Politics
New State Laws Add Protections for Workers, Aid Police Transparency
If you thought there would be some relief from those pesky scooter-riders in 2019’s new laws you were wrong: Under Assembly Bill (AB) 2989, adults riding electric scooters won’t be required to wear helmets on city streets. Worse, the new law also raises the speed limit for scooters on streets from 25 m.p.h. to 35 m.p.h.
But that is only one of the 1,016 bills Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law in 2018. Here are a few more that will affect your life, effective Jan. 1, 2019.
Food:
Senate Bill (SB) 946 now prohibits local governments from banning sidewalk sales of food and other merchandise and requires them to set up a licensing system if they want to regulate the practice. Violations of local rules can only be punished with citations or fines, not criminal charges, so as not to alert immigration authorities.
Home cooking gets a boost as a microenterprise with AB
626 allows cities and counties to authorize and regulate the sale of home-made foods.
Children:
Public schools in California are required to provide low-income students with one free or reduced-price meal per day that meets federal child nutrition requirements under AB 1871. Beginning next academic year, the state is extending that rule to charter schools, which serve more than 340,000 low-income students of their own.
And, in SB 1192, restaurants are further mandated to offer a healthy drink – milk, water, sparkling water or flavored water with no added natural or artificial sweeteners– as a default option for child meals that come with a drink
Minors who get in trouble with the law get some relief with two new laws. SB 439 sets the minimum age for criminal prosecution in juvenile court at 12 unless they are accused of murder or rape, while SB 1391 eliminates the ability to try a defendant under the age of 16 as an adult, thereby keeping him/her in detention in a juvenile facility.
Police:
Two laws also impact police transparency and accountability. SB 748 requires that film footage and audio from police body cameras be made public within 45 days after a police shooting or excessive force causes the death or injury to a person and SB 1421 allows the public access to police records in cases of force, dishonesty or sexual misconduct.
Workplace:
Agricultural workers will receive overtime under AB 1066, which will also slowly increase the wages for extra hours over a period of four years. It goes into effect in 2019 for employers who hire more than 25 people.
Employers will be required to provide a place other than the bathroom for breastfeeding mothers to use under AB 1976.
SB 1300, SB 820 and AB 2770 each address an aspect of the vulnerability of employees experiencing sexual harassment on the job — from prohibiting nondisparagement agreements, protection from the threat of defamation lawsuits and outlawing secret settlements.
Environment:
For the environment, the AB 1884 prohibits full-service restaurants from distributing single-use plastic straws unless they are requested by the customer. Fast-food establishments are exempt from the $25 fine for each violation.
The Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News and KGO contributed to this report
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of May 1 – 7, 2024
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Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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Bay Area
MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS
San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org
***PRESS RELEASE***
MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS
HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence
San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.
HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.
This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.
“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”
The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.
“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”
The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:
- $42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
- $318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
- $445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
- $6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
- $750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
- $2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence
In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.
“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”
In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.
Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.
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