HB 1 Minimum wage; increases wage to $13.50 per hour effective January 1, 2025.

HB 1. Increases the minimum wage from the current rate of $12.00 per hour to $13.50 per hour effective January 1, 2025, and to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2026. The bill satisfies a reenactment clause included in Chapters 1204 and 1242 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020.  Status: Passed by both houses and vetoed by governor.

HB 2 Assault firearms & certain ammo, etc.; purchase, possession, sale, transfer, etc., prohibited

HB 2 Assault firearms & certain ammo

Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person who imports, sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses, transports, or transfers an assault firearm, as that term is defined in the bill, and prohibits a person who has been convicted of such violation from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm for a period of three years from the date of conviction. The bill provides that an assault firearm does not include any firearm that is an antique firearm, has been rendered permanently inoperable, is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, or was manufactured before July 1, 2024. The bill also prohibits the sale of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill provides that any person who willfully and intentionally (i) sells an assault firearm to another person or (ii) purchases an assault firearm from another person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and that any person who imports, sells, barters, or transfers a large capacity ammunition feeding device is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person younger than 21 years of age to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, possess, transport, or transfer an assault firearm regardless of the date of manufacture of such assault firearm.

02/28/24  Senate: Passed Senate with substitute (20-Y 19-N)

03/01/24  House: Senate substitute agreed to by House 24107889D-S1 (50-Y 47-N)

03/01/24  House: VOTE: Adoption (50-Y 47-N)

03/26/24  Governor: Vetoed by Governor

04/17/24  House: House sustained Governor’s veto

HB 3 State Air Pollution Control Board; motor vehicle emissions standards.

HB 3 State Air Pollution Control Board

Repeals the requirement that the State Air Pollution Control Board implement a low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle program for motor vehicles with a model year of 2025 and later. The bill prohibits the Board from adopting or enforcing any model year standards related to control of emissions from new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines, including low-emission vehicle and zero-emission vehicle standards pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act and prohibits the Commonwealth from requiring any new motor vehicle or new motor vehicle engine to be certified as compliant with model year standards related to the control of emissions adopted by California for which a waiver has been granted pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act.  Status:  Still in Labor and Commerce Committee

HB 4 Plastic bag tax; distribution to towns.

HB 4 Plastic bag tax

Provides that any town located within a county that has imposed a disposable plastic bag tax shall receive a distribution of revenues collected by the county based on the local sales tax distribution formula for appropriations to towns. The bill requires that towns use such revenues for the same purposes allowable for a county or city.

022/08/24  House: VOTE: Passage (52-Y 45-N)

02/28/24  Senate: Passed Senate (22-Y 17-N)

04/05/24  Governor: Vetoed by Governor

04/17/24  House: House sustained Governor’s veto

HB 8 Medical Ethics Defense Act; established.

HB 8 Medical Ethics Defense Act

Establishes the right of a medical practitioner, health care institution, or health care payer not to participate in or pay for any medical procedure or service that violates such medical practitioner’s, health care institution’s, or health care payer’s conscience, as those terms and conditions are defined in the bill. The bill provides protections for medical practitioners who disclose violations of the bill or report violations of laws or ethical guidelines for the safe provision of any medical procedure or service. The bill also provides a private right of action for any party harmed by violations of the bill.– 01/18/24 House: Subcommittee recommends striking from docket (8-Y 0-N)

Status: No change as of 21 Apr

HB 10 High school graduation; requires passing score on select questions from U.S. Naturalization Test.

HB 10 High school graduation

Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to require, except in the case of a high school student whose individualized education program indicates otherwise, each high school student to take and correctly answer at least 70 percent of the questions on a test composed of at least 50 but not more than 60 of the questions on the civics portion of the U.S. Naturalization Test in order to graduate high school with a standard or advanced studies diploma, provided that such student may take such test at any time during grades nine through 12 and as many times during such period as necessary to achieve the minimum 70 percent passing score.– 01/23/24 House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (8-Y 0-N)01/24/24 House: Stricken from docket by Education (21-Y 0-N)

HB 18 Hate crimes and discrimination; ethnic animosity, penalties

HB 18 Hate crimes and discrimination

Provides that it is the policy of the Commonwealth to safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination in employment and in places of public accommodation because of such individual’s ethnic origin. The bill also adds victims who are intentionally selected because of their ethnic origin to the categories of victims whose intentional selection for a hate crime involving assault, assault and battery, or trespass for the purpose of damaging another’s property results in a higher criminal penalty for the offense. The bill also provides that no provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet shall be liable for any action voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to material that the provider or user considers to be intended to incite hatred on the basis of ethnic origin.

02/13/24  House: VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)

03/01/24  Senate: Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)

04/02/24 Approved by Governor

HB 20 Photo speed monitoring devices; location.

HB 20 Photo speed monitoring devices

Authorizes the governing body of any county, city, or town to provide by ordinance for the placement and operation of photo speed monitoring devices in any location deemed necessary by the locality for the purposes of recording violations resulting from the operation of a vehicle in excess of the speed limit. The bill provides the same requirements for such devices, information collected from such devices, and any enforcement actions resulting from information collected from such devices as current law applies to the use of such devices in school crossing zones and highway work zones. The bill requires that two signs, rather than one, be placed warning of such device if the device is placed somewhere other than a school crossing zone or highway work zone.– 02/02/24 House: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2025 by voice vote

HB 22 Auto sears; prohibition on manufacture, importation, sale, etc., penalty

HB 22 Auto sears

Prohibits the manufacture, importation, sale or offer to sell, possession, transfer, or transportation of an auto sear, defined in the bill as a device made of metal or plastic designed for use in converting a firearm to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. A violation is punishable as a Class 6 felony.

2/02/24  House: VOTE: Block Vote Passage (92-Y 0-N)

03/01/24  Senate: Passed Senate with substitute (27-Y 13-N)

03/26/24 Approved by the Governor

HB 23 Weapons; possession or transport into facility that provides mental health services, etc.

HB 23 Weapons; possession or transport into facility that provides mental health services, etc.

Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to possess in or transport into any facility that provides mental health services or developmental services in the Commonwealth, including a hospital or an emergency department or other facility rendering emergency medical care, any (i) firearm or other weapon designed or intended to propel a missile or projectile of any kind; (ii) knife, except a pocket knife having a folding metal blade of less than three inches; or (iii) other dangerous weapon, including explosives and stun weapons. The bill provides that any such firearm, knife, explosive, or weapon is subject to seizure by a law-enforcement officer and specifies exceptions to the prohibition.  – 02/02/24  House: Incorporated by Public Safety (HB861-Hernandez) by voice vote

HB 26 Voter identification; accepted forms of identification, private entities licensed or certified

HB 26 Voter identification

Adds to the list of accepted forms of identification for purposes of voting a valid identification card that contains a photograph of the voter and is issued by any private entity that is licensed or certified, in whole or in part, by the Department of Health, Department of Social Services, Department of Medical Assistance Services, or Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.

02/09/24  House: VOTE: Passage (85-Y 11-N)

02/23/24  Senate: Passed Senate (21-Y 17-N)

04/08/24  Governor: Vetoed by Governor

04/17/24  House: House sustained Governor’s veto

HB 28 Fossil fuel projects moratorium; transitioning energy workers, environmental justice protections.

HB 28 Fossil fuel projects moratorium

Establishes a moratorium, effective January 1, 2025, on any approval by any state agency or political subdivision required for (i) electric generating facilities that generate fossil fuel energy through the combustion or use of a fossil fuel resource, (ii) import or export terminals for fossil fuel resources, (iii) modification of an import or export terminal for a fossil fuel resource, (iv) gathering lines or pipelines for the transport of any fossil fuel resource that requires the use of public land or eminent domain on private property, (v) modification of such gathering lines or pipelines, (vi) refineries of a fossil fuel resource, (vii) facilities that change the physical state of fossil fuels for the purposes of transporting such fuels, and (viii) exploration for any type of fossil fuel, unless preempted by applicable federal law. The measure requires the establishment of job training programs and energy worker protections, transitional assistance for workers in the fossil fuel industry and affected communities, and environmental justice protections.

 01/29/24  House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (6-Y 0-N)

02/13/24  House: Left in Rules  – No change as of 21 Apr 24

HB 32 Medicine, Board of; continuing ed. related to implicit bias and cultural competency in health care.

HB 32 Medicine, Board of; continuing ed. 

Requires the Board of Medicine to adopt and implement policies that require each practitioner licensed by the Board who has direct contact with persons who are or may become pregnant to complete two hours of continuing education related to implicit bias, defined in the bill, and cultural competency in health care at least once every other license renewal cycle.

 – 01/30/24  House: Incorporated by Health and Human Services (HB1130-Hayes) by voice vote – No change as of 21 Apr24

HB 36 Owner of firearm; use of firearm by minor in an unlawful manner or to cause bodily injury.

HB 36 Owner of firearm

Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for an owner of a firearm, as defined in the bill, who (i) allows a minor to possess such firearm or (ii) knows or reasonably should know that a minor is in close proximity, as defined in the bill, to such firearm as to allow such minor to possess or transport such firearm in violation of law and such minor (a) uses such firearm in an unlawful manner; (b) possesses such firearm within any school zone or within any building or property deemed a gun-free zone by a school board; or (c) in the case of an owner of a firearm who allows a minor to possess such firearm, uses such firearm to intentionally or with gross negligence cause bodily injury to himself or another person or in the case of an owner of a firearm who knows or reasonably should know that a minor is in close proximity to a firearm, uses such firearm to cause bodily injury to himself or another person. The bill elevates the penalty to a Class 5 felony if such owner of a firearm knows or reasonably should know that such minor has been charged with, convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent of a violent juvenile felony or has been the subject of a school-initiated threat assessment that has classified the risk posed by the minor as moderate, high, or eminent.

02/13/24  House: VOTE: Passage (55-Y 43-N)

03/01/24  Senate: Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)

03/26/24 Approved by Governor

HB 39 Sex offenders; contributing to the delinquency of a minor, penalty.

HB 39 Sex offenders

Creates a Class 6 felony for any person 18 years of age or older who engages in consensual sexual intercourse or anal intercourse with or performs cunnilingus, fellatio, or anilingus upon or by a child 15 or older not his spouse, child, or grandchild while such person is required to register with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry.02/13/24  House: Left in Courts of Justice – No change as of 21 Apr 24​We’re not even half-way through.  We’ve listed just a few items that we thought you’d be interested in.  We recommend you see for yourself.Go here for a complete list of bills up for consideration.