California lawmaker introduces bill to designate an official state cryptid. Which is it?
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
CALIFORNIA LAWMAKER NOMINATES BIGFOOT AS THE STATE CRYPTID
California lawmakers have plenty of challenges to tackle. But it can’t always be an emergency. Sometimes, you just need to have a little fun.
Cue this session’s AB 666, introduced by freshman Assemblymember Chris Rogers, D-Ukiah.
Sure, California has a state song (“I Love You, California”), a state flower (the poppy), a state bird (California quail). Those are all well and good, but the Golden State might soon become the first state to adopt an official state cryptid.
Cryptids, for those who don’t know, are creatures with, shall we say, dubious evidence for their existence, yet many of them have a dedicated base of followers. Think the Chupacabra, the notorious “goat-sucker” of the American Southwest, or Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster of Scotland.
So which cryptid is lucky enough to possibly get an official state designation? Is it the Dark Watchers, spooky specters from the Santa Lucia Mountains that John Steinbeck once wrote about? Is it the Ong, a giant bird with the body of an eagle and the face of a warrior? Maybe it’s Tahoe Tessie, Lake Tahoe’s version of the more famous Nessie?
Nah. Rogers went for the very top, the king of the cryptids: Bigfoot.
That’s right, AB 666 would officially designate Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, as the official state cryptid of California.
While Rogers’ north state district is certainly prime ‘squatch territory, our northern neighbor might just take exception to California claiming Bigfoot. Everybody knows that Oregon is Bigfoot Country.
CALIFORNIA SHIELDS ITS DOCTORS FOR PERFORMING ABORTIONS. WILL IT SOON SHIELD ITS LAWYERS, TOO?
Back to more serious news.
Citing concern that California lawyers may see retaliation from states hostile to reproductive or gender-affirming health care, Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Hollywood, on Tuesday announced that he has introduced AB 715 to shield attorneys in the state from disciplinary action for providing legal services to patients seeking those services or medical providers offering them.
“AB 715 ensures that attorneys in our state can provide critical legal assistance to patients, providers, and families without fear of reprisal for defending rights that are fundamental in California. This bill is not just about protecting attorneys — it’s about protecting the people they represent,” Zbur said in a statement.
California lawmakers already have passed laws shielding medical providers from out-of-state repercussions for offering gender-affirming or reproductive health care; this bill would extend those protections to lawyers as well.
AB 715 is sponsored by the Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, Equality California and the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.
Noelle Natoli, who serves as president of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles said in a statement that “lawyers play a critical role in upholding California’s protections for reproductive and gender-affirming care, but extremist efforts in other states create risk for attorneys who undertake this important work.”
The bill will be heard in committee later this spring. No opposition has been recorded thus far.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Their plan for ‘government efficiency’ is to lay off federal workers while simultaneously cutting both unemployment and Social Security benefits. It’s a plan only billionaire oligarchs could love.”
- Assemblymember Isaac G. Bryan, D-Los Angeles, via Bluesky.
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