Senate approves wide slate of nominations and legislation in Friday floor session; dozens of bills concurred and passed

The California State Senate on Sept. 5 confirmed multiple gubernatorial appointments and approved a large package of bills spanning transportation, housing, public safety, health-care reporting, and other policy areas during a floor session in Sacramento.

The Senate confirmed four gubernatorial appointments on the daily file: Doug Hendrickson (State Athletic Commission), David Nahai (Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board), Darnell Grisby (California Transportation Commission) and Vivian Perez (Colorado River Basin Regional Water Board). Each confirmation was advanced following a roll call vote called for by Senator Laird and others and confirmed by recorded ayes and nos on the floor.

In addition to confirmations, the Senate considered and voted on a broad set of bills. Several items were handled on concurrence (final House amendments), while many assembly bills were taken up on third reading and approved on largely bipartisan or unanimous votes. Notable categories of measures acted on included:

- Housing and local government: bills to streamline approvals and to establish post-disaster housing task forces were approved. (Examples on the file: SB 49; AB 239.) - Water and environmental measures: confirmations and bills addressing water quality and recycling were advanced (e.g., confirmation of a Water Quality Control Board appointee; SB 31). - Labor, employment and contracting: measures on contracting-out notice to unions and protections for workers affected by immigration enforcement were approved (e.g., AB 339; AB 1136/SB 1136-related employment measures referenced on the floor). - Consumer protections and business regulation: bills were approved addressing rental-car pricing transparency, litigation funding disclosures, contractor license enforcement tied to wage theft, and graduate-student loan caps for undocumented students (examples include AB 1374, AB 931, AB 1002, AB 681). - Public safety and criminal law:…