State Assembly

Governor Jerry Brown had a Sunday deadline to sign legislation or veto it. Late in the day on Friday he signed Assembly Bill 744, which allows affordable housing developers to build less parking than many local zoning regulations currently permit.

Here is our regular roundup of California legislation of interest to livable streets advocates. As always, let us know if we missed anything in the comments.

Bills have started moving through committees in both houses of the California legislature as the hearing season starts.

A California Assembly bill that would prohibit tolls for pedestrians and bicycle riders on state-owned bridges passed the Assembly Transportation Committee with a vote of 31 to 2. Assemblymember Phil Ting's A.B. 40, originally drafted to apply only to the Golden Gate Bridge, was amended to apply statewide.

A new California legislative session started last week with the swearing-in of ten new Senators and 27 new Assemblymembers, the introduction of a hundred new bills between the two houses, and adjournment until January 5.

It's scorecard season in California. Advocacy groups are giving grades to legislators based on how they voted on bills in the last year's sessions, and releasing the scores just in time to influence next week's election.

Editor's note: Here's the California Bicycle Coalition's (CalBike) post-session wrap-up of its efforts to promote bicycling through state legislation, authored by CalBike's Ryan Price. It was originally posted on CalBike's website. We edited it slightly for length.

California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed Senate Bill 1151, which would have raised fines for traffic violations in school zones. The legislation, authored by Senator Anthony Canella (R-Ceres), was co-sponsored by the Safe Routes to School National Coalition, transportation advocates TransForm, and the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program. The bill was designed to reduce traffic violations near schools, and money raised from the fine increases would have been earmarked for programs that encourage walking and biking.

Governor Jerry Brown signed two bills on Saturday that will make it easier for California cities to build better bike infrastructure.