In a revelation that there was more bipartisanship in Congress than realized, there are 2013 federal legislation statistics that seem to support a finding that all was not rancorous between the political parties and factions in Congress during the last congressional session. A report published by the Sunlight Foundation noted that while only 15 Senate bills and 41 House bills became law in 2013, Congress was less partisan than commonly believed. There were a total 5,584 bills from both chambers introduced in 2013, with six subjects as the main focus for at least 50% of them: health, armed forces/national security, taxation, public ... Read More >
Jan 30
CA RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITIES FOR ELDERLY REFORM ACT
In 2014, California legislators will be introducing legislative measures to overhaul California’s residential care facilities for the elderly [“RCFEs”] following an investigative series published in September of 2013 by the U-T San Diego regarding fatalities in San Diego County caused by neglect and state regulatory issues. Some of the legislated solutions proposed in these 14 bills, which are sponsored by the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform [“CANHR”], are summarized at the CANHR website. If these California bills progress successfully through their legislative process, we will be including them in our annual Compendium of ... Read More >
Dec 19
LIS Wishes Our Clients a Happy Holiday!!
‘Tis the Season! Top: Tom; L-R: Deborah, Jenny, Karen, Janene, Kim, Nick & Jessica; Sitting: Maria & Sara Happy Holidays, Everyone! All of us at LIS wish you a joyous celebration And a great New Year! We look forward to meeting your legislative history research needs in 2014. As you know, the facts are out there and our mission is to help you find them. Every law has a history, an intended purpose with ideas proposed and compromises negotiated. Since 1974, we have helped litigators, researchers, and legal professionals find these pieces of the truth to reveal the factual reality that has led to winning their cases and ... Read More >
Dec 5
Invaluable Legislative Research Services
Did you know that more than 512 U.S. tort cases are filed every year, yet only about 2% of civil torts ever see a courtroom? On the other hand, about a fifth of the civil cases filed are related to auto accidents. Whether a case is civil, criminal, local, state, or federal, it is rarely simple. For many Americans, understanding the processes and terminology pertaining to the United States legal system is almost like learning a foreign language. As such, to the typical layperson, the esoteric nature of many federal statutes and regulations makes legal texts virtually impenetrable. However, just because a person possesses a law degree ... Read More >
Nov 27
False Military Endorsement Prohibited
California is currently home to over 2 million veterans and large numbers of elder veterans, who are often targeted by unscrupulous businesses and individuals using military insignia and patriotic logos to get to their pensions, retirement assets, Social Security, or property. Various interested stakeholders, which included the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America and California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, sponsored CA SB 272 of 2013 to restrict the use of military or government terms, symbols, and content that reasonably could be interpreted or construed as implying a connection, approval, or endorsement of any ... Read More >
Nov 27
Transgender students may participate in sex-segregated school programs
Current California law already protects students from discrimination in education based on sex and gender identity, but many school districts do not understand and are not presently in compliance with their obligations to treat transgender students the same as all other students in the specific areas addressed in CA AB 1266 of 2013 relating to sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions and use of facilities consistent with his or her gender identity. Both Los Angeles and San Francisco had developed policies relating to transgender and gender variant students in order to create and maintain a ... Read More >
Nov 25
Limousine safety compels new law
CA Senate Bill 109 is an example of the news driving the enactment of a new law, in this case, regarding limousine safety. We see a lot of these at LIS, and this one came out of an occurrence from last summer. The author, Senator Corbett, originally introduced SB 109 to address aerodynamic devices and vehicles, but she gutted and amended her bill in June in response to an unfortunate incident that occurred on May 5, 2013, in which a limousine caught fire while traveling on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge over the San Francisco Bay. That limousine was carrying nine passengers. The driver escaped unharmed and four of the passengers escaped ... Read More >
Nov 25
California AB 60 permits undocumented immigrants drivers licenses
California AB 60 of 2013 requires the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue driver's licenses to persons who are ineligible for a Social Security Number (SSN) if additional documentation is provided, such as a valid, unexpired consular identification document issued by a consulate or a valid unexpired passport, or an original birth certificate or other proof of age, or a home utility bill, lease or rental agreement or other proof of state residency, or even a marriage license or divorce certificate, just to name a few. The issue of allowing undocumented immigrants drivers licenses has been considered almost continually by the ... Read More >