By Antonio Ray Harvey

California Black Media

After an emotional hearing on July 2, the Assembly Public Safety Committee voted to advance Senate Bill (SB) 1414 with an 8-0 vote. The legislation is an anti-sex-trafficking measure designed to increase penalties for those who purchase sex from children,

SB 1414, co- authored by Senators Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), Anna Caballero (D-Merced) and Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), will be reviewed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee after the Legislature break ends on Aug. 5.

The legislation has received bipartisan support. However, “critical amendments” were removed, Grove said. She is not satisfied with the language currently in the bill and is pressing members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee to allow key provisions to be restored.

“I am disappointed that they didn’t accept the amendments for all minors to be protected under felony convictions,” Grove said after the committee’s vote.

“I am not going to give up fighting for those 16- and 17-year-olds – and all minors,” Grove stated.  “Now, the district attorneys would have to prove two crimes: that they were bought and sold in order to go back to the perpetrator (trafficker) who initiated the whole process.”

SB 1414 made it off the Senate floor with a 36-0 bipartisan vote on May 23. Before the floor vote in the Senate, the Senate Public Safety Committee amended SB 1414, weakening protections for children ages 16 and 17, Grove said.

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The committee’s amendments included charging violators who purchase children 15 and under for sex as ‘wobblers’ (crimes that can be punished as a felony or misdemeanor). According to the current language of the bill, solicitation of a 16- and 17-year-old child is only punishable as a misdemeanor. The second amendment to the bill calls for the felony charge to only carry possible jail time — not time in prison.

Grove and her supporters’ other concern is that a third amendment to SB 1414 states that only perpetrators with a previous conviction of buying sex from a child 15 or under, on the second offense and with over a 10-year age gap of the victim, must register as a Tier 1 sex offender.

Dr. Stephany Powell, a retired Los Angeles Police Department sergeant who has over 30 years of sexual exploitation and trafficking experience gained through law enforcement, testified in front of the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

“First of all, there’s no way in the world that (these amendments) are protecting a 16- or 17-year-old,” said Powell, who now assists victims of human trafficking. “Just by the age alone, they are considered to be a victim of human trafficking. That’s your proof right there.”

Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), chair of the Public Safety Committee and a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), told Grove that he supports SB 1414 and commended her efforts to bring “more accountability to the sex trade.”

McCarty said he is willing to make SB 1414 “stronger,” but he is not willing to allow Grove to buck the rules of the Legislature to push her amendments through.

“That’s not on the table. As the rules, you know, we can’t go change that,” McCarty said of Grove’s amendments request.

On June 2, Anne Irwin, the founder and director of Smart Justice California, emailed California Black Media (CBM) a statement responding to SB 1414. Smart Justice sides with the amendments made by the Democrats in the Senate and the Assembly.

“With the recently adopted amendments, SB 1414 now represents a smart policy solution that prioritizes the safety and well-being of all minors,” Irwin stated. “By allowing felony prosecutions for solicitation of 16- and 17-year-olds when there is evidence of human trafficking, lawmakers have further improved the bill – which was originally overly broad and would have had harmful unintended consequences.”

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By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media

Last month, Sen. Steven Glazer (D-Orinda) vowed to bring back a journalism support bill he authored that had hit a snag in the legislative process.

A few weeks later, the lawmaker lived up to his promise.

On June 27,  the California Senate moved to advance Senate Bill (SB) 1327 with a 27-7 vote under the Urgency Clause – special language contained in legislation that privileges it to take immediate effect after the governor signs it.

SB 1327 would impose a charge – called a “data extraction mitigation fee” in the bill — on major digital technology platforms such as Meta, Amazon, and Google to fund local news. Glazer pulled the bill from the floor in May when he discovered he didn’t have the minimum two-thirds votes for passage. Now, that he has generated enough support to move the bill forward, Glazer called his push to pass it a “rescue effort.”

SB 1327 is now on its way to the Assembly for review.

“We are in a moment of peril in our democracy, and our hollowed-out newsrooms are in the center of that crisis,” Glazer said during the opening of his presentation during a hearing for the bill on the Senate floor.

Glazer continued, “Ours is 248 years young. Seventy-one percent of the world’s population is under autocracies. Now, in countries such as Hungary, Argentina, and Turkey, we see these democracies teetering. You simply have to see their actions to curtail and take control of independent news media that was keeping these democracies honest.

SB 1327 has been getting pushback from digital tech giants and some publishers that are worried about losing advertising, the supposed threat of government influence, discrimination against larger publishers, and nonprofit newsrooms getting a slice of the mitigation fee.

Sen. Roger Niello (R-Roseville) voted against the bill. During the debate on the floor, Niello said it gives him “great pause to entertain a proposal” where over half the journalism industries today are “owned by hedge funds and individual investors,” he said.

The lawmaker who owns several high-end car dealerships added that the bill could bring “unintended consequences such as capital venture groups reaping the profits, should SB 1327 become law.

To qualify for the tax credit, news media outlets must initially circulate or distribute news content within the state of California and operate internet platforms.

SB 1327 proposes a 7.25% on gross receipts derived from data extraction transactions, according to the bill’s language.

Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles) spoke the ways public opinion, politics and civic life have been influenced by misinformation and disinformation since the decline of the journalism industry. A member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), Smallwood-Cuevas is a former journalist.

“These are efforts to make a difference,” Smallwood said of SB 1327. “I must applaud the author for his work particularly because the alternative must also include building a representative workforce within the newspaper industry, which this bill takes into account– ensuring that those who look like California tell the story of California.”

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By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media

Last week, the California Commission on Aging celebrated its 50th anniversary with a gala that recognized a half-century of service and offered a glimpse into the organization’s vison for the future.

The event was highlighted by a generous $50,000 donation from Sacramento-based AKT Investments, Inc., aimed at building California’s first multi-generational community center for health and independence. This initiative is set to become a new model for healthy aging in a digital world.

The evening’s keynote address was delivered by California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who emphasized the importance of valuing seniors.

“It is imperative as we talk about this journey that we’re on, that we value seniors in every step of life,” Weber stated. “There’s a richness in this room. There’s a richness in California. There’s a richness in this nation that if we just stop and look around, see how far we’ve come, see who’s made it happen for us, we’ll find the joy in living, the joy in getting older and the joy of what we have to give.”

Weber’s words reflected the Commission’s history of addressing the needs of California’s aging population.

“Those of us who are considered older adults have to remind ourselves and our children how old we really are,” Weber continued. “When you’re so busy and life is busy and you’re doing things that are important, age becomes insignificant.”

The gala also featured remarks from the Hon. Cheryl Brown, Chair of the Commission on Aging (CCA), who highlighted the critical role of the Commission over the past 50 years.

“As the chair of the aging and long-term care commission and a current caregiver, I appreciate the value of providing quality and consistent core programs and services throughout California,” Brown said. “So much has changed in our state over 50 years. During my time as a legislator, there were times when I felt alone in my desire to focus on the anticipated growth of our aging population.”

California is experiencing a significant demographic shift, with its aging population growing rapidly. According to recent statistics, the number of residents aged 65 and older is projected to nearly double by 2030. This growth underscores the urgent need for comprehensive community infrastructure that addresses the specific challenges faced by older adults, such as physical disabilities, healthcare needs, and fixed incomes.

California State University Sacramento (Sac State) President Luke Woods echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the role of education and community engagement.

“Older adults face specific challenges such as physical disabilities, healthcare needs, and fixed incomes, and we need to build the same community infrastructure that comprehensively addresses these challenges,” Woods said. “That is why this year, Sac State created the nation’s first Black Honors College to educate students about the experiences of members of the African American diaspora, supported by the AKT scholarship fund.”

Woods said at the heart of the celebration and forward-looking initiative is a spirit of partnership, and AKT’s support of the CCA exemplifies good corporate citizenship.

“AKT is really working to design and create a first-of-its-kind community for health and independence that can be a model for other communities around the country and around the world,” Woods noted. “This vision, in collaboration with the Commission on Aging, UC Davis, and other organizations, aims to foster healthy aging in a digital world and ultimately add life to years.”

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