Legislative Update: June 10, 2009

The 2009 California Legislative session is in full swing with numerous pending bills up for consideration. As these bills move through the committee process, they may be amended or revised many times. In some cases, the final version of the bill may exclude some of the main points of the original proposal in order to secure passage.

At the recent CCAI Board of Directors Meeting in March 2009, the Board voted to support the following pieces of pending legislation:

Assembly Bill #27

This bill would increase the amount of damage required for a person to be guilty of aggravated arson from 5,650,000 to 6,500,000 and would extend the repeal date for the provisions relating to property damage until January 1, 2014.

Assembly Bill #1385

This bill would expand the definition of Peace Officer to include peace officers defined in PC 830.37 for the purposes of using an emergency vehicle that will allow the use of a steady or flashing blue warning light visible from the front, sides, or rear of the vehicle.

Assembly Bill #388

This bill would require, subject to exceptions, that vendors of firefighting uniforms verify that a person purchasing a uniform identifying a firefighting agency is an employee of the agency identified on the uniform.

Assembly Bill #937

This bill would impose registration requirements parallel to those applicable in arson cases on violators of certain laws regulating the possession and use of destructive devices.