Legislative Bulletin

A bill that would allow law enforcement agencies to post public notices on their websites or social media before euthanizing seized birds and animals has been pulled from the calendar of the Senate Public Safety Committee. Since the bill will not be heard and will not be moving forward, it is dead for the year. …

Legislation that would protect journalists who are covering protests and demonstrations from being assaulted, arrested, or obstructed from gathering news during these events is scheduled to be heard this Wednesday, August 5 in the Assembly Public Safety Committee at 2:00. SB 629 by Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) would: Allow a duly authorized member of the media to enter areas closed off…

The Assembly Public Safety Committee on Wednesday at 2:00, will hear a measure that would expand the types of police actions that are subject to the CPRA to include every use of force incident (not just that which causes great bodily injury), allegations of sexual assault, sustained findings of wrongful arrests and searches, as well…

Legislation sponsored by the state Sheriffs Association that threatens the system of printed public notices in newspapers has been assigned to the  Senate Public Safety Committee and could be scheduled to be heard by the committee as early as July 27. AB 3035 by Assembly member Jim Patterson (R-Fresno), would allow law enforcement agencies to post public notices on their…

The author of SB 1421 in 2018, the historic bill that provided public access to police misconduct information, recently amended legislation that seeks to make more information publicly available by expanding the categories of misconduct that agencies would be required to report.  SB 776 by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) would expand the types of police actions that are subject to…

A second bill has been amended to provide protections for members of the press as well as protestors from unwarranted use of force by police. AB 1652 by Assembly member Buffy Wicks(D-Oakland) would require law enforcement agencies to include in their use of force policies clear guidelines that prohibit law enforcement officers from using force on members of…

Dear CNPA Members,  Thank you to these companies that responded to this request in the Legislative Bulletin requesting an estimate of the number of employees you have: Acorn NewspapersBeverly Hills CourierCentury Group NewspapersCommunity Media Corp.Eagle NewspapersGannett (California)Inter Church NewsLarchmont ChronicleLong Beach PostMariposa GazetteMonterey County WeeklyRosemond NewsSanta Ynez Valley StarSonoma Media InvestmentsSouthern California News Group We are requesting…

The News Media Alliance, in its newsletter this week, sent out a request for support for its effort to include tax credits for newspapers in federal legislation.  From the NMA newsletter: Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) are planning to introduce legislation early next week that would provide a range of tax credits…

Senator  Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) amended one of his bills yesterday to protect journalists who are covering protests and demonstrations from being assaulted, arrested, or obstructed from gathering news during these events. The bill, SB 629, would: Allow a duly authorized member of the media to enter areas closed off to the public by first responders during a demonstration, march, protest or…

Staff is requesting that CNPA members provide us with the total number of employees working at your publications. The Legislature has heard CNPA’s arguments that journalism is essential to our democracy, but they need to know how many people are impacted if publications are unable to recover from the loss of ad revenue due to…