California Senate

A bill that would allow self-driving cars on California's roads has passed the California Senate. The bill, SB1298, sponsored by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), establishes guidelines for "autonomous vehicles" to be tested and operated in California. The bill now goes to the Assembly for consideration next month. Tech giant Google Inc., Caltech and other organizations have been working to develop such vehicles, which use radar, video cameras and lasers to navigate roads and stay safe in traffic without human assistance.

A bill that would allow self-driving cars on California's roads has passed the California Senate. The bill, SB1298, sponsored by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), establishes guidelines for "autonomous vehicles" to be tested and operated in California. The bill now goes to the Assembly for consideration next month. Tech giant Google Inc., Caltech and other organizations have been working to develop such vehicles, which use radar, video cameras and lasers to navigate roads and stay safe in traffic without human assistance.

A controversial proposal to allow some nurses, midwives and physician assistants to perform certain early abortions was withdrawn by its author Friday because it lacked enough votes to pass a key legislative committee. The bill had the backing of the leaders of both houses of the Legislature and of Planned Parenthood but was opposed by an influential nurses union and by foes of abortion rights. Proponents argued that the measure would make it easier for women who live far from urban areas with plenty of abortion providers to get safer, less intrusive procedures.

A controversial proposal to allow some nurses, midwives and physician assistants to perform certain early abortions was withdrawn by its author Friday because it lacked enough votes to pass a key legislative committee. The bill had the backing of the leaders of both houses of the Legislature and of Planned Parenthood but was opposed by an influential nurses union and by foes of abortion rights. Proponents argued that the measure would make it easier for women who live far from urban areas with plenty of abortion providers to get safer, less intrusive procedures.

DISTRICT 1 Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Yuba 100% Precincts Reporting: votes (%) Thomas Oller (R): 199,153 (58%) Thomas A. Romero (D): 132,052 (38%) Jon Petersen (L): 14,592 (4%) DISTRICT 3 Marin, San Francisco, Sonoma 100% Precincts Reporting: votes (%) John L.

State lawmakers pushed forward today with an agreement to keep nearly 700,000 children from being yanked off a government health insurance program for the working poor. The state Senate passed a measure that would create a tax on health insurance companies and bring in federal money to rescue the program, which had been deeply cut in recent months as lawmakers scrambled to balance the state budget. The proposal, offered by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), won unanimous approval from Democrats.

Reporting from Sacramento -- A push by law enforcement and consumer groups to allow parents to restrict their children's personal information on social networking sites and limit disclosure about adults has stalled in the Legislature amid aggressive lobbying by Facebook, Google, Twitter and other firms. The businesses oppose legislation that would require them to promptly remove adults' personal information from sites upon request and allow parents to edit their kids' web postings to exclude information such as home addresses and phone numbers.

State Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) on Wednesday moved a step closer to confirmation as California's next lieutenant governor when the Senate Rules Committee backed him to fill a vacancy created when John Garamendi was elected to Congress. Maldonado told the panel that his priorities would be to reduce the state's unemployment rate and make the university systems more accessible and their operations more transparent. He said he would not support additional tax increases or college fee hikes, and he opposes a plan to increase offshore oil drilling.

Amid accusations that it would give comfort to America's enemies, the California Senate approved a resolution Tuesday calling for a halt to boosting the number of troops in Iraq or spending any more taxpayer dollars on the war without explicit approval from Congress. The resolution was introduced by state Sen. Carole Midgen (D-San Francisco). She said she would amend the resolution, approved 22 to 14, before it reached the state Assembly to include a stronger message of support for the troops.

DISTRICT 1 El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Trinity, Yolo, Yuba 100.0 % Precincts Reporting Votes % John Doolittle, i., R 158,202 54.1 Roy Whiteaker, D 134,373 45.9 DISTRICT 3 Marin, San Francisco 100.0 % Precincts Reporting Votes % Milton Marks, i., D 146,755 66.4 Carol Marshall, R 66,429 30.0 R. Rodriguez, P&F 4,319 2.0 Mark Pickens, L 3,645 1.6 DISTRICT 5 Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Mono, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Toulumne, Yolo 100.

A proposed California Senate bill to outlaw the use of dogs to hunt bears and bobcats in the state gets a hearing Tuesday before the Natural Resources and Water Committee and the dozens of supporters and opponents expected to show. The hunting of bears and bobcats (not mountain lions) is legal but highly regulated in California. There are quotas, seasons and various limitations, such as a ban on killing cubs or mother bears with cubs in tow. The state does allow hunters to deploy dogs, often outfitted with radio telemetry devices on their collars, to track bears or bobcats.

Two bills dealing with teacher sexual misconduct are making their way through the Legislature, with each passing a key hurdle last week. One bill passed the state Senate Education Committee, and separate legislation moved through state Assembly Education Committee. The legislation is fallout from the arrest of former Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt, who has pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of lewd conduct with students. Investigators allege that he spoon-fed his semen to blindfolded students as part of what he called a "tasting" game.

Legislation aimed at regulating controversial Buy Here Pay Here used-car dealers, which charge steep interest rates and are quick to repossess vehicles, was approved by the state Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee. The bill, by Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), classifies the dealerships, which finance most of their own sales, as state-regulated lenders. "This bill regulates an unregulated industry," Lieu said. The bill cleared the committee on a party-line vote Wednesday, with five Democrats voting aye and two Republicans nay. The proposal now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee and then to the Senate floor.

Republican activists trying to overturn new state Senate districts began filing signed petitions Thursday for a California-wide referendum on the issue. Referendum proponents, calling themselves Fairness and Accountability in Redistricting (FAIR), have until Sunday to file the minimum 504,000 signatures needed to get the matter on the November 2012 ballot. FAIR charges that the maps, drawn for the first time by a citizens commission instead of the Legislature, bear "trademarks of gerrymandering" to favor Democrats.

Under fire for spending $111,316 in taxpayer funds to feed themselves this year, state senators have decided to end the practice. All members of the upper house will be billed $2,000 a year to pay for stocking the coffee room and to cover their meal expenses when sessions extend into the lunch or dinner hour, said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). The five-member Senate Rules Committee, which Steinberg chairs, voted Tuesday to implement the new system.

It was 12:18 a.m. when Joe Simitian took the microphone on the floor of the California Senate, demanding the attention of bleary-eyed fellow lawmakers in the final moments of this year's legislative session. "Members," said the Palo Alto Democrat, "this is a gut and amend. " A few hours earlier, using an obscure parliamentary procedure, the senator had carved the contents out of a bill about local gas taxes and "amended" it into a proposal to warn women about breast cancer risks.

A bill that would allow California officials to regulate health insurance rates for millions of consumers has died in the Legislature after forceful lobbying campaigns by insurers, healthcare providers and other groups. Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) said he is pulling his measure, AB52, because he could not muster a majority of votes in the state Senate, the final stop in a months-long effort to increase state regulators' authority over health insurance premiums. Feuer said he is putting his bill on hold until next year, when it can be taken up again.

The state Senate on Tuesday voted to restrict cities' ability to impound cars driven by people caught at sobriety checkpoints without driver's licenses. The action came as a direct response to the city of Bell, which made it a practice to confiscate vehicles from unlicensed motorists — many of them illegal immigrants — and then charge high impound fees or sell them in order to fill city coffers. Currently, cities can hold cars taken from unlicensed drivers for 30 days, with impound fees accruing each day. If unclaimed, the vehicles may then be auctioned off, something that often happens when fines and fees exceed the car's value.