Guns, voting and homeless dumping

As mentioned earlier in this blog, this is a busy week in the state Legislature as there are several deadlines approaching to pass legislation. Here are just a few of the bills by Los Angeles County lawmakers that saw some movement today:

1) Homeless dumping: SB 275 by Sen. Gilbert Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, is aimed at preventing mental hospitals from released discharged patients into areas where there are inadequate services and facilities to care for them. The bill prohibits a hospital from releasing someone to a location other than their residence without that person's consent. The bill passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee by an 11-4 vote today and now heads to a Senate floor vote.

2) Lost and stolen firearms: Handgun owners would be required to report a theft or loss of a gun within five days under AB 334 by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys. The intent is to prevent owners from reporting a weapon as stolen only after it has been used in a crime and traced back to them. The bill passed the Assembly floor by a 41-33 vote and now heads to the Senate.

3) New citizen voting rights: Newly sworn-in citizens would be allowed to register to vote right up to Election Day under a bill by Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach. The intent of SB 382 is to allow those who were sworn in close to an election to participate in that vote. The bill passed the Senate 23-14 and now heads to the Assembly.

To get more information about these bills, go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.