in harassment and “doxing” of patients at reproductive health clinics by increasing penalties and fines for those who ignore the right to privacy and endanger patients and providers by sharing their photos and personal information online. 

2021 Legislation

  • Utility Accountability & Wildfire Prevention Act - AB 21 - Allows the Attorney General and local District Attorneys to bring action against companies who own electrical lines if they fail to conduct mandated vegetation abatement. Status.

  • Air Quality Data  - AB 426 - Gives authority to Air Quality Management Districts to assess health risks, and measure toxins in the air from indirect sources of pollution such as, distribution centers, depots and warehouses that attract high truck traffic, allowing us to strategically allocate funding to ensure maximum impact and create partnerships to improve community health. Status.

  • Virtual Clean Energy Act - AB 427 - Requires the PUC to create a system that will enable owners of home batteries to sell their excess energy into the grid, thus expanding reliable, clean energy sources and grid stability. Status.

  • Burn Notification - AB 529 - In order to help coordination of our wildfire protection efforts, this bill will require all electrical utilities to notify local fire districts at least 48 hours before conducting mitigation or planned burns in a high fire risk area so that local fire districts can be prepared for any necessary fire prevention. Status.

  • Banning Neonicotinoid Pesticides - AB 567 - Aligns California with European Union regulations by banning four different neonicotinoid pesticides that have shown to harm reproduction of pollinators, such as bees, and destroy natural occurring ecosystems. Status.

  • County Jail Programs Assessment - AB 731 - Requires County Sheriffs to supply data on the success of their various rehabilitation programing so that the state has complete data on which recidivism programs actually work so that we can invest our limited funds most effectively - both saving money for the state and reducing recidivism. Status.

  • Restaurant Recovery Act - AB 1242 - Based on the current Covid-19  Executive Order, this bill will make permanent the regulations that allow alcoholic drinks be sold “to-go” or to be delivered along with the purchase of food, allowing an additional revenue stream for a  quicker recovery for our restaurants that have been devastated due to the pandemic. Status.

  • Elimination of the “Pink Tax” - AB 1287 - Removes price-based gender discrimination, ensuring women's equal access to commercial goods by prohibiting the arbitrary higher pricing of identical products just because of the gender they are marketed to - known as the "Pink Tax.” Status.

  • Hate Fueled Domestic Terrorism - AB 1440 - Creates the ability for a District Attorney to charge a terrorist threat made against a protected class as either a misdemeanor or felony. Status.

  • Tesla Park Preservation - AB 1512 - Requires the Department of Parks to preserve in perpetuity the Alameda-Tesla Expansion Area for conservation purposes. Status.