SCOTT WIENER

California lawmakers are finally sending to Gov. Gavin Newsom a hot potato of a bill that would bar police from making arrests on a charge of loitering for prostitution, nine months after the measure passed the Legislature, the author of the bill announced Monday. Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener and other supporters said arrests for loitering with the intent to engage in prostitution often rely on police officers’ perceptions and disproportionately target transgender, Black and Latino women. Greg Burt, a spokesman for the California Family Council, and other opponents fear it’s part of an eventual effort to decriminalize prostitution.

Lawmakers are moving so fast because they need voters to approve the amendment before it can become law. Among likely voters, 76% oppose overturning Roe v. Wade, according to an April survey by the Public Policy Institute of California. Those things are possible because, in 1972, California voters added a right to privacy to the state constitution. State courts have cited that right to privacy while upholding many of the state's abortion laws. “We are protecting ourselves from future courts and future politicians.”The amendment is one of 14 proposals moving through the California Legislature this year to strengthen and expand access to abortion.

Democrats are moving quickly to make sure abortions are a constitutional right in California.

California moved a step closer Wednesday to creating sites where people could legally use drugs under supervision designed to save them from dying if they overdose, over the objections of opponents who said the state would be enabling dangerous and illegal activity. The full Assembly will now consider allowing test programs in Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco, more than a year after the proposal narrowly passed the state Senate. “We know that we are experiencing a crisis of overdose deaths, and these are preventable," said Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener.

Advocates of the proposal say it would prevent overdoses, slow the spread of HIV and inspire drug users to seek help, while proponents say safe injection sites would create an "open drug scene."

On Tuesday, lawmakers introduced a plan to create what some are calling a “rainbow wall.”

Transgender Youth FILE - State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, discusses his proposed measure to provide legal refuge to displaced transgender youth and their families during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., March 17, 2022. Democratic lawmakers in more than a dozen states are following California’s lead in seeking to offer legal refuge to displaced transgender youth and their families. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) (Rich Pedroncelli)CONCORD, N.H. — (AP) — Democratic lawmakers in more than a dozen states are following California’s lead in seeking to offer legal refuge to displaced transgender youth and their families. And multiple states have approved measures prohibiting gender-affirming health care treatments for transgender youth. To combat such moves, lawmakers in both Minnesota and New York recently filed refuge state legislation modeled after the bill proposed in March by state Sen. Scott Wiener in California.

Transgender Youth FILE - State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, discusses his proposed measure to provide legal refuge to displaced transgender youth and their families during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., March 17, 2022. Democratic lawmakers in more than a dozen states are following California’s lead in seeking to offer legal refuge to displaced transgender youth and their families. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) (Rich Pedroncelli)CONCORD, N.H. — (AP) — Democratic lawmakers in more than a dozen states are following California’s lead in seeking to offer legal refuge to displaced transgender youth and their families. And multiple states have approved measures prohibiting gender-affirming health care treatments for transgender youth. To combat such moves, lawmakers in both Minnesota and New York recently filed refuge state legislation modeled after the bill proposed in March by state Sen. Scott Wiener in California.

Democratic lawmakers in 18 states are following California’s lead in seeking to offer legal refuge to displaced transgender youth and their families.

Democratic lawmakers have agreed to legislation that could let the University of California, Berkeley accept thousands more students this fall after courts froze enrollment in a dispute with residents over growth.

The last time supporters tried to repeal California's affordable housing law was nearly three decades ago, in 1993, when it failed with only 40% voting in favor. But they abandoned the effort because they could not secure funding for a sufficient campaign, Wiener said. California's law requiring voters to approve publicly funded affordable housing projects came after a 1949 federal law that outlawed segregation in public housing projects. “It has tied our hands in exploring solutions to the affordable housing crisis and homeless crisis in a sense by taking public housing off the table,” Castillo said. One potential source of funding for the campaign to repeal the law is the California Real Estate Association, now known as the California Association of Realtors.

California lawmakers are trying again to get rid of the nation's only law that lets voters veto public housing projects.

District Attorney Chesa Boudin said the practice threatens to discourage survivors of sexual assault from coming forward.

California could mandate that all businesses require their employees and independent contractors receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Virus Outbreak California Vaccines State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, addresses the state Senate at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. Wiener is introducing, Friday, Jan. 21, 2022 a bill that would allow children ages 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents consent. Currently in California, minors ages 12 to 17 cannot be vaccinated without permission from their parents or guardians, unless the vaccine is specifically to prevent a sexually transmitted disease. If the bill passes, California would allow the youngest age of any state to be vaccinated without parental permission. Wiener's legislation is not a mandate, but any vaccination legislation has been hugely controversial in California and elsewhere.

Virus Outbreak California Vaccines State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, addresses the state Senate at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. Wiener is introducing, Friday, Jan. 21, 2022 a bill that would allow children ages 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents consent. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (Rich Pedroncelli)SACRAMENTO, Calif. — (AP) — California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents' consent, the youngest age of any state, under a proposal late Thursday by a state senator. Wiener's legislation is permissive, not a mandate, but any vaccination legislation has been hugely controversial in California and elsewhere. I think parents are vital to these decisions.”However, he thinks Wiener may have difficulty even in a Legislature overwhelmingly controlled by Democrats.

Virus Outbreak California Vaccines State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, addresses the state Senate at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. Wiener is introducing, Friday, Jan. 21, 2022 a bill that would allow children ages 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents consent. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (Rich Pedroncelli)SACRAMENTO, Calif. — (AP) — California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents' consent, the youngest age of any state, under a proposal late Thursday by a state senator. Wiener's legislation is permissive, not a mandate, but any vaccination legislation has been hugely controversial in California and elsewhere. I think parents are vital to these decisions.”However, he thinks Wiener may have difficulty even in a Legislature overwhelmingly controlled by Democrats.

California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without parental consent under a state senator's proposal.

In San Francisco and elsewhere, the red tape that prevented dining alfresco before the pandemic is starting to grow back.

The University of California Hastings College of the Law wants to remove the name of its founder, who sponsored massacres of Native Americans in the 1850s.

California Gender Neutral Stores FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2020, file photo, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, speaks at a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. Wiener urged lawmakers, on Wednesday Sept. 1, 2021, to approve a measure requiring department stores with 500 or more employees to maintain gender neutral sections for toys and childcare items. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) (Rich Pedroncelli)SACRAMENTO, Calif. — (AP) — California could soon force large department stores to display some child products in gender neutral ways after the state Legislature passed a bill on Wednesday aimed at getting rid of traditional pink and blue marketing schemes for items like toys and toothbrushes. If it becomes law, California would become the first state to require these sections in stores, according to the office of Assemblyman Evan Low, the bill's author. This is at least the third time California lawmakers have tried to pass this bill, with previous versions failing to pass in 2019 and 2020. Target Corp., with 1,914 stores across the United States, announced in 2015 it would stop using some gender-based signs in its stores.

California could soon force large department stores to display some child products in gender-neutral terms.

California-Psychedelic Drugs FILE - In this June 28, 2018, file photo, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, talks during a Senate session in Sacramento, Calif. California lawmakers will wait until next year to consider decriminalizing psychedelics. Sen. Scott Wiener said Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021 that he will keep working to persuade the public and legislators that it’s a good idea. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) (Rich Pedroncelli)SACRAMENTO, Calif. — (AP) — California lawmakers will wait until next year to consider decriminalizing psychedelics, with the bill's author saying Thursday that he will keep working to persuade the public and legislators that it's a good idea. The bill “moved significantly farther than anticipated,” Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, said in a statement. The University of Wisconsin–Madison said this week it is launching a research center to coordinate ongoing studies and education in psychedelic compounds.

California lawmakers will wait until next year to consider decriminalizing psychedelics.

"I think there is a lot in this strategy for everyone to like," said the bill's author, state Senator Scott Wiener.

Frustrated by out-of-control increases in drug overdose deaths, the state's leaders want to try something radical. The federal government has been doing it for years with military veterans.

People would earn small payments for every negative drug test over a set period of time. It works like this: People earn small incentives or payments for every negative drug test over a period of time. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation, a nonprofit agency, runs a small, privately-funded contingency management program. But he said watching his account grow with each negative test motivated him more than any other treatment program did. Wiener's bill would require California's Medicaid program to pay for the treatment while Newsom's plan would let counties choose whether to participate.

California may become the first state to pay drug addicts to stay sober.

The school just reopened Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, for in-person learning. (AP Photo/Haven Daily)SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California lawmakers on Thursday approved a $6.6 billion plan aimed at pressuring school districts to return students to the classroom before the end of the school year. Districts that resume in-person learning after that date won’t get any of that money. Frustrated parents and politicians have been clamoring for schools to return students to the classroom for months. To get the money, districts governed by the first set of rules must offer in-person learning through at least second grade by the end of March.

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2020, file photo, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, speaks at a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. On Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, a federal judge ruled California could enforce a 2018 net neutrality law. Jerry Brown signed the bill in 2018, making California the first state to pass a net neutrality law. But in a separate lawsuit, the telecom industry asked a federal judge to keep blocking the law. On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez denied their request, allowing California to begin enforcing the law. The law seeks to ban internet providers from slowing down customers' data streams based on the content they are viewing.

FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2015, file photo, pumpjacks are seen operating in Bakersfield, Calif. Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on the state Legislature to ban fracking by 2024. The bill would also ban all fracking in California, along with other forms of oil extraction such as cyclic steaming, by Jan. 1, 2027. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribuSACRAMENTO, Calif. – New legislation would ban all fracking in California by 2027, taking aim at the powerful oil and gas industry in the state already planning to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. AdTwo state senators answered that call Wednesday, announcing a measure that would halt new fracking permits or renewals by Jan. 1 and ban the practice altogether by 2027.

But housing advocates worry the plan gives landlords too much power to decide what happens to their tenants' debt. In October, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia estimated that California renters had compiled $1.7 billion in unpaid rent. California estimating as many as 1.1 million households were behind on their rent in December, facing an estimated $3.6 billion in debt. The state would pay for the program by using $2.6 billion in federal rent relief money from the most recent coronavirus rescue package. The federal money can only be spent on households whose income is 80% or less of the area median income.

A similar bill failed to pass last year after facing opposition from the California Medical Association. It would ban specific types of surgeries on infants born with intersex characteristics. There are no state or federal laws regulating intersex surgeries in the U.S., according to InterACT, a national intersex advocacy group. The California Legislature passed a nonbinding resolution in 2018 that urged doctors to defer intersex surgeries on children “until the child is able to participate in decision making." But since then, two major children's hospitals — Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago and Boston Children's Hospital — announced they would stop performing some surgeries on intersex children who were too young to give meaningful consent.

Gavin Newsom signed a law that requires the state to house transgender prisoners based on their gender identity. The law Newsom signed Saturday says officers must ask inmates privately during the intake process if they identify as transgender, nonbinary or intersex. Rhode Island, New York City and Massachusetts have also housed inmates based on their gender identity. The law also requires officers to address transgender inmates based on the pronouns of their choice. And it requires officers to search inmates based on the search policy of their gender identity.

Most people, after enjoying their pizza, throw their box away. Not Scott Wiener - he's collected hundreds of pizza boxes from around the world. According to Guinness World Records, Wiener has the largest such collection in the world. Serena Altschul takes a delectable look at the surprisingly varied art of the pizza box. Originally broadcast February 1, 2015.

The art of pizza boxes Most people, after enjoying their pizza, throw their box away. Not Scott Wiener - he's collected hundreds of pizza boxes from around the world. According to Guinness World Records, Wiener has the largest such collection in the world. Serena Altschul takes a delectable look at the surprisingly varied art of the pizza box.