The current legislative session ended on August 31st. In normal times, no more business would be conducted by the Legislature in Sacramento until the next session officially begins on December 5th. But these are far from normal times. Violent crime is exploding and the homelessness crisis is worsening.  Gas prices are approaching $7 a gallon, and families are being forced to choose between paying the rent, buying food or putting gas in the car.

Fentanyl is taking it’s deadly toll on our state and nation. According to a recent press release, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 5,091 pounds of fentanyl in Imperial and San Diego Counties during the first 9 months of Fiscal Year 2022. That’s 60 percent of the 8,425 pounds seized in the entire country. Drug precursors are typically manufactured in China, then processed in Mexico and smuggled into the U.S. by cartels across our increasingly wide-open southern border.

As a trained Project Wildlife Native Songbird Rehabilitator, my experience raising orphaned and injured songbirds and returning them to the wild has guided me in legislation I introduce and support. I’m happy to report that most of that legislation has been signed into law.

As any Economics 101 student knows, when the federal government creates billions/trillions of dollars out of thin air, the result is massive inflation. That inflation has now reached a 40-year high, and those with low and moderate incomes are bearing the heaviest burden.

In 2020, there were just under 46,000 suicides in the United States, making it the nation’s 12th-leading cause of death. California’s suicide rate is 10.7 per 100,000, compared to 13.4 nationally. Suicide rates across the United States have been increasing, and are now double homicide rates. Obviously, more can be done to end this ongoing tragedy.

Legislation in Sacramento often flies under the radar. Here are a few bills you may have missed that made it through, along with some that didn’t:

In 2011, federal courts ruled that California prisons were overcrowded -- populations had to be reduced. As a result, Assembly Bill 109 was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. The state’s prison system was “realigned,” meaning the responsibility to incarcerate, monitor and track lower-level offenders would now rest with the counties, not the state.

The 2021-2022 legislative session is history --- we adjourned around 1:30 a.m. on September 1st. As usual, some of the most significant legislation was delayed until the last days, with votes sometimes occurring late at night and in the wee hours of the morning.

California’s mental health system is struggling to keep up with demand.  Those seriously in need of treatment are trapped in a rotating cycle that takes them from living on the street, to the emergency room, sometimes to jail, then back to the street. Since more serious cases get the most attention, people with milder symptoms don’t receive needed care and often fall into the same cycle.

California is once again in a serious drought, the second in a decade. This is a recurring problem in the arid West, but even in dry periods, we should have enough water to meet our needs. Voters understood that in 2014 when they approved a $7.5 billion water bond, which included $2.7 billion to fund construction of new dams and reservoirs. Unfortunately, few projects are underway, or even in the planning stage.