May 18, 2023

AB 829 Clears Assembly Appropriations Committee

Please Call Your Assemblymember for Floor Vote!

AB 829, the Animal Cruelty & Violence Intervention Act, authored by Assemblywoman Marie Waldron (R-Valley Center) and sponsored by SCIL, passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee this afternoon. The bill is now headed to the full Assembly for a vote. Your Assemblymember needs to hear from you!

FIND YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER BY CLICKING HERE

Call your Assemblymember no later than Tuesday, May 23rd and urge them to:

"Please vote YES on AB 829!"

Update from Laguna Beach

As many of you might know, I have been the Vice Chair of the Laguna Beach Environmental Sustainability Committee for the past four years. Our committee passed some policy recommendations to the Laguna Beach City Council (LBCC) this week with unanimous votes. I wanted to share our progress with you, and will ask for your support once these items come to the LBCC for a vote.

• Reach Code Ordinance - building codes in more than 70 cities have recently been updated to require all new major remodels and new buildings, both residential and industrial, to be all electric. We would like for Laguna Beach to join in this responsible future.
• Plant-based Ordinance - requiring restaurants to include plant-based options on all their menus, and for the city to include options in special events where food is provided. The UN/IPCC for years has urged the world to change their food habits to combat climate change. 57% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from meat and dairy products.
• Native Plant Program - recommendation to include policy updates incorporating native plants into City-owned properties and creating demonstration gardens in city parks. Also to promote native plant use by property owners and landscape professionals.
• Cool-Pavement Pilot Program - investigate and test a product other cities have successfully used called Cool Seal that reflects solar rays off asphalt and prevent absorption of heat.
• Solar Master Plan - recommendation that the city implement solar energy programs for municipal, commercial, and residential buildings including bulk buys and enacting a local PACE program and other federal programs.
• Electric Vehicle Fleet Program - asking that the upcoming budget and all future spending be on hybrids at a minimum and electric for as many as we can support, and to include expansion of the charging infrastructure program.
• Wildlife Public Awareness Campaign - expand efforts to protect our wildlife from the many threats that are killing them including: car strikes, pesticides, rodenticides - even though city banned them on city property, residents are still using them.

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Thank you so much,

Judie Mancuso, founder/CEO/president

Social Compassion in Legislation