California Legislature Rushes To Pass Bills On Deadline

Consumer data breaches, sex trafficking and condoms for adult film actors. Those are just a few of the issues California state lawmakers considered Tuesday. 

The Assembly passed a bill that would attempt to prevent the kinds of major consumer data breaches seen at national retailers like Target in recent months. Assemblyman Roger Dickinson is the bill’s author.

“Hackers are not going away and California needs to make sure that consumers are aware that personal information has been compromised,” says Dickinson.

Retailers say they already spend billions of dollars each year to fight cyber crime.

An Assembly bill that would allow Community Colleges to offer four-year degrees in certain fields requiring a high level of technical skill also passed.

The Assembly also approved a measure that would require adult film actors to use condoms and get regular STD testing.

The Senate passed a measure that would ask voters to set aside the controversial English-only requirement for public school instruction from 1998’s Prop. 227. It would let parents decide the language of instruction for their children. 

The Senate also approved a measure that would increase fines for people who engage in human trafficking.

Democratic Senator Ted Lieu says his bill would be a deterrent for people who traffic sex workers and those who pay for sex.

"We then take these fines and direct them to county victims’ services funds and to community support services such as counseling and housing for victims of sex trafficking," says Lieu. 

The Senate also passed a proposed constitutional amendment permitting the legislature to suspend members without pay. The measure comes after the chamber suspended three Democratic lawmakers facing legal troubles.