Legislation

2022 Legislation

SB 6 The Middle-Class Housing Act of 2022. SB 6 creates an expedited process to approve residential or mixed-use development on commercially zoned office, retail, or parking spaces. SB 6 subjects all projects to local design and planning ordinances and requires strong labor protections. The Middle-Class Housing Act will unlock the potential to build over 2 million homes for rent or sale across California.

SB 382: Human Trafficking: Restraining Orders. SB 382 gives commercial sexual exploitation victims the right to a protective order and clarifies that current law permits and sets standards for these orders as a part of criminal prosecutions. This bill will have a significant impact on the lives of child victims by assuring a protective order will be considered in every criminal case involving sexual exploitation.

SB 490: The Buy American Food Act. SB 490 requires public institutions purchase American grown, packed, and processed agricultural products unless the cost is 25% greater than a nondomestic product or is not grown domestically. The bill would ensure school children eat locally grown food, improve the quality and safety of state-provided nutrition programs, protect California workers, and reward California’s agricultural industry by strengthening federal Buy American policy at the state level.

SB 532 High school graduation requirements for highly mobile students. SB 532 would provide, until January 1, 2028, mobile students with the option to remain in high school for a fifth year to complete the state’s graduation requirements. This bill would expand and strengthen the rights of California’s highly mobile students, including students experiencing homelessness, in foster care, wards of the juvenile court, in military families, migrant, and/or newcomers by helping them obtain a high school diploma and thus, offering students access to a wide array of career, educational and vocational opportunities.

SB 905: Carbon Capture Removal, Utilization, and Storage Program. SB 905 creates the Carbon Capture Removal, Utilization, and Storage Program under the California Air Resources Board to spur investment in new and innovative carbon capture technologies while establishing regulations to protect public health, safety, and the environment. This bill paves the way for California to become a global leader in CCRUS development, thereby reducing our CO2 emissions as part of our state climate change solution.

SB 1109: Biomass BioRAM extension. SB 1109 extends existing BioRAM contracts for another five years for the processing of forest waste, and requires biomass facilities to undergo environmental impact evaluations to ensure their technology and machinery will facilitate emission reductions. This bill will increase the pace and scale of the removal of dead or dying trees from California’s burned and ecologically stressed forests, as well as agricultural waste, which will help with forest health and create electricity, which will assist grid reliability.

SB 1142: Abortion Services. SB 1142 creates a website housed under the California Health and Human Services Agency dedicated to information on abortion policy, resources, and services. This will include comprehensive and medically accurate information about abortion providers, procedural support options, information on the types of services available, insurance information, along with language support services. With the amount of misinformation on abortion being spread, as well as barriers to care being implemented in nearly half the nation, navigation resources for individuals seeking care in California is vital to ensuring access to reproductive services.

SB 1155 Time Limited Demand. SB 1155 would enact reasonable parameters and guidelines that must be followed when a time limited demand is made to an insurance company. As a result, this bill will help parties reach an early settlement and reduce litigation cost, benefiting both the claimant and the insurer.

SB 1268 Curtis’ Law. SB 1268 would ensure that the immediate family of a minor whose death is being investigated by law enforcement will be provided information relating to the investigation. This bill would improve communication between families who have lost a child and agencies involved in the relevant investigation.

SB 1326: Cannabis: interstate agreements. SB 1326 authorizes the Governor to enter into trade agreements with other U.S. states to allow the import and export of legally produced cannabis and cannabis products. This bill will strengthen California’s regulated market by providing new opportunities for cannabis licensees to trade their products outside of California and will serve as a model to other states.

SB 1449 Unincorporated Area Annexation Incentive Program. (Vetoed) SB 1449 requires the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research develop a grant program to fund infrastructure improvements to incentivize the annexation of unincorporated islands. The grant program will reduce roadblocks to the annexation process and increase access to basic services for thousands of Californians who live in an unincorporated area within a city’s boundaries.

SCR 70 The Mario Obledo Building. SCR 70 would designate the East End Complex-Block 171, located at 1501 Capitol Avenue in Sacramento, as the Mario Obledo Building. This measure would honor Mario G. Obledo, a great Latino civil rights leader, and his contributions to the State of California.

SJR 8 Social Security Disability Insurance. This resolution calls upon congress and the federal administration to revise the Social Security Act to allow recipients of childhood disability benefits to continue receiving those benefits upon marriage of a nondisabled partner.

Senator Caballero Secures $534.5 Million to Support Californians Through the State Budget Process

District Wins

$31.5 million UC Merced for campus expansion projects.
$3 million to UC Merced Labor Center.
$18 million to UC Merced for climate initiatives.
$5 million to the County of Merced for the Merced County Public Safety Radio System Replacement.
$15 million to Merced College for the Agri-Food Workforce and Technology Collaborative for the Central Valley
$1.25 million to King City for Acquisition of a Quint Aerial Apparatus and Security Camera System.
$2 million to the city of Soledad for a Fire Engine.
$250,000 to the city of Coalinga for Public Safety Technology Upgrades and Improvements.
$1.5 million to the City of Mendota for a New Police Station and Council Chambers
$3 million to the City of Merced for Capital Costs for the Merced Regional Fire Training Station, Phase 1.
$3 million to the city of San Juan Bautista for a Wastewater Project
$5 million to the Patterson Irrigation District for the construction of the East-West Conveyance System Between the San Joaquin River and the Delta Mendota Canal
$5 million to the City of Madera for the Avenue 13 (Pecan Ave.) Sewer Trunk Main Rehab Phase 1.
$3 million to Stanislaus County for the Bonita Pool Project and Leroy F. Fitzsimmons Memorial Park.
$3 million to Merced County for the Construction of the Dos Palos Library
$5 million for Madera Community Hospital

Statewide Wins

$5 million for CalFire biomass transportation
$8 million to fund the 9-8-8 suicide and crisis lifeline
$20 million for Abortion Services fund to provide access to reproductive care.
$50 million for the California Investment and Innovation Program to support disadvantaged communities.
$350 million to support the CalHome Program for homeownership

2021 Legislation

COVID Relief Efforts

Early this year my number one priority was to help small business recover from the financial devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unlike big-box retailers that were able to keep their doors open, small businesses were forced to shutter their doors and suffered as a consequence.

I was proud to work with Senate Leadership and the Governor this year to pass my bill, SB 87, the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program.

Under this bill, over $2 billion was made available for qualifying small business and nonprofits to receive grants of up to $25,000 to help recover from financial losses brought on by the pandemic.

In addition to SB 87, the Legislature passed SB 91, which extended the eviction moratorium through June and provided $1.5 billion to help low-income tenants pay down their past due rent.

Again, I worked with my colleagues in the Assembly and we followed up with AB 832, which extended the eviction moratorium to September 30^th, increases the reimbursement percentages for past due rent from 80% to 100%, and creates new protections for tenants to ensure landlords participate in the program prior to pursuing an unlawful detainer.

Additional Bills Signed by the Governor

SB 24 protects the privacy of domestic violence survivors by updating restraining order forms to ensure private information is not accidently disclosed to abusers.

SB 28, the Rural Broadband and DIVCA Reform Act is getting closer to the finish line. This bill will help eliminate the digital divide by promoting broadband network deployment and ensuring network providers are meeting their licensee obligations. This bill

SB 323 provides stability for water and sewer agencies by creating a 120 day statute of limitations regarding new rate changes.

SB 347 creates a new voluntarily tax check-off program to create funding to support urban forestry programs that assist with tree planting, care and maintenance in urban, rural, and disadvantaged communities.

SB 395 creates parity in the taxes assessed for traditional nicotine products like cigarettes by increasing the excise tax on vape products. Funds generated through these sales are earmarked specifically for health and prevention efforts to continue the work to protect our communities from unhealthy, addictive substances.

SB 409 is another bill I advanced this year largely related to the recent pandemic. This bill codifies the Governors executive action to provide greater flexibility for pharmacies to administer certain flu and COVID-19 tests. This is critical, especially for rural communities, who rely on community pharmacies for most of their healthcare needs.

SB 714 creates new opportunities within the California Democratic Party to allow for noncitizens to participate in local county central committees and gain more experience and knowledge of what it’s like to participate in our great Democracy.

District Budget Highlights

I’m also pleased to announce that the state budget includes $15 million to fund essential needs in five of the communities in the 12th Senate District.

As the state enters an important economic recovery period post pandemic, this infusion of resources for rural, agricultural communities will be an important investment.

The allocation of $15 will be distributed as follows:

$2 Million for the City of Mendota for public safety regional support
$2 Million for the City of Firebaugh for public safety regional support
$2 Million for the City of San Joaquin for public safety regional support
$4 Million for the City of Huron for an ambulance and facility
$5 Million for the City of Gonzalez for a teen innovation center

2019 Legislation

SB 230 requires peace officers to receive additional training, resources, and guidelines to reduce the use of deadly force.

SB 317 restricts certain toxic chemicals from use in RVs, which will encourage the use of safe alternatives and protect our groundwater in these and the surrounding communities.

SB 527 saves agricultural landowners up to 75% property tax liability each year by incorporating cannabis and industrial hemp cultivators into the Williamson Act, allowing them to receive the same property tax assessment and relief as other agriculture sectors in the state.

SB 697 brings our state closer to healthcare equity in underserved areas by modernizing the day to day practice of Physician Assistants and allowing them to partner with physicians.

SB 726 expands the reusable household hazardous materials exchange programs and allows jurisdictions to more easily transport reusable household hazardous waste products to other sites that support these programs, including non-profits.

SB 744 makes it easier for California to build supportive housing for people who live with mental illness and are experiencing homelessness.