Legislation
Some of Joe Simitian's notable pieces of legislation include:
- AB 700: Security breach notification law (2001)
- AB 2140: Criminalize elder abuse (2002)
- AB 2474: Antifreeze bittering (2002)
- AB 2672: Cruise ship sewage dumping ban (2004)
- SB 107: 20% Renewable energy portfolio (2005)
- SB 201: Sustainable marine aquaculture (2005)
- SB 1613: Hands-free cell phone law (2006)
- SB 28: Prohibition on texting while driving (2007)
- SB 1298: Education information system (2008)
According to the New York Times:
Simitian, who led a successful fight to ban motorists from sending text messages and using hand-held phones, has reintroduced a bill that failed last year to fine bicyclists $20 for similar multitasking. . . . Mr. Simitian is proposing the $20 fine on bicyclists who send text messages and a $30 increase on the existing $20 penalty for doing the same activity while driving a car, a difference that he said reflects the relative risk the behavior poses to others. “At some point,” he said, “you do have to simply rely on the good judgment of folks as they go through their daily lives.” Mr. Simitian added that he believed that efforts to legislate against distraction outside the car could diminish the seriousness of hard-fought campaigns and laws meant to curb distracted driving. “Is there a problem out there with distracted pedestrians? I’d be the first to acknowledge it,” he said. But, he added, “It’s appropriate to distinguish between 4,000 pounds of steel and glass coming at you and a pedestrian who may well put themselves at risk but probably poses less of a risk to the general public.”
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Famous quotes containing the word legislation:
“The laboring man and the trade-unionist, if I understand him, asks only equality before the law. Class legislation and unequal privilege, though expressly in his favor, will in the end work no benefit to him or to society.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“The wise know that foolish legislation is a rope of sand, which perishes in the twisting.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Strictly speaking, one cannot legislate love, but what one can do is legislate fairness and justice. If legislation does not prohibit our living side by side, sooner or later your child will fall on the pavement and I’ll be the one to pick her up. Or one of my children will not be able to get into the house and you’ll have to say, “Stop here until your mom comes here.” Legislation affords us the chance to see if we might love each other.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)