Legislation

AB 44: Renewable Energy: Homeowner Financing (Signed into law by the Governor)
Reduces the cost to homeowners to install a renewable energy system, like rooftop solar. Builds off of the success of the existing PACE model by allowing the financing of a system installed on a home, but owned by a third-party. Homeowners receive all of the benefits of clean energy and reduced monthly electricity bills without the hassle of maintaining the system. In addition, homeowners save an average of 25% compared to purchasing the system themselves.

AB 51: Agricultural Net Metering
Helps promotes the use wind or solar generation by agricultural customers by allowing agricultural customers with multiple electric service accounts to aggregate their accounts for the purposes of participating in net energy metering. Agricultural customers are a potentially large source of new renewable energy generation. Farms in sunny areas of the state have the potential to generate significant amounts of peak summertime solar power, offsetting their own off-peak use, and thereby benefiting other ratepayers by reducing peak demand.

AB 1350: Renewable Energy Mitigation
This bill seeks to develop a more strategic approach to mitigation efforts by considering the regional impacts of multiple renewable energy projects and encouraging a coordinated approach in order to maximize the conservation benefits of mitigation dollars. AB 1350 will help ensure that the state intelligently meets it mutual goals of increased renewable energy while still protecting our environment and natural resources.

AB 1107: Job Creation: Economic Impact Review
Protects jobs by ensure that the California Environmental Protections Agency, and its boards, departments and offices, thoroughly and consistently evaluate the economic costs and benefits of proposed rules and regulations, and provide stakeholders with a uniform and transparent process of requesting external peer review of an economic analysis.

AB 1112: Civil Rights: CSU Non-Discrimination
Protects the civil rights of CSU employees working in a foreign country. Requires that the foreign state follow California's anti-discrimination laws by maintaining a workplace environment that is free from harassment and discrimination against any employee on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, race, color, ancestry, religious creed, national origin, mental disability, physical disability, medical condition, age, marital status, or use of family care leave.

AB 2246: State Workers: Safety of California State Hospital Employees
A bill to protect employees of California’s state Mental hospitals from a particularly malicious type of assault known as "gassing”. Gassing involves using human bodily fluids as a weapon, dangerously exposing employees to communicable diseases such as hepatitis. Under current law, the gassing of a correctional officer at a Department of Corrections facility is a felony. However, if that same offender is transferred to a Department of Mental Health (DMH) facility and gasses a hospital police officer, nurse or psychiatric technician, the assault is considered a mere misdemeanor, and the assault often goes unprosecuted.

AB 2288: Consumer Protection: Hard Money Lenders
A consumer protection bill that strengthens the regulations governing hard money lending investments. Sham investment schemes have recently defrauded seniors and local Central Coast investors of over half a billion dollars. AB 2288 seeks to guard against fraud by creating greater oversight and transparency in the offering and management of these investments.

AB 2299: Regulatory Reform: California Air Resources Board
Promotes California jobs by ensuring the California Air Resources Board (CARB) performs a thorough and rigorous evaluation of the impacts a proposed rule may have on other regulatory programs and in-state jobs prior to the a vote to adopt the rule.

AB 2306: Education: California Teaching Fellows
Increases state funding for California schools and increase recruitment and retention of science and math teachers. Creates the "Teach for California" fellowship program to place science and mathematics professions in California's schools. The program will be funded using the revenue gains, as identified by the Department of Finance, resulting from economic growth spurred by the expansion of the alternative energy manufacturing sector.

AB 2368: Government Reform: Lobbyist Gifts: Loophole Closure
Strengthens the Political Reform Act by closing the loophole that allows a lobbyist employer to provide gifts of influence to Legislators. While lobbyists are prevented by law from making gifts to Members of the Legislature worth more than a combined total of $10 a month, interests with business before the Legislature are able to exploit the lobbyist employer loophole, which allows these interests to provide more extravagant gifts to Legislators. In so doing, the unhealthy impression is created that lobbyist employers, who are permitted to give gifts valued up to $420/year, can finance access to legislators that is not available to other members of the public. This bill is a reintroduction of AB 2795 (Blakeslee, 2008) which was killed in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

AB 2406: Local Government: Community Housing Partnerships (Signed into law by the Governor)
Allows the cities of Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach to collaborate on a regional low income housing project by pooling portions of their Redevelopment Funds. The cities have been aggressively working with community stakeholders to develop a project to serve the homeless population in the 5 cities region of San Luis Obispo County.

AB 2535: Open Government: Public Review of Government Documents
A good government bill that increases public access to California Earthquake Authority documents by requiring that all public materials and documents be made available in electronic form upon request by a member of the public.

AB 2721: Special Education Litigation Reform
This bill seeks to protect classroom dollars by reducing costs associated with special education litigation. School districts are financially responsible for legal costs when an Individualized Education Program (IEP) plan is disputed. Recent stories in the press have revealed the high costs associated with resolving technical and administrative disputes that do not ultimately affect the quality of a child’s education. The cost of these lawsuits significantly impacts school budgets during a time of great financial difficulty across the state. AB 2721 seeks to bring parties together to identify alternative dispute resolution strategies that protect both classroom dollars and the quality of education for special and general education students.

AB 2739: Protecting the Coast from an Oil Spill: S.S. Montebello
The bill would require an assessment of the S.S. Montebello wreck, a WWII oil-tanker that is sunk off the coast of Cambria, to determine the likelihood of an oil release from the sunken vessel. The bill was held in Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee. However, the Montebello Assessment Taskforce continues to work to determine the risk that the S.S. Montebello may pose to the environment.

AB 2742: State Public Safety Officers: Donation of Leave Credits (Signed into law by the Governor)
AB 2742 honors public safety officers by allows eligible employees to donate their leave credits to the survivors a colleague who died within one year of retirement. This bill eliminates arbitrary and bureaucratic barriers that prevent state employees from sacrificing to help one another during a time of need, at no additional cost to the state.

AB 2746: Seismic Safety: Chief Mitigation Officer (Signed into law by the Governor)
AB 2746 creates the position of a Chief Mitigation Officer for the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), as recommended and requested by the CEA. The Chief Mitigation Officer position is designed to enhance the CEA’s mitigation efforts by improving education outreach to property owners, collaborating with research institutions, and developing financial incentives to encourage seismic risk mitigation. This new position is created at no new cost to the state.

AB 2752: Education: College Transfers
Helps California Community College students successfully transfer to a four-year institution by creating a uniform and CSU-wide transfer criteria. Streamlining the transfer process will improve student access to California's higher education system, increase graduation rates, and save money for both the state and students.

ACA 19: Budget Reform
This reform measure would allow continued funding to essential state functions when a budget bill is late. The levels of temporary funding will be less than or equal to the previous year based on projected revenues as determined by the Department of Finance. During a budget impasse, a number of individuals contacted Blakeslee’s office, sharing their stories of hardship when the State did not send the checks they owed them for their services. ACA 19 will protect the people of California during an impasse, so that the budget process does not punish them.

ACR 141: Health: Hepatitis Awareness Day (Chaptered into law)
A follow up to ACR 35 (Blakeslee, 2009), this resolution recognizes May 19, 2010 as Hepatitis Awareness Day in California. Hepatitis is a difficult disease to detect. Most people have no idea that they have been infected with Hepatitis, although millions of people worldwide are Hepatitis-positive. ACR 141 sheds light on this complex disease by recognizing May 19, 2010 as Hepatitis Awareness day. It is important that Californians are provided proper education on the Hepatitis virus, services that are available and treatment options for individuals who are impacted by the Hepatitis Virus. ACR 35 and ACR 141 are sponsored by the SLO Hep C Project.

ACR 165: Dick DeWees Memorial Highway
This resolution designates a portion of State Highway Route 246 in the city of Lompoc as the Mayor Dick DeWees Memorial Highway, in honor of the contributions Dick DeWees made to the overall community.

ABX8-35: Job Creation: Clean Tech Manufacturing Jobs
Building upon the successful TESLA experience, this bill creates green jobs by expanding an existing state financing program to include sales and use tax exemptions for the manufacturing and production of alternative energy and advanced transportation projects.

AB 42: Fault Studies & Seismic Retrofits (Passed unanimously by the Legislature)
Prompted by the recent discovery of a previously unknown fault adjacent to the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, this bill implements the recommendations of the California Energy Commission that PG&E perform advanced seismic studies to better understand the fault dynamics. This strategic planning measure will help prevent extended outages in a seismic event, protecting ratepayers from increased rates and ensuring the reliability of the state's electricity grid.

AB 43: California Earthquake Authority Mitigation Program (Passed by the Legislature)
Provides the California Earthquake Authority with more flexibility in its hiring practices and allows the Authority to fill a new position of CMO (Chief Mitigation Officer). These combined changes will help the Earthquake Authority to appropriately prioritize mitigation to protect CA homeowners from devastating damage resulting from a major seismic event.

AB 45: Renewable Energy: Small Wind Systems (Signed into law by the Governor)
Encourages the development of renewable energy small wind systems while protecting private property rights. AB 45 creates a model for local governments to adopt when creating a wind ordinance in rural areas. A county adopting a small wind ordinance after January 1, 2011 must be consistent with the criteria put forth in the bill. The bill is limited to small wind installations outside of urbanized areas on a parcel of at least 1 acre in size.

AB 80: Nacimiento Water Project
This bill would have allowed helped lower the cost of the Nacimiento water project. The measure would have allowed waters delivered from Lake Nacimiento and Lopez Lake to use alternative treatment technologies that are currently recognized by the State as effective in reliably meeting drinking water standards. Water from Lake Nacimiento is on schedule for delivery to Paso Robles, Atascadero, Templeton, and San Luis Obispo by mid-2010. $178 million of local funds have been invested in this critical water supply project and the proposed Health and Safety Code amendment will allow Central Cost communities to efficiently treat Nacimiento waters.

AB 134: Off-Highway Vehicle Safety (Signed into law by the Governor)
Builds upon AB 2755 (Blakeslee, 2006) to improve the safety of children recreating at the Oceano Dunes. AB 134 will allow the Department of Parks and Recreation enforcement officers to cite the adult responsible for supervising a child under the age of 14 who is operating an off-highway vehicle (OHV), if the child cannot reach and operate the equipment controls as required by current law.

AB 280: Multi-Family Residential Building Retrofits
Utilizes federal funds to provide loans and grants for seismic retrofits of California's soft-story residential and mixed-use buildings which are some of the most vulnerable to damage from earthquakes.

AB 825: Crab Fishing (Signed into law by the Governor)
AB 825 makes a simple change to the Fish and Game Code regarding crab fishing that will grant financial relief to Central Coast fishermen without producing harmful environmental or species impacts. This bill will allow fishermen to retain legal crab of two species caught in either type of trap and will eliminate the prohibition of both species on board simultaneously.

AB 928: Seismic Safety: Early Earthquake Warning
Requires the California High Speed Rail Authority implement an earthquake early warning system into the design of the high speed rail. In coordination with the Department of Education and the Public Utilities Commission, the design and implementation of this system shall seek to provide advanced early warning of an earthquake and enable preventative measures seconds before and earthquake, thereby protecting the lives of train passengers, school children and critical infrastructure across the state.

AB 1334: Influence of Foreign Lobbyists
This bill that will require foreign delegates, who lobby on state policy to register with the Secretary of State and follow the guidelines set out in the Political Reform Act. In 2009, members of the Assembly were aggressively lobbied by the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in opposition to ACR 6, a resolution by Blakeslee marking Dalai Lama and Tibet Awareness Day. Under pressure from the Chinese government, a vote on ACR 6 was blocked and the measure sent back to the Assembly Rules Committee. While various federal statutes and congressional rules impose extensive disclosure requirements on lobbying activities by "foreign agents" and "foreign principals" as well as restrictions on foreign nationals making campaign contributions and paying for gifts and travel for federal officials, no such limits on foreign lobbying exist in California law.

AB 1351: Out Of State Hydroelectric Energy (Signed into law by the Governor)
Allows out-of-state hydroelectric facilities that perform particular energy efficiency upgrades to count that incremental efficiency gain as eligible for the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). This will make energy providers more able to meet their goals of providing renewable energy to California consumers.

ACR 1: Constitutional Convention
This measure puts before the voters the decision whether to call a Constitutional Convention to reform California government. Specifically, ACR 1 focuses the convention agenda on three categories of reform: election and campaign, tax, and budget.

• Election and Campaign Reform: increase competitive choice in elections and reduce the influence of special interests in the Legislature;

• Tax Reform: Replace the binge-purge revenue cycle with a more stable tax system that minimizes large swings in revenue while also attracting new business activity to the state thereby resulting in increased future revenues due to stronger economic activity;

• Budget Reform: Revise the legislative and budget calendars to promote a timely budget, limit the Legislature's ability to work on non-budget legislation when a budget is past due, establish automatic payments no greater than prior year levels for critical state services when a budget is delayed, and curb spending by bureaucrats by requiring that new fees or fee increases be subject to a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.

AB 4: Constitutional Convention
A companion bill to ACR 1, this bill establishes the process for selecting delegates and establishing the basic rules for a Constitutional Convention.

ACA 3: Budget Reform: General Obligation Bond Initiatives
Constitutional Amendment to limit the ability of wealthy interests to use the initiative process to siphon off general fund revenues. ACA 3 requires that the proponents of a general obligation bond of more than $1 billion identify a new revenue source to pay for the measure, or identify which existing programs will be reduced or eliminated in a comparable amount.

ACR 6: Civil Rights: Tibet
A resolution recognizing His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, for his contributions to world peace and leadership in seeking nonviolent solutions to international problems; and recognizing March 10, 2010, as Dalai Lama and Tibet Awareness Day.

AJR 1: Earthquake Mitigation Efforts
This measure states the Legislature's support of the expedient development of mitigation efforts across the state by federal, state, and local governmental entities, in cooperation with private enterprises and individuals, to protect against earthquake damage.

ACR 12: Purple Heart Trail (Chaptered into law)
ACR 12 is a measure to honor California's servicemen and women wounded and killed in combat by designating a portion of Highway 101 as part of the United States Purple Heart Trail. ACR 12 would add the stretch of Highway 101 from the city of San Luis Obispo to the city of San Ardo to the National Purple Heart Trail system. More than 20 states have implemented the trail, including Hawaii. Additionally, Puerto Rico and Guam have implemented the Purple Heart Trail. The Trail extends to multiple routes in California, including parts of highway I-80 and I-5. Expansions to the trail system pose no cost to the state, but are funded exclusively through private contributions.

ACR 35: Hepatitis Awareness (Chaptered into law)
Recognizes May 19, 2009 as Hepatitis Awareness Day in California. Raises awareness for the thousands of people suffering from Hepatitis and their loved ones, encouraging education campaigns concerning prevention and treatment of the disease.

AB 242: Housing and Development: Annexation (Signed into law by Governor)
A follow up to 2007's AB 1019 (Blakeslee), this bill helps streamline the process for cities and counties to allocate their regional housing needs when an annexation occurs. This measure increases accountability by creating a 90 day timeline for cities and counties to submit their agreed upon regional housing needs assessment transfer or their request for a revised regional housing needs assessment determination following an incorporation or annexation. In addition, this bill ensures that a city or county accepting a transferred regional housing need complete that process by amending their housing element.

AB 578: Energy Transmission Planning (Signed into law by Governor)
This bill seeks to elucidate interconnection issues surrounding distributed generation by studying the impacts of distributed energy generation on the state's distribution and transmission grid. California is transitioning from traditional large-scale powerplant operations, toward a more widespread network of DG. Solar panels are appearing on single-family residences across the state. Utilities are installing fuel cells in high demand areas to relieve pressure on their transmission and distribution system. The purpose of this bill is to provide a better understanding of the pressures and effects that increased utilization of distributed generation will have on the distribution and transmission grid.

ACA 11: Budget Reform Constitutional Amendment
ACA 11 is a Constitutional Amendment to establish the California Strategic Reserve Bank Board, to enforce budget discipline in the state of California. The independent Board, which would oversee the California Strategic Reserve Bank (CSRB), would ensure the full funding of the Reserve in good years, while providing revenue to protect critical state programs in lean years. ACA 11 requires that excess revenue generated during the good years be deposited to the CSRB until such time as the Reserve is fully funded to 20% of the General Fund Revenue. During the lean years, the Legislature could withdraw funds, as long as such withdrawals did not threaten the financial viability of the Reserve. Start-up funding of the CSRB would be accomplished through the sale and securitization of existing non-critical state assets. The Reserve funds would also be available in the event of a major natural disaster, such as a severe earthquake, to enable the state could quickly recover.

ACR 24: SCAAP Resolution (Passed unanimously by Legislature)
ACR 24 asks that the Governor and the California State Attorney General to demand the federal government provide reimbursement for the cost of incarcerating criminal aliens. Federal law, through the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), requires that states and local governments be reimbursed for the costs associated with incarcerating inmates in prisons and jails who are undocumented foreign nationals. However, the federal government has consistently failed to provide full reimbursement funding. The federal government's failure to compensate our state for these costs has severely exacerbated problems in our prisons related to funding and overcrowding.

ACR 119: Civil Rights: Tibet
A Resolution denouncing cultural genocide in Tibet and calling upon China to conduct itself in a manner consistent with the Olympics Charter. Additionally, the resolution seeks to formally recognize March 10th as Tibet Day. Forty-nine years ago, in March 1959, the Tibetan people publicly demonstrated against the brutal 1951 invasion of their country by the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The Resolution anticipates the 50th anniversary of that occasion as the world community turns its attention to the coming XXIX Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China.

ACR 122: Resolution: Nimmo Highway Naming (Chaptered into Law)
Designate a 10 mile portion of State Highway Route 41 East as the Robert and Pat Nimmo Memorial Highway. The Nimmos were two of Atascadero's most distinguished citizens, serving their local community, the state of California and country in a number of capacities. Robert left a distinguished military career to enter public service as an appointee in the Administration of then Governor Ronald Reagan, and later went on to represent the Central Coast in the California State Assembly and Senate. In 1981, he received an appointment within the Reagan Presidential Administration. A Central Coast native born into a ranching family, Pat Nimmo established her own real estate company based in Atascadero which she owned and operated for over 40 years. She was committed to many civic, political and religious causes. Robert Nimmo and Pat Nimmo were an inseparable couple, dedicate to their community and country as much as they were to each other.

AB 1763: Energy Conservation: Billing Disclosure (Signed into law by Governor)
This bill seeks to better equip utility customers with the details they need to make informed energy efficiency and conservation decisions. Requires each electrical and gas corporation to disclose and itemize the information on energy usage and costs, and to include visual representations of this information in customer billing statements. The bill would also require utilities to provide examples of how conservation and energy efficiency measures could reduce energy usage and costs.

AB 1764: Biofuels & the Williamson Act (Signed into law by the Governor)
This bill strengthens the role of California farmers in the production of environmentally-friendly fuels by clarifying that biofuels are not incompatible with the Williamson Act. Defining agricultural commodity to include crops used entirely for the production of biofuels helps ensure an increased supply of plant material for these emerging markets by clarifying that such crops are consistent with the Williamson Act. Additionally, the bill clarifies that enrolling property for federal land conservation subsidies and cost-sharing payments is an open space use and consistent with the Williamson Act.

AB 1766: Immigration: Human Smuggling
This bill would criminalize the act human smuggling that brutally endangers the lives of migrants. Specifically, AB 1766 would penalize smugglers who, for personal profit, smuggle immigrants through California under circumstances that could produce great bodily injury or death to the immigrant. Human smuggling is a widespread and highly lucrative underground industry, generating billions of dollars globally according the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center (HSTC Report to Congress). Regrettably, the profits rendered by smuggling are made all too often at the expense of people's suffering and even death. AB 1766 seeks to deter these kinds of cases of human smuggling by criminalizing such exploitations and removing the financial incentives that drives this shadow economy.

AB 2789: Clean Energy: Small Wind Ordinances
This bill seeks to remove barriers to increased utilization of clean, renewable, small wind resources. Small wind turbines are an excellent customer-scale renewable energy technology that can reduce greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions, reduce peak electricity demand, and save customers on their monthly utility bills. The purpose of this bill is to provide a more uniform, streamlined process for the permitting of small wind turbine generators.

AB 2790: Sustainable Biofuels Certification
Promotes the development of a California biofuels market that is good for the state's economy and the environment. The term 'biofuels' encompasses an array of feedstocks and production processes. While many biofuels provide a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels, the production and conversion of some biofuels can have serious negative environmental, economic, and social consequences. In order to differentiate between environmentally beneficial biofuels and those that are detrimental to the environment, AB 2790 creates scoring criteria for the independent certification of sustainable practices. These would include land and water use, environmental impacts, environmental justice, and resource and environmental monitoring. As a world leader in the development of clean and renewable energy resources, California should encourage the sustainable development and production of biofuels - from field to fuel.

AB 2791: Energy Efficiency Pilot Program Expansion (Signed into law by Governor)
A follow up to 2007's AB 1613 (Blakeslee), this bill expands the pilot project to promote energy efficiency through highly-efficient combined heat and power (CHP) technologies, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases grid reliability, and cuts mobile source emissions. In addition for including non-profit groups, AB 2791 will make federal, state, and local government entities eligible to participate in the program.

AB 2792: California Conservation Corps: Green Collar Certificate Program
Building off the very successful California Conservation Corps program, AB 2792 would create the Green Collar Certificate Program to provide training for corps members to pursue a career in the emerging clean technology economy. California currently lacks the workforce necessary to support the emerging Cleantech economy. The California Conservation Corps has a proven training program and methodology that could be tailored to provide skilled workers to address the labor shortage.

AB 2793: Disclosure of Seismic Risk
AB 2793 authorizes a professional engineer who has knowledge of a structurally unsound building, to disclose the public safety risk to building officials. Currently, an engineer is prevented from making such disclosure to anyone except the building owner. In 2003, two Paso Robles women lost their lives when a 111-year old building collapsed during the magnitude-6.5 San Simeon Earthquake. The building owners had been made aware of the structural deficiencies as early as 1989, when an engineer notified the owner of the public safety risk and recommended retrofitting the building. However, the owners had failed to take corrective action or to post a placard warning the public of the building's seismic safety risk. AB 2793 would ensure that an engineer who seeks to disclose this type of risk does not face new liability for alerting officials.

AB 2794: Diagnostic Imaging Services (Signed into law by Governor)
Combats ever-rising health care costs by stopping the practice of kick-backs that occur between referring physicians and imaging facilities. AB 2794 prevents a physician from billing for services that they are not in fact providing. The use of advanced imaging technology utilizing CAT Scan, MRIs and positron emission imaging represents the most rapidly growing category of medical expenditures. While these technologies have proven enormously helpful in diagnosing a range of conditions, the current system allows for their over-utilization, resulting in higher medical costs and added use of lower quality imaging systems which are not in the best interest of the patient.

AB 2795: Political Reform: Gifts to Legislators
Closes the loophole that allows lobbyist employers to give extravagant gifts to Legislative Members and their staff by applying the same standard to lobbyist employers as applies to lobbyists and lobbying firms. Under the current gifting rules, interests with business before the Legislature are able to circumvent the strict gift limits applied to lobbyists by exploiting the lobbyist employer loophole, which allows these interests to provide more extravagant gifts to Legislators and staff. Lobbyists are limited to $10/month in gifts, while lobbyist employers are able to give gifts valued up to $390/year. The different standard for lobbyists and lobbyist employers is of particular concern because, despite the source, the net effect of the gifting is the same - the interest enjoys access and influence with policy and decision-makers.

AB 3010: Tobacco Ban in State Mental Hospitals (Signed into law by Governor)
Prohibits the possession or use of tobacco products by patients and staff in California's State Mental Hospitals. Studies have shown that eliminating tobacco from psychiatric hospitals reduces behavioral problems and violence, increases treatment time and improves the overall wellness and recovery of patients. AB 3010 will create continuity for individuals transitioning from a state correctional facility to a DMH hospital. Currently all county and city jails, and state correctional facilities, are tobacco free. An individual often spends substantial time in a local jail or state prison prior to being sentenced or paroled to a state mental hospital. This means that patients are in a tobacco free environment for some time before they are transferred to a state mental hospital, where smoking is currently allowed. Patients and staff will benefit from a healthier institution, while California taxpayers save on tobacco-related healthcare costs.

AB 18: Warren Mattingly Signature Stamp Act (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 18 the bill authorizes those who are unable to write due to severe physical disabilities to use a rubber signature stamp for all elections purposes, including voting. Blakeslee authored AB 18 after members of People First brought to his attention that the earlier law requires individuals who are unable to sign their names at the polls or on absentee ballots to mark an 'x' in the presence of a witness. Advocates maintained that the original law created unnecessary complications, compromised privacy, and stigmatized individuals with disabilities. AB 18 is named in honor of Warren Mattingly, a former San Luis Obispo resident and advocate with Advocates for a Better Tomorrow and People First. Mattingly passed away in May 2006.

AB 87: Paso Robles Wines - Unified Labeling Strategy (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 87 will distinguish Paso Robles wines as they compete in an increasingly crowded international market. By creating a regional identity through labeling practices, area wineries will benefit from being associated with the highly regarded "Paso Robles" brand. AB 87 would make Paso Robles the second appellation in the United States to have a unified labeling strategy. Currently, of the more than 200 appellations nationwide, Napa is the only region to have established labeling protections in law.

AB 111: National Guard APLE Program
AB 111 is urgency legislation to save a program designed to help California's National Guardsmen and women. This bill renews the Assumption Program of Loans for Education (APLE), which is set to expire just prior to it being funded. for the first time since the program was established, the 2006 Budget provides funding for 100 warrants for the eligible personnel. However, funding cannot be distributed because the Student Aid Commission is still drafting regulations for eligibility. Meanwhile, the program is set to expire on July 1, 2007.

AB 114: CO2 Scrubber Technology
This bill would require the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop a program to facilitate and encourage the development of cost effective containment, scrubbing, and capture technologies to decrease industrial process carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon management is understood to be one of the most complex and pressing environmental issues facing the industrial world, today. Numerous strategies for dealing with carbon have been proposed, including: reduced carbon intensity; caps; trading; and, international protocols for reaching global targets, among others. Critical to the success of any of these strategies is viable technology for containment, scrubbing, and capture to prevent its introduction into the atmosphere.

AB 153: Energy Bioscience Institute, UC Berkeley
AB 153 seeks to revolutionize research at the University of California in the exciting area of biofuels, securing California's role as a leader in renewable energy. The Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) is a dedicated biosciences energy research laboratory that is proposed to be attached to UC Berkeley, and will be funded by a $500 million grant from British Petroleum over 10 years. This significant grant will fund long-term research and development of clean energy alternatives to oil and gas. AB 153 secures the commitment of the Legislature to provide the necessary support to secure this unique partnership.

AB 292: Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Funding, SLO County (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 292 is a bill to protect funding for local government costs associated with emergency planning and response for Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. Existing federal and state law requires local governments around operating nuclear power plants to develop and maintain emergency response plans. Associated costs are reimbursed by the utility operating the facility. However, the reimbursement provision is set to expire in 2009. AB 292 would extend the life of the program and ensure that the County of San Luis Obispo has the resources they need to discharge the serious responsibility of emergency preparedness, planning and response in the event of radiological incident.

AB 350: Vegetative Mapping
This bill builds upon existing statewide vegetation and habitat mapping data collection activities. Specifically, the bill would develop a statewide vegetation layer component, which is currently missing from the mapping process. The development of a fine-scale multiple-attribute statewide vegetation layer map would provide invaluable data for the purposes of habitat and wildland corridor identification. The addition of this data would greatly enhance a variety of analyses, including regional conservation planning, identifying endangered species habitats, identifying wildlife corridors, and monitoring impacts of global warming and climate change.

AB 358: Santa Maria DMV Relocation (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 358 allows for an innovative partnership between the City of Santa Maria and the Department of Motor Vehicles to relocate the city's DMV office which is undersized and difficult to access. The current DMV facility was built in 1969 for a population of about 32,000. Since that time, the population has nearly tripled. Despite the surge in growth in the community, their have been no major renovations or expansions to the facility since construction. AB 358 empowers the parties to negotiate a fair market exchange or long-term lease agreement -- and, if a suitable agreement cannot be reached, no party is adversely affected.

AB 417: Santa Barbara County/San Luis Obispo County Regional Health Authority (Signed into law by Governor)
This bill clarifies in law that the Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority can expand to form a two county organized health system with the county of San Luis Obispo. The bill would permit the health authority to provide health care to Medi-Cal recipients in both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. The Regional Health Authority operates as a primary care network which emphasizes case management as a means of encouraging physician participation, improved access to care, high quality medicine, and efficient treatment patterns.

AB 539: Immigration Screening
AB 539 would fund a new position within the Department of Mental Health, who would be trained to federal standards to conduct the handful of daily screenings to assess the immigration status of patients transferring from CDCR facilities to DMH. In addition, AB 539 would require DMH to communicate and prepare documents related to the status of identified undocumented patients. Over the course of treatment, in the event that all legal remedies for further commitment are exhausted, those individuals who have been designated as undocumented nationals would then be transferred to federal custody for processing and deportation.

AB 773: Absentee Ballot Returns (Chaptered out)
This bill would permit voters to return an absentee ballot to any polling place in the state, and if the ballot is submitted to a county where the voter is not registered, would require the county official to deliver the ballot to the original county elections office.

AB 809: Renewable Energy: Hydro Efficiencies (Signed into law by Governor)
This bill would encourage power plants to invest in efficiency upgrades at hydroelectric facilities in order to achieve incremental increases in the amount of renewable electricity generated. AB 809 would allow the efficiency gains to qualify as electricity that is an eligible renewable energy resource. The bill encourages efficiency improvements at hydroelectric facilities without detracting from the development and investment in other renewable resources.

AB 838: State Parks Conservation Easements
This bill allows the Department of Parks and Recreation to use conservation easements to promote land stewardship among private landowners, while strengthening and fulfilling the mission of the state parks system. Parks would be authorized to fund easements on real property if it is determined to protect a part of the state park or to preserve and enhance the natural resource, cultural, or historical value of the park. Conservation easements can be a much more cost effective tool for protecting existing state parks from encroachment then fee title purchase of an adjacent property. Such easements have the added benefit of avoiding higher future ongoing operation and maintenance costs and keep local property on the tax rolls while protecting the core mission of the park from potential incompatible use.

AB 846: Clean Marine Fuels Incentive (Included in SB 98, signed into law by Governor)
This bill will promote the use of cleaner-burning, low sulfur fuel in vessels along our coasts and in our ports. This proposal would encourage cleaner fuel use sooner than would otherwise be required by international, federal and state regulations, improve public health throughout the state and in concentrated areas around our ports, and bolster California's maritime fuel sale economy. AB 846 would provide incentives for the purchase of Low-Sulfur Diesel (.05% and lower) cleaner fuels for use in auxiliary engines while these vessels are in California waters (at berth, anchorage and transiting to and from our Ports in our rivers, bays and harbors).

AB 1019: Regional Housing Planning: Annexation (Signed into law by Governor)
This bill seeks to correct a problem in current law relating to annexations. Under current law, when a city and county annex land the County is still the responsible party to provide the Regional Housing Needs Assessment Housing numbers even though in some instances they no longer have that land available to them. This bill would require that the city and county negotiate for the housing numbers as part of the discussion of the annexation, if they reach an impasse the Council of Governments would step in to ensure that an agreement is reached by both parties and this agreement is binding. The bill simply seeks to provide equity in the law for cities and counties when an annexation takes place to ensure the process is handled in a fair and balanced way.

AB 1055: CalTrans Mitigation (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 1055 seeks to replace the current piece meal approach to mitigation with a comprehensive and coordinated method that will streamline efficiencies, expedite mitigation requirements, conserve financial resources, and result in improved, regional mitigation. AB 1055 proposes that the mitigation requirements be viewed comprehensively, directing smaller mitigation proposals towards larger, resource intensive areas that will serve mitigation needs today and tomorrow as they unfold.

AB 1180: California Farmland Conservancy
This legislation provides the Department of Conservation with greater flexibility in its efforts to protect non-farmed parts of agricultural lands that offer other important resource values and that are compatible with agriculture. Such values as flood protection, wildlife habitat, open space and recreational uses, could be maintained while keeping the land in the production of agriculture. Approval of this bill will allow the Department to maximize agricultural land conservation opportunities by permitting the CFCP to draw from more diverse funding sources, such as Proposition 84 and Proposition 1E bond funds that recognize the importance of multiple resource protection.

AB 1246: State Agency Mitigation Partnerships (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 1246 clarifies that a local or state public agency, in the development of its own project that requires mitigation, may allow nonprofit organizations to accept and hold real property interests. Land trusts are well suited in purpose and experience to accept and steward these lands/easements for many years to come, and their local presence allows ready and cost-effective stewardship for the property.

AB 1593: Safe Schools: Volunteer Screening
This bill would help protect school children from known predators. Blakeslee introduced AB 1593 after learning about Francisco Cruz Gomez, a registered sex offender who was caught volunteering in a local preschool. Gomez was only discovered after a vigilant parent recognized him on the Megan's Law website and notified authorities. AB 1593 would establish, at a minimum, that school districts screen volunteers against the Megan's Law database. All school sites can quickly access the website at no cost, creating little-to-no delays for prospective volunteers.

AB 1594: Safe Schools: Luring
This bill strengthens a school district's ability to dismiss an employee for unprofessional conduct, if that employee has engaged in sexually suggestive or romantic communication with a pupil. Additionally, this bill prioritizes the hearing of appeals for disciplinary actions taken involving a potential threat to a student's safety.

AB 1613: Energy Efficiency: Combined Heat and Power (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 1613 enacts the Waste Heat and Carbon Emissions Reduction Act which seeks a distributed solution through a cogeneration model. AB 1613 promotes energy efficiency through highly-efficient combined heat and power (CHP) technologies, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases grid reliability, and cuts mobile source emissions. AB 1613 would encourage the development of small CHP technologies suitable for residential and small business use, and reward homeowners who also use this technology to generate electricity to power hybrid cars.

AB 1702: CalTrans Hiring Practices (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 1702 grants the Department of Transportation authority to make permanent the highly successful hiring and selection process of the Managerial Selection Demonstration Project.

ACR 97: Alex Madonna Memorial Highway (Chaptered into law)
A.C.R. 97 designates the portion of State Highway Route 101 from the Madonna Road exit in San Luis Obispo to the Santa Barbara Road exit in South Atascadero as the Alex Madonna Memorial Highway.

AB 746: Payment Options for Utility Bills (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 746 promotes electronic payment options that can reduce paperwork, lower overhead expenses and improve convenience for customers. Years of gridlock between banks, credit card companies and California utilities regarding fees had prevented access by the public to credit/debit card payment options.

AB 1632: Energy Planning (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 1632 identifies and seeks to protect San Luis Obispo County and the state from impacts and costs attributable to seismic risk, nuclear waste and nuclear re-licensing decisions.

AB 1880: Atascadero State Hospital (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 1880 puts a spotlight on worker safety problems at Atascadero State Hospital by requiring administrators and key employees to initiate a statutorily defined process to develop strategies to protect workers and improve working conditions - changes that will result in better medical care for patients.

AB 1925: Global Warming (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 1925 develops carbon sequestration capabilities, which will be a critical part of our state's plan to reduce greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere to combat global warming. Europe is currently pursuing similar sequestration capabilities.

AB 2189: Energy Efficiency (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 2189 promotes energy efficiency by utilities that capture hydroelectric power. The power generated at these facilities is one of the most inexpensive means of generating emission-free electricity.

AB 2550: Honoring Our National Guard Troops (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 2550 expresses the state's gratitude to members of the California National Guard by providing them with a preference in hiring for state government jobs - treating them the same as soldiers who have been honorably discharged from active service in other branches of the military.

AB 2701: Los Osos (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 2701 protects San Luis Obispo County taxpayers from more than $50 million of liability and creates an orderly and timely process for constructing a sewer that will assist in resolving a 30-year water contamination problem in the community of Los Osos.

AB 2746: Mitigation (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 2746 streamlines process for approving environmental mitigation projects and strengthens state and local agency abilities to partner with non-profits that often can manage real property interests in a manner that is more cost-effective and less bureaucratic than agencies based in Sacramento.

AB 2755: OHV Child Safety (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 2755 promotes safe Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) riding by eliminating a legal loophole that allowed parents and guardians to ignore their supervision responsibilities without facing any consequences.

AB 2805: Advanced Health Care Directives (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 2805 allows Californians to create a legally valid electronic advanced health care directive or power of attorney to detail their wishes for treatment (or lack thereof) in the event that they become incapacitated.

AB 584: Seismic Safety (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 584 repeals obsolete laws related to the 1991 Earthquake Research Evaluation Conference, reduces state bookkeeping obligations and returns monies to the General Fund that have been unused since 1991.

AB 747: Catastrophic Leave (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 747 permits rank-and-file state employees to donate vacation time, sick leave and similar credits to other state employees who need time off to recover from a major illness, a serious injury to a family member or other catastrophic situations.

AB 1075: Health Care Streamlining (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 1075 paves the way for the highly successful Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority to provide a wide range of health care services in San Luis Obispo County, including the important managed care for Medi-Cal patients and the Healthy Families program.

AB 1249: Waste Tire Facility Permit (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 1249 improves management of the serious environmental, health and safety risks associated with hazardous tire piles by moving responsibilities to a state agency with greater expertise in such matters.

AB 1585: Renewable Energy (Signed into law by Governor)
AB 1585 promotes development of policies that will increase the state's use of renewable energy, which will protect the environment and decrease our state's dependence on natural gas.