Does anyone know what is being discussed today about the bill?
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Was passed out of the appropriations suspense file 7-0. Not sure where it goes next, possibly the senate floor. It appears there were no amendments to the assembly bill which if accurate means it does not need to be resolved with the assembly. If it goes to and passes the senate floor then its on to the governor.
Don’t get your hopes up, similar previous bills have got this far and been killed. The optimistic take on this is that there were no “no” votes on any of the various times this came up for votes in the process. Getting it out of the suspense file is also always a big hurdle.
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What’s the next step? Wouldn’t this being an election year help?
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It on to the “third reading” which means it is going to the senate floor. As there were no “no” votes in any of the committees or Assembly floor and there has been no opposition to it I’m guessing it will most likely pass the Senate floor and then go to the governor. The last day for this (senate passage) to occur is Aug 31st. The governor then has until Sept 30th to sign it.
Politically…this being an election year has no practical bearing as the governor has no dog in the fight this year. However, although Newsom has always been supportive of CalFire there are a few budgetary items that he has come out against that he once supported due to the budget condition. Of course, he also has his eyes on a bigger prize down the line so it would not be to his benefit to upset his public safety constituency. How these competing interest work themselves out is anybody guess.
If had to bet a dollar, I’d say its 60-40 he will sign it. (I wouldn’t bet more than a dollar though as Gav and I have not talked with each other recently 
)
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Thank you for this great explanation
If I’m reading things correctly, good news should come tomorrow. The bill (and AB 2538) were put on the senate special consent calendar, meaning they are grouped in with a bunch of other (usually unrelated) bills that will be passed by unanimous vote. This is usually reserved for unopposed by all parties/non controversial bills.
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That’s how I read it, too. It’s on Special Consent Calender #45, Position 506, for tomorrow, August 26th, 2024.
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Looks like you can watch/listen at this link. Doesn’t start until 2pm though
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Not sure what to make of this, Republican minority leader in the senate Brian Jones moved the bill to the inactive file. Bills can die there. Maybe it something else. Bills can move out of there and back onto the floor. Time is short however as all bills must pass by this Saturday.
I found this quote but am unsure of what the practical meaning of it is.
During the final weeks of the legislative session, measures may be moved there by the leadership as a method of encouraging authors to take up their bills promptly.
When’s the next session where it can be addressed?
That’s random, since it got a yes vote straight across the board. Hopefully it goes thru like people are talking about. 
I think the only requirement is that it requires at least one day out of the inactive file before it can be voted on. The senate is in session everyday thru Saturday.
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I called and emailed my Senate rep but haven’t heard anything back.
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So it looks like the author of the bill (Flora - R) requested it be pulled (by Jones). So the optimistic take is he’s got something in the works that is beneficial (hopefully related to PR).
AB 2538 has yet to be taken up, they’re grinding through all the bills.
I was mistaken in my description of the Senate consent calendar. Apparently for the Senate, it is where all the bills get listed to be voted on individually in the full chamber. My exposure to a consent calendar is different, my apologies.
What would be more beneficial than that bill?
From what I read by a bill being put to this inactive file is it created urgency for a bill especially in the last week of the voting cycle. So basically my understanding it can be put in there to be taken back out and voted on… I don’t understand how it makes sense outside it’s government lol.
My pessimistic mind would presume that the author didn’t plan on it going this far
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Well, not looking good. The bill is stuck in the inactive file. Not sure why the author would do this except for possibly the reason @Maybe1 listed. Seems like its a long way to get there as there are easier ways to kill a bill. Again, Sat looks to be the deadline.
Regarding AB2538, this passed the Senate and is back in the house for concurrence on the senate amendments where I’m guessing (?) it will pass. The weird thing is, both the senate and assembly analysis states that this bill is unconstitutional. If so, then I can see Gov Newsom vetoing it for that reason. Maybe this Flora character is just generating messaging bills.
Spoke to a friend who works in political circles in Sacramento. He said that basically the governor signaled his opposition to the bill so it was killed. His wasn’t going to sign it because of the budget shortfall. It was the same for the pay increase for nurses.