Recent News in the 43rd District

Sacramento, CA – Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) bill to help local governments createdog parks for their residents passed the Assembly Floor today with a bipartisan vote of 75-0.  The idea for the bill came from Glendale City Councilmember Laura Friedman, who told Gatto that liability concerns were preventing cities from opening more dog parks.

“When Glendale was considering opening a dog park, one of the biggest concerns was protecting the City from liability,” said Friedman.  “I approached Assemblyman Gatto in the fall and am glad to see real action to address this problem for Glendale and other cities."

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Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) bill to help local governments create dog parks for their residents passed the Assembly Floor today with a bipartisan vote of 75-0. The idea for the bill came from Glendale City Councilmember Laura Friedman, who told Gatto that liability concerns were preventing cities from opening more dog parks.

“When Glendale was considering opening a dog park, one of the biggest concerns was protecting the City from liability,” said Friedman. “I approached Assemblyman Gatto in the fall and am glad to see real action to address this problem for Glendale and other cities.”

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Sacramento, CA – Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) bill to help local governments createdog parks for their residents passed the Assembly Local Government Committee on Wednesday with a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 8-0.  The idea for the bill came from Laura Friedman, a Glendale City Councilmember, who expressed to Gatto that cities would open more dog parks, but for the liability concerns.

“I approached Assemblyman Gatto in the fall about how to help the City of Glendale afford a dog park for our residents,” said Friedman.  "One of the biggest issues has always been protecting the city from liability concerns, I am glad to see Mr. Gatto tackling this problem for Glendale and other cities."

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Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) initiative reform measure to protect the fundamental rights of Californians and prevent the pet projects of special interests from being enshrined in the California Constitution passed its first major legislative hurdle today, clearing the Assembly Elections Committee by a vote of 5-2.

This is one of the few major reforms requiring a supermajority that does not involve a tax increase.  Instead, it proposes requiring greater consensus (55%) of California voters to approve new initiative Constitutional Amendments.

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Sacramento, CA – Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) legislation prohibiting local governments from fleecing motorists who park at broken parking meters passed a key committee yesterday, making it out of the Assembly Committee on Local Government by a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 8-0.  The bill, AB 61, seeks to stop the trend of cities passing laws allowing for ticketing at broken meters, even when the city itself has failed to fix the machine.

“We pay for street maintenance, meter installation, and meter upkeep,” said Gatto.  “It is the responsibility of local governments to keep parking meters in good working order, not to squeeze a double-penalty out of its citizens.”

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Gov. Jerry Brown is throwing his weight behind a push to update Proposition 65, California's safeguard against exposure to toxic chemicals.

Passed by voters in 1986, Proposition 65 sought to shield the state's water supply from contamination and to protect consumers by requiring companies to post clear warnings about harmful chemicals in products.

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SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) bill to help prevent child abuse in our schools and more closely monitor those accused of the crime passed a key legislative hurdle yesterday, clearing the Assembly Education Committee by a vote of 6-0, with 1 abstention.  The bill, AB 349, requires the superintendent of a school district, or a charter school administrator, to report to the Department of Education whenever a classified employee is dismissed, resigns, is suspended, retires, or is otherwise terminated as a result of an allegation of child abuse or while an investigation of alleged child abuse is pending.

Current reporting requirements only mandate that administrators immediately report allegations of child abuse against certified teachers to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), who has the authority to revoke a teacher’s credential or remove the teacher from the classroom.  Because classified employees, such as teacher's aides, para-teachers, office assistants, groundskeepers, librarians, security officers, counselors, food service workers, bus drivers, and other personnel essential do not maintain the same types of credentials as teachers, there is no institutional reporting system for allegations against classified employees that do not lead to an arrest, criminal charges, or criminal prosecution.  AB 349 would create reporting requirements for classified employees who resign, are dismissed, or settle during the course of a child abuse investigation, creating a centralized, statewide, information system to help prevent repeat offenders from retaining employment at a different school.

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Sacramento, CA – Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) legislation to help local governments to bring new life to toxic and blighted communities passed a major legislative hurdle yesterday.  The bill, AB 440, passed the Assembly Local Government Committee by a bipartisan 9-0 vote.

“Polluted empty lots and old manufacturing facilities are located all around the State, and they continue to degrade the surrounding environment,” said Gatto.  “AB 440 will enable cities and counties to pursue new economic opportunities for these blighted locations.”

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SACRAMENTO – Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s legislation to protect small businesses from meritless lawsuits took a huge step forward yesterday by clearing its final policy hurdle, the Assembly Judiciary committee, by a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 10-0.  The bill, AB 227, would allow small-business owners who receive notice of a technical-signage violation of Proposition 65 to achieve compliance within 14 days and pay a small civil fine.  In doing so, these businesses would avoid facing exorbitant retrospective fines, and the prospect of being forced to pay settlements in the thousands of dollars for neglecting to put up a simple sign.  AB 227 essentially provides for a "fix-it ticket" for signage violations over the most common, everyday substances covered under Prop. 65, such as those that naturally occur when grilling food or in alcoholic beverages.

“I am proud to have brought together groups that are normally on opposite sides of this issue to craft a common-sense bill that will help California businesses avoid costly litigation, while ensuring that the public has prompt and proper warnings about potentially dangerous chemicals,” said Gatto. “It’s not every day that business groups, environmental justice coalitions, organized labor, and attorneys’ organizations agree on anything, much less how to reform Prop. 65--a measure that has been substantively amended just once in nearly 30 years.”

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Robert Ghazarian had always tried to be diligent about posting the requisite health warnings in the four Hot Wings Cafe restaurants he co-owns around Los Angeles.

So when a notice arrived telling him he had failed to adequately warn customers about the hazards of alcohol, and that he could be liable for up to $2,500 a day for as many days as he had been in violation, he was bewildered.

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