176 state bills introduced, including revivals of legislation vetoed by Brown

SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers have revived several measures vetoed by outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown or bills that never made it to his desk.

Among the most prominent of the 176 bills introduced on the first day of the new two-year legislative session is AB 9, which would extend the statute of limitations in civil lawsuits over discrimination and sexual harassment from one year to three, the same as the limit on fraud and contract dispute cases.

Brown vetoed the legislation when it reached his desk in September as AB 1870.

“This bill is the very essence of the #MeToo movement and is very much needed in California,” Mike Arias, the new president of the Consumer Attorneys of California, said in a news release. “It will give victims of harassment or discrimination, particularly low-wage workers unfamiliar with their legal rights, a better chance to hold sexual predators accountable and help protect other potential victims.”

Also included in the flurry of first-day bills was another attempt by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, to ban arbitration as a condition of employment. AB 51 closely mimics AB 3080, another bill Brown vetoed. In his veto message, Brown wrote he believed the bill violated the Federal Arbitration Act and would be preempted.

But Arias and others in his consumer attorneys group say a new employment arbitration bill is a priority for the new session, meaning Brown’s theory could soon be tested in court.

Gonzalez has also another bill sure to be hotly debated. AB 5 is a response to Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles, 2018 DJDAR 3856 , a state Supreme Court case that established a three-part test to determine whether a worker could be considered a full-fledged employee under state law.

AB 5 would codify this decision into state law and clarify the definitions of who is a worker and who could be considered an independent contractor.

“We can’t allow corporations to turn a traditional job into a ‘side hustle’ with no benefits, rights or safety net,” Gonzalez tweeted on Monday.

Newsom is widely seen as more liberal than Brown, though many have noted Newsom’s long ties to the business community. The new governor is likely to see other #MeToo-related legislation, along with bills on court funding, criminal justice, labor, wildfires and more.

For instance, Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, introduced SB 16. This would provide $8.9 million to fund six new superior court judge positions. These seats would come from 50 positions authorized in a 2006 bill, only two of which have been funded.

“When you add a new judicial position, you’re adding ongoing financial obligations,” Roth said.

He said the lack of judges in the two Inland Empire counties has become “a social justice issue.”

The positions would be allocated to the county courts with the highest need. According to the last draft of a biennial Judicial Council Assessment, the two highest-need courts are once again Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Criminal justice bills are also likely to be a major topic of debate in 2019. SB 42 would bar jails from releasing inmates against their will late at night and when public transit is not available. It is a response to the July death of Jessica St. Louis after she was released from a jail in Dublin after 1 a.m., as well as several similar incidents in recent years.

SB 22 seeks to address the backlog of rape testing kits in police labs across the state. The new bill would appropriate $2 million for testing and put new requirements on departments to test kits quickly.

It follows up on AB 3118, a 2018 law known as the “Sexual Assault Victims’ DNA Bill of Rights.” Brown vetoed another bill, AB 1449, that would have given departments a 20-day deadline to submit kits for testing.