SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (all times local):
6:25 p.m.
Terminally ill police killers will not be eligible for compassionate release from prison starting next year under a bill Gov. Jerry Brown is signing.
California allows for the release of some dying inmates who are deemed not to pose a threat to public safety. The program is supposed to save the state money on expensive end-of-life care.
Brown announced Friday he signed SB6. Its author, Democratic Sen. Cathleen Galgiani of Stockton, says the so-called medical parole law was never intended to apply to police killers.
A man who murdered a California highway patrolman and gas station attendant in 1973 applied for compassionate leave in 2012. He was denied, but bill supporters say it’s an example of a danger posed to society.
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6:15 p.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown evidently thinks jeans look good on California.
Brown said Friday that he’s signed a bill declaring denim as the official state fabric.
AB501 declares that denim is “more than just a fabric” and its “history is interwoven with California history from the 1850s through today.”
Blue jeans were popularized by San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co. and by Hollywood films. The new law says California is a key player in the global market for premium jeans and the industry employs more than 200,000 people in Southern California.
Denim joins a list of more than three-dozen official state symbols, including the state insect, the dogface butterfly; the state reptile, the desert tortoise; and the state rock, serpentine.
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6 p.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill targeting discrimination against LGBT students at religious colleges and universities in California.
SB1146 requires schools to inform current and prospective students, employees and faculty members if they hold an exemption from state or federal rules against discrimination. A list of schools with exemptions will be made public on the Student Aid Commission’s website.
The legislation originally would have prohibited such schools from accepting state financial aid, but it was weakened after drawing strong opposition from religious schools and their allies. School officials were concerned it would hinder their ability to accept low-income students who receive Cal Grant funding and could open the schools to civil rights lawsuits.
The Democratic governor announced he signed SB1146 Friday.
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2:25 p.m.
California’s governor is rejecting a bill that would have increased transparency at charter schools.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday vetoed AB709, which would have required charter schools to comply with the same open meetings, public records and conflict-of-interest laws that apply to other public schools.
The Democratic governor said his view hasn’t changed since he vetoed a virtually identical bill in 2014. At the time, he said he supports transparency but the bill goes too far in prescribing how charter school boards must operate.
Supporters say charter schools spend public funds and should be subject to the same conflict and transparency standards that apply to government agencies.
The bill was written by Democratic Assemblyman Mike Gipson of Carson.
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12:40 p.m.
California is moving to crack down on bad actors in the workers’ compensation system following a report that an estimated $1 billion has been embezzled from the state program.
A new law requires the workers’ compensation director to suspend hospitals, doctors and other medical providers from the system if they have been convicted of any wrongdoing related to health care fraud.
Gov. Jerry Brown announced Friday he signed AB1244. It will take effect on Jan. 1.
It follows an April report by The Center for Investigative Reporting that some doctors and administrators scam the system by performing unnecessary procedures or routinely falsify bills.
State and federal prosecutors say in the report that gaps in state oversight compromise the system and state agencies can’t adequately pressure care providers.
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12:20 p.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown has approved two bills targeting wage discrimination against women and minorities in California.
Brown said Friday he’s signed SB1063, which expands requirements for fair pay beyond gender to also protect against racial discrimination. The bill by Compton Democratic Sen. Isadore Hall builds on a 2015 equal-pay law that’s already considered the nation’s toughest.
The Democratic governor also signed SB1676, which prohibits employers from basing compensation solely on a worker’s prior wage. Democratic Assemblywoman Nora Campos of San Jose says women should not be penalized for prior salaries that may have been unequal to men’s.
Brown signed the bill a year after he vetoed a measure that would have kept employers from even asking about prior pay.
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11:55 a.m.
California is making it illegal to disclose secretly recorded conversations with medical professionals under a new law backed by Planned Parenthood.
The new law responds to surreptitious videos released last year of Planned Parenthood officials allegedly discussing the illegal sale of fetal tissue. The organization said the videos were deceptively edited.
Sharing secretly recorded private conversations involving a health care provider could land Californians in prison for up to a year under the bill Gov. Jerry Brown announced signing Friday.
Domestic violence victims and certain law enforcement officials are exempt from the law.
Some liberal lawmakers were torn over AB1671 between defending Planned Parenthood and protecting free speech rights.
It will still be legal to secretly record evidence of extortion, kidnapping, bribery, human trafficking or other violent felonies.
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