These California Senators want to stress public safety over partisan politics
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
PUBLIC SAFETY OVER PARTY
Democratic state Sens. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, and Angelique Ashby, D-Sacramento, joined Senate Minority leader Brian Jones, R-Santee, Tuesday morning to emphasize the importance of bipartisan public safety bills.
“I’m really thankful for us coming together and making sure that public safety is not a political issue,” Rubio said. “It’s a human issue and it’s a community issue.
Each senator presented a bill related to different areas of public safety.
Senate Bill 19, introduced by Rubio, makes it possible to prosecute people who make credible threats against schools and places of worship even when no specific person is named. Rubio called the bill a preventative measure that would ensure action can be taken before it is too late.
Jones presented Senate Bill 380, which would require the State Department of State Hospitals to analyze the effect of creating transitional housing facilities for the conditional release program of sexually violent predators. The goal of the bill, Jones said, is to get predators out of residential neighborhoods and improve the release program.
Senate Bill 6, by Ashby, would make it a crime to possess, use, sell, or traffic xylazine by adding it to the list of Schedule III controlled substances.
The drug, which is commonly used as a tranquilizer for large animals in veterinary medicine, causes extreme sedation, slow breathing and skin ulcers when ingested by humans. Xylazine overdoses cannot be reversed with Narcan and there are no approved treatments for its effects.
All three senate bills were set to be heard in the Assembly Public Safety Committee following the press conference.
Ashby’s bill, in its second year, faced considerable scrutiny from Assemblymembers, though they did vote to pass it out of committee.
Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins, D-San Diego, shared with the committee that she was conflicted on whether or not to support the bill. She acknowledged the seriousness of the drug, but remained hesitant to approve of the bill, which she said could harm communities of color by criminalizing addiction.
Ashby said she hopes her bill — along with work being done to address behavioral health, addiction and homelessness — will make a real difference in the lives of Californians and not just result in more incarcerations.
FAILED AMENDMENTS
Via David Lightman ...
The Senate debated the Big Beautiful Bill that cuts taxes and spending for roughly 26 1/2 straight hours ending early Tuesday afternoon, as lawmakers debated more than 40 different amendments. Included were those offered by California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.
Schiff’s bid to bar families with children under 12 from any cuts to their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits failed 53 to 47. The GOP-authored bill would cut SNAP funding.
“This is heartbreaking. And so selfish. Taking away food from kids for tax cuts,” Schiff said.
He had a better outcome joining Republicans to include a provision to remove a proposed tax on future solar and wind energy projects.
Padilla’s amendment would have required Republicans to make changes to ensure the bill would not increase the federal deficit. The bill could increase deficits by an estimated $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
It was rejected 53 to 47.
Both Padilla and Schiff voted against the bill, joining the 45 other members of the Senate Democratic Caucus and three Republicans. It passed 51 to 50 as Vice President JD Vance broke the 50-50 tie.
KEEPING ICE OUT
A part of the budget package signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Monday will help stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement from taking over closed state prisons.
Assembly Bill 137 requires the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to identify and report any excess property under its jurisdiction, so it can be sold, leased, exchanged or disposed of. Legislative approval is required for any sales of surplus state prison property.
Californians United for a Responsible Budget say this bill means that closed state prisons are less susceptible to being taken over by ICE and used for detention purposes.
“AB 137 shows what California can do when action is necessary, but it will take sustained leadership to ensure that no facility in this state, under any jurisdiction, is reopened to cage our neighbors and loved ones,” CURB said in a press release.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“California has done more than our fair share of ‘raking’ the forests, now the federal government has to do its part to Make America Rake Again.”
— Gov. Gavin Newsom at a Placer County press conference
Best of The Bee:
▪ Senate passes the Big Beautiful Bill. What will that mean for Californians? Via David Lightman
▪ Gov. Newsom’s return-to-office order is here, but only for a few state workers, via William Melhado
▪ Gov. Newsom signs last-minute housing bill overhauling landmark environmental law, via Lia Russell and Kate Wolffe
This story was originally published July 2, 2025 at 4:55 AM.
