2005 S&T LEGISLATION UPDATE

STATE INITIATIVES

• Proposition 69 requires collection of DNA samples from all felons, and from adults and juveniles arrested for or charged with specified crimes, for submission to a state DNA database.
• Proposition 71 provides $3 billion in funding to the Institute of Regenerative Medicine, which will award research grants averaging $300 million a year over 10 years. The 29-member Independent Citizens Oversight Committee (ICOC) has been established, and CCST has been requested to provide recommendations to the ICOC. In response to California's challenge, Wisconsin, like some other states, plans to invest nearly $750 million to support biotechnology, health sciences, and stem cell research.

COUNTY GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM) FOOD INITIATIVES: Mendocino County is the first county in America to ban GM crops and animals, and Trinity County has banned GM foods. Four California counties had anti-GM measures on the November ballot: Butte (failed), Humboldt (failed), Marin (passed) and San Luis Obispo (failed). Counties considering measures for the March 2005 ballot are Alameda, Lake, Napa, Placer, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma.

NANOTECHNOLOGY: State Controller Steve Westly and Congressman Mike Honda (San Jose) have announced the members of the Westly/Honda "Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology." The Task Force is organized into subcommittees including infrastructure, education, research and development, commercialization and policy and ethics. These subcommittees will be expected to generate recommendations that Honda and Westly can act on. Committee membership includes CCST, national laboratories, Intel, Palo Alto's mayor, Nanosys, San Jose State University, various state agencies, NASA Far West Regional Technology Transfer Center, and the Semiconductor Industry Association. CCST is represented by Executive Director Susan Hackwood on the R&D subcommittee. CCST Council Member G. Scott Hubbard is working chair for the task force.

LEGISLATION SIGNED OR VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR

Workforce

• AB 1127 (S. Horton), signed by the Governor, requires employers to prominently display a list of employees' rights and responsibilities under the whistleblower laws.
• AB 1551 (Assembly Members Kehoe, Horton, Plescia, Wyland, and Vargas, and Senators Alpert, Ducheny and Scott), signed by the Governor, recognizes the shortage of biotechnology workers and establishes the San Diego Multiuse Biotechnology Training Center.
• AB 1829 (Liu), vetoed by the Governor, would have prohibited a state or local agency from spending funds for job training of foreign workers, or contracting for services, unless that contractor/subcontractor certifies that the services will be performed solely with workers within the U.S. The veto message noted that the bill excluded the investment activities of the State of California.
• AB 2429 (Chavez), signed by the Governor, establishes a health care providers' bill of rights.

Technology

• SB 1436 (Senator Murray with principal coauthors, Assembly Members Correa and Leslie, and coauthors Senator Romero, and Assemblymembers Aghazarian, Chavez, S. Horton, Jackson, Koretz, Leno, Maze, Nation, Negrete McLeod, Vargas, and Yee), signed by the Governor, creates the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act. Senator Murray plans to address the penalties aspect of SB 1436 this session.
• SB 1457 (Murray), signed by the Governor, prohibits a person or entity from deceptive commercial e-mail advertising and under certain conditions levies a fine for doing so.
• AB 1220 (Berg), signed by the Governor, creates the Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention and Treatment Task Force within the Department of Health Services.

Energy

• SB 888 (Dunn), vetoed by the Governor, would have required that Home Land Security related work be performed in the U.S.

Environment

• SB 512 (Figueroa), signed by the Governor, requires that persons knowledgeable about fisheries represent the state on the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council.
• AB 1360 (Steinberg), signed by the Governor, requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to continue to develop and maintain a system of environmental indicators to the extent that funds are available.
• Legislative sessions in California are two years long; the 2005-2006 session officially began on January 3. Bills introduced this year may remain in consideration through 2006.

BILLS CURRENTLY INTRODUCED OR PROPOSED FOR 2005

• SB 42 (Florez). Vertebrate pest control research. This bill will extend provisions of existing law to January 1, 2016, that require the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to establish and administer a vertebrate pest control research program and advisory committee and continues existing funding mechanisms. It would expand the research program to include both basic and applied research, and to address vertebrate pests, which pose a significant risk to the state's infrastructure.
• SB 18 (Ortiz). Reproductive health and research, referred to as the "Proposition 71 Public Accountability Act," will provide that the governing bodies overseeing implementation of Proposition 71 provide full disclosure of financial and other interests and abide by open meeting requirements; require biomedical research state contacts, grants and loans contain provisions requiring that treatments be available and affordable for state programs and low-income residents; require that the state receive a share of royalties commensurate with its funding for the research and to recoup its legal and administrative patenting and licensing costs; and would protect patients who produce human eggs solely for the purposes of medical research by requiring informed consent and by expressly prohibiting payment in excess of reimbursement expenses.

GOVERNOR'S BUDGET RELEASED ONLINE

For the first time, the 2005-06 Governor's budget was released to the public solely in electronic format. The Governor's E-Budget is available at http://govbud.dof.ca.gov/home.htm. A 20-page overview of the budget has been issued by the Legislative Analyst's Office and is available at http://www.lao.gov. The budget projects modest growth over the next year and proposes slightly increased spending on higher education, using significant program savings in K-12 education, social services, and transportation, as well as borrowing to address the state's deficit.

SB52 (Chesbro) and AB90 (Laird) are the 2005-06 Senate and Assembly budget bills.