Thursday, September 22, 2011

Sac Bee Capitol Alert: Governor signs some bills, vetoes others

Capitol Alert

The latest on California politics and government

September 21, 2011
Jerry Brown vetoes parks bill, signs 'infused' spirit, budget bills

Even though he endorsed the idea, Gov. Jerry Brown today vetoed one of the more innocuous bills of the legislative session, a measure to require the Department of Parks and Recreation to post information on its website before closing a state park.

That didn't need a law, Brown wrote in his veto message. He then criticized Senate Bill 386's author, Sen. Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach.

"What the parks do need is sufficient funding to stay open -- something I feel compelled to note the author and his colleagues refused to let the people vote on," the Democratic governor wrote.

Brown also vetoed two other bills -- Senate Bill 847, which would have restricted the location of medicinal marijuana dispensaries, and Senate Bill 715, which had to do with annuity transactions. In his veto messages, he wrote that decisions about dispensaries "are best made in cities and counties" and called the other bill "virtually identical" to one he had already signed.

"Another won't be needed," he wrote.

Brown signed several budget-related bills and one bill allowing California bartenders to pour drinks that include "infused" alcohol.

The budget-related bills -- including Senate Bill X1 4 and Assembly Bills X1 16, X1 17, X1 30 and X1 32 -- will, among other things, appropriate special funds to the Healthy Families Program; clarify elements of the shift in public safety responsibilities from the state to the counties; and delay implementation of the $10 student fee increase per unit at community colleges from winter to summer 2012 if revenue falls short and so-called "trigger cuts" are required.

Senate Bill 32, by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, permits bartenders to pour "infused" alcohol, alcohol steeped with fruit, vegetables or herbs.

Cocktail lovers had lobbied the governor to sign the measure, which changes a post-Prohibition law.

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