Yesterday, the bill to let 12-year-olds get vaccinated without parental consent was amended to make the age 15. The author made this change because he was well short of the needed votes.
He still appears to be short. The amendments were only adopted by a vote of 33-21; for the bill itself to pass, 41 votes are needed. I am again calling for SB 866 withdrawn.
Meanwhile, the Legislature just passed a $300 billion budget that does nothing about gas prices. I don’t know which is worse: that prices are now at $5 nationally or that in California this seems like a bargain.
There are two more weeks until the Legislature recesses for the month of July. We are back in August, and then adjourn for the rest of the year. That means we’ll only be in session six more weeks in 2022 – my final six weeks at the State Capitol.
For these final weeks, my priorities include stopping SB 866 and the remaining “Vaccine Work Group” bills, passing my legislation to eliminate the Top 2 Primary, and finally enacting a suspension of the gas tax.
In addition, my proposal for a statewide audit of all homelessness spending should be heard on June 27. It’s time to end California’s homeless industrial complex. The last time I proposed this Newsom intervened to kill the audit by a single vote.
At the same time, we are gearing up for the general election. The Democrats are eyeing this seat as a chance to stop us from taking the Majority and to keep Pelosi as Speaker. For the sake of our country, we cannot let that happen.