Governor Signs All 10 of Sen. Liu’s Bills Passed This Year

Governor Brown has signed all 10 of Sen. Carol Liu’s bills passed by the Legislature this year.

Liu, D- La Cañada Flintridge, authored legislation to help Caltrans sell state-owned houses along a proposed State Route 710 extension, streamline student testing in schools, promote arts education, and enhance interagency collaboration at the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. The Governor has until Sunday (October 13, 2013) to sign or veto legislation sent to him this year.

“I look forward to authoring more bills that improve the lives residents of the 25th Senate District, help improve our public schools, and assist our most needy citizens,” said Liu, Chair of the Senate Education Committee. More details are available on Liu’s Website at http://sd25.senate.ca.gov/. Liu’s signed bills included:

• SB 116 extends the Emergency Food Assistance Program check-off on state income tax forms. These taxpayer donations generated nearly $350,000 for food banks last year.
• SB 238 allows the Supervisor of the Angeles National Forest to vote as a Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Board member on matters related to projects located within or affecting the Forest.
• SB 247 eliminates unnecessary testing of second graders and requires the California Department of Education to find assessments in English and mathematics that are more relevant to the learning abilities of these young students.
• SB 416 authorizes CalTrans to fast track sales of surplus properties purchased decades ago for a planned State Route 710 extension Los Angeles, Alhambra, South Pasadena, and Pasadena. The homes will never be needed to make room for an extension, and the sales will generate revenue for local transportation projects.
• SB 571 and SB 789 will help the California Arts Council continue raising funds with an Arts special interest license plate and create a new state income tax check off for the “Keep Arts in Schools!” fund.

Sen. Liu represents about 930,000 people in the 25th Senate District, which includes Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta-Montrose, Altadena, San Marino, South Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, Duarte, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Glendora, and Upland.