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Five Wiggins bills among those signed by governor last weekend
The Wiggins bills that he signed were:
SB 2, which authorizes a vote of the Pierce's Disease and Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Board on whether the industry assessment should be continued needs to be passed in 2008. PD and the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter continue to be a problem for California winegrape growers. Industry funds are a key component, along with state and federal funds to pay for research and containment. This bill is sponsored by the Family Winemakers of California, the California Association of Winegrape Growers), and the Wine Institute.
SB 215, which requires local agency formation commissions to consider "sustainable community strategies" before making boundary decisions. Local agency formation commissions (LAFCOs) control the boundaries of cities and special districts, operating under the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act and are considered by the courts to be the "watchdog" over these boundary changes. One of the purposes of LAFCOs is to "discouraging urban sprawl." To guide their boundary decisions, LAFCOs must adopt "spheres of influence" for cities and districts, designating their future service areas and boundaries. LAFCOs’ boundary decisions must be consistent with these spheres of influence. SB 215 is supported bu the California Association of LAFCOs, Mendocino LAFCO, Planning & Conservation League, Sonoma LAFCO, and Trust for Public Land.
SB 260, which increases the cap on the fee assessed on each gallon of motor oil manufactured in California from two cents per gallon to five cents to cover the costs of administering the existing California Department of Food and Agriculture, Division of Measurement Standards, Petroleum Products Program. The motor oil fee has not been increased in 29 years (1979). The current rate is not sufficient to cover the costs of the current program. SB 260 is sponsored by the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association.
SB 620, which requires a compulsory survey during the time of re-licensure in order to monitor the Osteopathic Doctors' (D.O.s) workforce. In 2001, AB 1586 (Negrete McLeod) required the California Medical Board to administer a compulsory medical doctor (M.D.) physician survey with re-licensure. The survey includes information regarding: weekly hours in patient care, practice zip code, training status, self-designated specialties, and Board certification. The survey has provided a total count of physicians by specialty (i.e. primary care or specialist) statewide, and by county. SB 620 would require a similar compulsive survey for the D.O. Board in order to provide more information on all primary care physicians practicing in California in order to better address recruitment and retention of physicians, and to identify services needed in specific regions. SB 620 is sponsored by the Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons of California and supported by the California Medical Association.
SB 635, which allows Sonoma County to increase a number of fees for the purpose of funding domestic violence prevention programs. SB 635 will also extend Solano Countys Family Justice Program until 2011. The purpose of raising the fees for marriage licenses, certified copies of marriage certificates, fetal death records, and death records issued by the county clerk, is to fund oversight and coordination of domestic violence prevention, intervention and prosecution efforts. Currently, similar pilot programs exist in Alameda and Solano but are subject to sunset in 2010. The program would also sunset for Sonoma County in 2015.
The Wiggins bills that he vetoed were:
SB 158, which would have required health insurance plans that currently cover cervical cancer screening, to also provide coverage for the genital human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for girls ages 11 - 26. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection. HPV is also the only known cause for cervical cancer.
SB 272, which would have updated academic and career counseling statutes and trains career and vocational education counselors to advise students of all their postsecondary options (including career technical education, multiple pathways, or college education). The California education counseling statutes have not been updated in over two decades. By updating the education counseling statutes and specifying the roles of career counselors, SB 272 would enhance existing counseling programs in order to better address the academic and career needs of students. Furthermore, SB 272 would encourage school counselors to obtain training opportunities to learn about innovative concepts such as multiple pathways and Career Technical Education (CTE).
Visit Wiggins' Web site at http://dist02.casen.govoffice.com/ .