The legislative session is in the homestretch. The state’s legislature has until the end of the month to send bills to the governor’s desk. 

On Thursday, the Senate passed Sen. Kelly Seyarto’s (R-Murrieta) community college oversight law 71-0, with eight assemblymembers not voting. The bill is intended to streamline community colleges’ reporting requirements.

Also on Thursday, the Assembly passed Sen. Sabrina Cervantes’ (D-Riverside) CSU instructor bill, 74-0, with five not voting. The bill explicitly requires courses to be taught by people, not AI. The bill does not prohibit faculty from using AI.

On Monday, the Senate passed Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes’ (D-Colton) K-12 privacy bill unanimously. The bill would require online exam proctor vendors to used end-to-end encryption and limit data collection. The measure was sponsored by the Riverside and San Bernardino County Offices of Education.

Gómez Reyes is waiting on nine bills to be heard by the Senate, including one on the prohibition of recording people with smart glasses in places of business, and another that would create an independent redistricting committee for San Bernardino County supervisor districts. 

Assm. James Ramos (D-Highland) is waiting on ten bills to be heard by the Senate, dealing with tribal police, opioid response in schools, California Indian religious freedom, protective orders and more.

“It’s a robust package that I hope to get to the governor for his approval this year,” he said.

Sen. Sabrina Cervantes is waiting for eight bills to be heard by the Assembly, which would deal with the regulation of automated license plate recognition systems, military and overseas voting and separating the Riverside Coroner’s and Sheriff’s Offices.

What won't make it to the governor’s desk?

A bill to reintroduce grizzly bears, Ryan Sabalow reports. Inglewood Democratic Sen. Laura Richardson had introduced the bill, which would have asked the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to make a “roadmap that evaluates whether, and under what conditions, reintroduction of the grizzly bear is feasible and advisable.” Proponents said the bears would help restore California’s ecosystem. Buffy Wicks, the chairperson of the committee, said that the state needed to figure out how humans can coexist with predators. 

Read the story: California lawmakers kill grizzly bear reintroduction bill.

Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco will lose about 200 positions in the Sheriff’s Office through attrition in order to balance the newly approved 2026-27 budget.

At a June budget hearing, he asked the Board of Supervisors to provide an additional $138 million to offset an expected increase in wages from a new contract with the Riverside Sheriff’s Association, as well as another $133 million for other costs.

During the June presentation, he said the Sheriff’s Office would have to cut 600 positions. This week, he told ABC7 that the office would lose 200 positions, which he plans to leave unfilled after retirements and transfers. He said he would pay the remaining employees even if it means going over budget. 

Riverside County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen said the county had to balance competing interests with finite funds. 

“An unfunded request for additional funding is different from a reduction to the department’s existing budget,” Van Wagenen told the Press-Enterprise.

Riverside County increased the office’s funding by $50 million, the Press-Enterprise reported.

Read the story from ABC7, or from The Press-Enterprise.

Ontario Councilmember Alan Wapner stepped away from his positions on city-appointed committees following the FBI raids on him and others, The Sun reported on Friday. Wapner served as president of the Ontario International Airport Authority Board of Commissioners, and was the city’s representative to San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, Omnitrans, Metrolink, the Southern California Association of Governments, the National Association of Regional Councils, and the California Association of Councils of Governments.

The city council had indicated it might remove Wapner from his appointments, but he stepped down voluntarily.

“The mayor has made clear his intention to remove me from these appointments, and I have chosen instead to resign on my own terms,” he wrote in the letter, according to the Sun. Wapner is 

Read more from the Sun: Ontario councilmember targeted in FBI probe resigns from city-appointed posts.

In similar news, Rep. Young Kim is donating the $5,200 she received from James Su, the media executive who was also a subject of the FBI searches. Politico reported the news yesterday. 

“We are donating the contributions to organizations that support victims of human trafficking and prostitution,” Kim spokesperson Chris Pack told Politico.

San Bernardino Supervisor Curt Hagman, another subject of the FBI’s searches, received campaign contributions from Su, the Daily Bulletin reported last month. He donated $3,500 to Hagman’s campaign over five years, and his company, EDI Media, donated $4,000 over five years. Hagman stepped down from the 18 committees he served on following the raids.

No subject of the FBI’s searches have been accused of a crime. 

The Walter Zimmerman Elementary School will not be relocated for the development of the Bloomington Gateway Distribution Center, the Colton Unified School District announced.

The school sits across the street from the planned 213-acre warehouse complex. A 2024 agreement between the warehouse developers and the Colton Joint Unified School District had said the developers would build new facilities for the school down the block, at the cost of $44.5 million.

The fate of that agreement was up in the air after the development changed hands. Last week’s agreement says that the current developers will instead pay $27 million to the school, to be used as the school board sees fit. 

The project’s design has changed to move truck bays away from the school campus, and to prevent truck traffic along Zimmerman Ave., where the school’s entrance is. 

“While the district cannot control the county’s land use decisions, we will always advocate for our students and our staff,” said Bertha Flores, President of the District Board of Education, in a release.

The Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice and the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice both issued statements panning the agreement.

Read more from KVCR or The Sun.

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