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Ramos district bills on youth, business, public safety move forward after key fiscal committee hearing

For immediate release:

 

SACRAMENTO— Legislation ranging from children and youth to public safety to small business cleared the Assembly Appropriations Committee’s Suspense file on Thursday. The approved measures authored by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) will be heard by the full Assembly in the coming weeks.

Assembly Appropriations approved the following bills:

Children and Youth

  • AB 2108, the Luke Madrigal Act, requires a county social worker or probation officer to immediately notify parents or legal guardians, attorneys for parents, court-appointed special advocate, the court of jurisdiction and others when they receive information that children receiving child welfare services, including non-minor dependents, are missing from foster care. The Yurok Tribe, California Tribal Families Coalition and Alliance for Children’s Rights are sponsors.
  • AB 2711 requires that local education agencies such as school districts and county boards of education offer supportive services before suspending or expelling a student for drug-related infractions. Sponsors are the California Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, California Alliance of Child and Family Services and California Youth Empowerment Network and Children Now. 
  • AB 3015 allows students residing in multi-state, border-straddling, federally recognized tribe to be classified as a California resident only for the purposes of determining tuition and fees at state higher education institutions. University of California is the sponsor.

Public Safety

  • AB 1863 enacts improvements to year-old Feather Alert notification system undertaken when a Native American is missing including requirement that California Highway Patrol provide a reason for not activating the alert and developing policies around notification systems. Sponsors are the Bear River of the Rohnerville Rancheria, Pechanga Band of Mission Indians and Yurok Tribe.
  • AB 2138 creates a three-year pilot program allowing tribal governments under specified conditions to grant their law enforcement officers peace officer status. Sponsors are the Yurok Tribe and California Indian Legal Services. Sponsors are the Yurok Tribe and California Indian Legal Services.
  • AB 2695 requires the Department of Justice to collect and disaggregate data on crimes occurring on Indian lands and report that information to the California Department of Justice as part of its efforts to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis. Sponsor is California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Other Ramos bills continuing to move forward and in the Senate are:

  • A small business-related and governmental transparency measure, AB 3276, the Mitigation Fee Act, was approved on the Assembly floor Thursday. It will head next to the state senate. AB 3276 would require local government agencies to post mandated information about development fees they hold on their website.

Also, Ramos bills recently moved to the Senate are:

  • AB 46, a bill granting a state tax exemption to retired members and their survivors of the Armed Forces. Sponsor is the Military Officers Association of America, California Council of Chapters. It is on the Senate Appropriations File.
  • AB 81 seeks to safeguard existing state statutes protecting Indian children, families and the rights of tribes in child welfare cases by acknowledging that federally recognized tribes are sovereign nations with inherent rights to self-governance, including the right to regulate domestic relations involving their citizens. Official sponsors are the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the California Tribal Families Coalition.
  • AB 1284 would allow California’s federally recognized tribes to enter into co-governance and co-management agreements with the California Natural Resources Agency. Sponsors are the Resighini Rancheria and the Tolwa Dee-ni' Nation. It is in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.
  • AB 1821 would require California schools, when teaching about the Spanish Colonization and Gold Rush Eras, to teach the true history of the treatment and perspectives of California Native Americans during those periods. It would also require that the Instructional Quality Commission consider including the content in the curriculum framework and evaluation criteria for instructional materials. Sponsors are the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. It is in the Senate Education Committee.
  • AB 2246 would expand the definition of “health care provider” to include qualified autism service paraprofessionals so that health insurance companies to reimburse families for these paraprofessional services. Sponsor is the Autism Business Association. It is in the Senate Rules Committee.
  • AB 2948 would include a final order of adoption issued by a tribal court as a qualifying circumstance for a child to receive Adoption Assistance Program benefits, a final order of adoption issued by the tribal court of the child’s tribe.  Indian child who was a dependent of the juvenile court immediately prior to the transfer of the Indian child’s case. It is in the Senate Rules Committee.

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Assemblymember James C. Ramos proudly represents the 45th Assembly district that includes the Cities of Fontana, Highland, Mentone, Redlands, Rialto and San Bernardino. He is the first and only California Native American serving in the state’s legislature. Ramos chairs the Assembly Budget Subcommittee #6 on Public Safety.