Bipartisan fentanyl bill stalls in committee + Schumer touts Su for Labor Secretary
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FENTANYL WARNING BILL FAILS IN SENATE COMMITTEE
A bipartisan bill that would require courts to admonish convicted fentanyl dealers that they could face future criminal liability if another person dies because of their actions failed to make it through the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday.
SB 44, co-authored by Sens. Thomas Umberg, D-Santa Ana, and Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, R-Yucaipa, is patterned after an existing law requiring a similar warning for those convicted of driving under the influence.
California accounts for a fifth of the nation’s overdose deaths, with youths under 24 comprising the hardest-hit age group, according to a statement from Umberg’s office, Many of those deaths are attributable to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times stronger than morphine.
In a statement, Umberg said that he is discouraged, and Ochoa Bogh said she is heartbroken, by the committee’s decision to block the bill.
“We are facing untold devastation in terms of fentanyl and to know that parents, nurses, teachers, and law enforcement officials will have to endure this tragedy is, to me, unforgivable,” Umberg said.
Ochoa Bogh said that every California community is facing a fentanyl epidemic. In her district, up to 90% of overdose deaths are fentanyl-related, she said.
“This is not just a crisis; it’s thousands of individual tragedies,” Ochoa Bogh said.
The bill had some prominent Democratic backers, including bill sponsor San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
Gloria, a former assemblyman, said that SB 44 “shouldn’t be controversial.”
“SB 44 is common sense legislation that forces dealers to acknowledge that fentanyl is deadly and leads to more serious penalties for those who continue to traffic in this poison and kill someone,” he said in a statement.
Though the bill has stalled in committee for now, it isn’t dead.
Committee Chair Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, granted the bill reconsideration, meaning it can return to committee for a future hearing.
“I can only hope that we can change some minds in the next two weeks,” Umberg said.
JULIE SU HAS SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER’S SUPPORT
Via David Lightman...
California’s Julie Su, nominated by President Joe Biden to be U.S. Secretary of Labor, met Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who pronounced himself impressed.
“As a veteran litigator, Julie has been on the frontlines of protecting workers’ rights for years,” Schumer, D-New York, said. “From helping place people in good paying jobs, to doggedly fighting against wage theft, Julie knows the ins and outs of labor firsthand. She will use that knowledge to strengthen our workforce and our economy.”
Su, though, faces an uncertain path to Senate confirmation. Republicans have criticized her tenure as Secretary of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
During the COVID pandemic, her agency became the target of bitter criticism from the public and politicians from both parties as it struggled to keep up with the overwhelming demand for unemployment benefits.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is expected to hold her confirmation hearing April 20. Su was confirmed as deputy secretary two years ago, and Democrats today control 51 Senate seats.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Not sure who needs to hear this, but if you’re an elected official and you’re focused on the identity of only ONE of the 130+ mass shootings this year (let alone the thousands of mass shootings that have occurred in recent years), you’re doing this wrong.”
- Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, via Twitter. The tweet comes as some conservative politicians, including Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, used the alleged gender identity of the suspected Nashville school shooter to make anti-transgender comments.
Best of The Bee:
No one enters California civil service expecting to get rich. But some state workers say their stagnant wages fail to cover basic living expenses, let alone provide the sense of security and financial stability that many seek from a job in state government, via Maya Miller.
As a trans man and a non-binary person, we find ourselves moved to tears and laughter explaining the significance of International Transgender Day of Visibility on Friday. On a daily basis, we relish moments of joy, like finding out that 24 Hour Fitness lets us use our correct names and genders in creating membership accounts. But we are always conscious that trans+ people (those with gender identities outside the binary) are still fighting for our lives. This is true not only in red states but here in Sacramento, too, via Evan Minton. (OPINION)
