Assemblymember Marc Berman proudly authored the following legislation in 2019:
AB 20 - California Computer Science Coordinator
Assembly Bill 20 would have created the California Computer Science Coordinator within the California Department of Education, a role needed to oversee the state's successful implementation of its Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan.
The creation of a California Computer Science Coordinator within the California Department of Education was included in the 2019-20 Budget. Subsequently, the bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 52 - Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan
Assembly Bill 52 would have required the state's Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan to be continually updated to ensure it remains relevant and reflects technological advancements.
Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
See "2020 Bills" page.
AB 302 - Safe Lots for California Community College Students
Assembly Bill 302 would have required community colleges to provide overnight parking to homeless students.
AB 494 - CalFresh Housing Verification
Assembly Bill 494 maximizes food benefits for low-income families by simplifying how they verify their housing costs.
Signed by Governor Newsom on July 12, 2019. Chapter 90.
Assembly Bill 504 allows voters to keep their voter registrations active by logging in to the Secretary of State’s “My Voter Status” website, and streamlines and clarifies the process for keeping the state’s voter registration database up-to-date.
Signed by Governor Newsom on September 6, 2019. Chapter 262.
AB 521 - Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention Training for Doctors
Assembly Bill 521 tasks the University of California Firearm Violence Research Center with developing and implementing firearm-violence prevention education and training programs for health care providers.
Signed by Governor Newsom on October 11, 2019. Chapter 728.
AB 538 - Sexual Assault Medical Evidentiary Examinations
Assembly Bill 538 improves the availability, efficiency, and quality of medical evidentiary examinations for sexual assault survivors.
Signed by Governor Newsom on October 10, 2019. Chapter 714.
Assembly Bill 566 requires elections officials to regularly update the Secretary of State on the remaining number of unprocessed ballots during an official canvass period.
Signed by Governor Newsom on July 12, 2019. Chapter 91.
Assembly Bill 602 requires consent to be obtained prior to depicting a person in digitally produced sexually explicit material and by allowing that consent to be rescinded within three business days unless certain conditions are met.
Signed by Governor Newsom on October 3, 2019. Chapter 491.
AB 623 enhances the voting experience by providing elections administrators more flexibility to design ballot layouts that are user friendly and compatible with new voting systems.
Signed by Governor Newsom on October 13, 2019. Chapter 863.
AB 693 - Conditional Voter Registration
To improve voter confidence and reduce wait times to vote, Assembly Bill 693 allows voters taking advantage of same-day voter registration to cast a regular (non-conditional) ballot if certain conditions are met.
Signed by Governor Newsom on July 12, 2019. Chapter 99.
AB 730 - Elections: Deceptive Audio or Visual Media
Assembly Bill 730 prohibits a person, within 60 days of an election, from knowingly or recklessly distributing deceptive audio or visual media (i.e. a deepfake) of a candidate with the intent to injure the candidate’s reputation or deceive a voter into voting for or against the candidate.
Signed by Governor Newsom on October 3, 2019. Chapter 493.
AB 782 - CEQA Exemption for Park and Open Space Acquisition
Assembly Bill 782 provides a statutory exemption from review under the California Environmental Quality Act for the simple acquisition of land, or funding for the acquisition, by a public agency in order to preserve open space, habitat, or historical resources, provided that future changes to the land remain subject to environmental review.
Signed by Governor Newsom on August 30, 2019. Chapter 181.
AB 860 - Elections: vote by mail ballots.
See "2020 Bills" page.
AB 988 - Special Education Teaching Credential
Assembly Bill 988 helps address the special education teacher shortage by streamlining the credentialing process for out-of-state teachers to teach in California.
Signed by Governor Newsom on July 12, 2019. Chapter 103.
Assembly Bill 1065 indefinitely extends the ability of insurers to offer consumers the option of electronic transactions for their insurance needs, which provides enhanced consumer choice, faster delivery, a paperless environmentally friendly option, portability, and, in the wake of disasters, accessibility.
Signed by Governor Newsom on September 5, 2019. Chapter 235.
AB 1146 - California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018
Assembly Bill 1146 ensures that nothing in California’s landmark consumer privacy law would prevent the sharing of vehicle information for the purpose of enabling repairs covered by a warranty or a manufacturer’s recall.
Signed by Governor Newsom on October 11, 2019. Chapter 751.
AB 1322 - Office of School-Based Health
Assembly Bill 1322 would have established an Office of School-Based Health, which would have enabled more schools to provide critically needed health-related services to students.
Vetoed.
AB 1341 - Covert For-Profit Colleges
Assembly Bill 1341 would have prevented covert for-profit colleges from using devious financial maneuvers to claim non-profit status and evade state oversight.
Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 1424 - Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
Assembly Bill 1424 would have supported California’s climate and electric vehicle deployment goals by establishing standards for payment technologies used at publicly available electric vehicle charging stations.
Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 1564 - California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018
Assembly Bill 1564 requires a business that operates exclusively online and has a direct relationship with a consumer whom it collects personal information from to provide an email address for consumers to exercise their rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act.
Signed by Governor Newsom on October 15, 2019. Chapter 759.
Assembly Bill 1671 allows for the California Department of Transportation to continue on-road testing of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control technologies by extending the current sunset to January 1, 2024.
Signed by Governor Newsom on September 20, 2019. Chapter 322.
Recognizing the additional uses of technology in elections, Assembly Bill 1707 provides that a person may not be prohibited from using an electronic device, including a smartphone, tablet, or other handheld device, at a polling place provided that the use of the device does not violate other provisions of existing law.
Signed by Governor Newsom on October 8, 2019. Chapter 561.