Protecting Youth, Reducing Childhood Poverty and Expanded Sexual-Harassment Prevention Top Sen. Holly Mitchell’s 2018 Agenda

Proposed laws for 2018 by Sen. Holly J. Mitchell include continuing to reform the juvenile justice system and reducing childhood poverty to help families and communities.

Other measures focus on expanding worker training to prevent sexual harassment, continuing film tax credits and providing women key health information.

“These goals for the year reflect the values of the nearly 1 million Los Angeles-area residents of my district,” said Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, who represents the 30th Senate District. “We want to see children and families thrive.”

Here, in bill-number order, are the top measures Mitchell hopes receive final passage prior to the Legislature’s scheduled adjournment Aug. 31:

Senate Bill 439 – Minimum Age Incarceration

This juvenile justice-reform measure would exclude children age 11 and younger from juvenile court jurisdiction and would promote the rights, health and well-being of the child by curbing premature exposure to incarceration. Status: Awaiting review by the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

SB 951 – Film Tax Credit

This bill would reauthorize the state’s Film Tax Credit, which is set to expire in 2020. Status: To be voted on by the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on April 18.

SB 982 – CalWORKS

This proposal seeks to address childhood deep poverty by raising the CalWORKs cash grant. Status: To be heard by the Senate Human Services Committee on April 24.

SB 1034 – Dense Breast Tissue

This would eliminate the sunset on the current dense breast tissue notification, which is currently set to expire in January. Status: To be heard by the Senate Health Committee on April 24.

SB 1050 – Services and Support for Exonorees

Provides services and support for exonerated people after prison, including healthcare, work training and updating exonerate records to reflect their wrongful convictions. Status: To be heard by the Senate Public Safety Committee on April 17.

SB 1083 – Resource Family Approval

This would create a child-centered and family friendly approval process in the Resource Family Approval program. Status: Approved by the Senate Human Services Committee on April 10; now awaiting a review date by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 1343 – Sexual Harassment Training

This would expand mandatory sexual-harassment training for all employers with five or more employees. Status: To be reviewed by the Senate Labor Committee on April 11.

SB 1391 – Juvenile Justice for Children Under 16

This would ensure that youth ages 14 and 15 who commit crimes get the services and help they need by prohibiting them from being tried as adults and keeping them in the juvenile justice system. Status: To be reviewed by the Senate Appropriations Committee on April 16.

SB 1392 – One-Year Repeal

This proposal would repeal the 1-year sentence enhancement for felony convictions Status: To be reviewed by the Senate Appropriations Committee on April 16.

SB 1393 – Five-Year Judicial Discretion

This proposal would return to prior statutory authority for judicial discretion on 5-year enhancements for serious felony convictions. Status: To be reviewed by the Senate Appropriations Committee on April 16.

NOTE: SBs 439, 1050, 1391, 1392 and 1393 are part of the #EquityAndJustice2018 package carried jointly by Sens. Mitchell and Ricardo Lara as follow-up measures to their initial #EquityAndJustice bills last year.