New legislation from Jerry Hill and Joe Simitian arriving January 1, 2013

The Daily Journal (San Mateo), Michelle Durand, staff writer, 12/28/12.  "New Year brings new laws."

New party bus rules, more accountability

....  "As the state prepares to ring in 2013 with the rest of the world, California residents should be getting ready for new legislation that significantly changes juvenile sentencing laws, protects students and job seekers from sharing private passwords and tries expanding the transparency of government. Thanks to the efforts of San Mateo County legislators, duplicate contracting services have been eliminated, transit districts can enforce parking rules, motorists are better equipped to challenge red light camera tickets and women will be informed if they have dense breast tissue. 

All of the new laws are based on legislation passed in 2011 and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown by the end of September. Unless otherwise specified, each become effective Jan. 1."

Many of the new laws seem like minor legal tweaking of existing law.

Have a safer bus ride

Example, the party bus law..  "....  A bill cracking down on underage drinking on party buses closes a loophole that holds limousine operators but not buses responsible. The law requires companies to make the person reserving the bus responsible for disclosing if alcohol will be served and if passengers are under age.  A separate bill by Hill lets charter party carriers keep trip reports in a hard copy or an electronic format."

 
For Jerry Hill and Joe Simitian, the legislation proved their swan songs for their just-ended terms. Hill was termed out of the Assembly and is now a state senator for San Mateo; Simitian termed out of the Senate and was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.  Hill’s 18 bills signed into law include several that grew out of tragedies.  “They are both so significant and have the potential to save many lives in the future,” Hill said.   Read article.

Posted by Kathy Meeh