This past week, the California Legislature reached its Constitutional “House of Origin” deadline. The deadline means that any Assembly Bill (AB) not able to pass out of the State Assembly is considered dead, or on-hold until next year. The same deadline applies to Senate Bills (SBs) needing to pass out of the State Senate.

“This year the State Assembly passed several good bills that I either authored or co-authored,” said Assemblyman Heath Flora, representing this area in the 9th Assembly District. “We’re proud to be able to point to a few victories this year.”

Here are a few of the bills that were passed.

AB 1557 (Lead Author) – Makes permanent a temporary waiver that gives health facilities and pharmacists the flexibility to perform medication chart reviews remotely when needed. Improves access to medication especially in rural and underserved areas that are facing personnel shortages.

AB 1254 (Lead Author) – Requires the state to pay state firefighters a wage that more closely aligns with the average pay of city and county firefighters. This must still be implemented through collective bargaining, and establishes pay benchmarks for firefighters similar to what is currently in place for police.

AB 1447 (Lead Author) – Increases the speed limit for motorized scooters with a seat from 15 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour. Allows seated scooters to operate at the same speed as electric bicycles and under similar regulations; thus expanding personal mobility options.

ACR 68 (Co-Author) – Recognizes May 9 as National Fentanyl Awareness Day; bringing awareness to the fentanyl crisis currently impacting the state and the entire nation.

“Even with the victories there were some defeats. Bad bills passed the Assembly,” Flora continued. “Two bad bills that will negatively impact Central Valley agriculture are AB 985 and AB 460. The bills both passed the State Assembly by razor thin margins and so we’re hoping our colleagues in the Senate take a closer look.”

For more information on any legislation, go to California Legislative Information https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/ to look up any bill language along with summary analyses.

Flora serves the communities of Acampo, Copperopolis, Del Rio, Denair, Empire, Escalon, Farmington, Galt, Hickman, Hughson, Ione, La Grange, Lathrop, Linden, Lockeford, Lodi, Manteca, Oakdale, Rancho Murieta, Ripon, Riverbank, Salida, Waterford, and Wilton in the 9th District.

The website for Assemblyman Flora is: https://ad09.asmrc.org/ and he can be reached by email at: Assemblymember.Flora@assembly.ca.gov

He also has a District Office in Ripon, 578 N. Wilma Ave., Suite B; call 209-599-2112 or 209-599-2028.