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The 2024 legislative year has come to a close and we want to update you on the laws passed to save and protect animals and biodiversity.
As you may know from our previous updates, SCIL sponsored two bills that were signed into law by Governor Newsom. But there were five other bills for which SCIL engaged lawmakers and collaborated with stakeholders to lobby in support of that were also signed into law. And, one on which we led a large coalition of animal groups to successfully oppose.
SCIL-sponsored bills signed into law:
AB 3162, the OCTO Act, (D-Bennett), was the first bill of its kind in the country and in the world to ban the sale of farmed octopus, and the second U.S. state, after Washington, to ban the practice of octopus farming.
We have heard from many advocates working to stop octopus farming in Spain that this new California law is and will be key to their efforts - they can now point to California, the world's 5th largest economy, as an example of a prominent jurisdiction saying no to this cruel and dirty industry.
AB 1983, (D-Maienschein), was a bill to reinstate a tax check-off program which allows Californians to donate their tax refund to spay and neuter programs. The much needed funding generated by the program will be granted out in combination with funds raised by the Pet Lover's License Specialty License Plate.
While this bill had unanimous support, it presented technical and bureaucratic difficulties in crafting bill language that would clearly give the Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) the legal authority to combine the grant process for both this program and the Pet Lover's. Thankfully, with engagement from CDFA, both the Assembly and Senate Tax Committee consultants, and the Maienschein staff, we got the right bill language signed into law.
Bills signed into law that we actively lobbied:
AB 1889, (D-Friedman): a bill to ensure cities and counties consider wildlife connectivity in land use plans. Connectivity is an important component for robust genetic diversity within a species - a necessity for healthy wildlife.
AB 2196, (D-Connolly): a bill to facilitate beaver conservation. Beavers are critical to healthy streams and watersheds, and for wildfire and drought resiliency.
AB 2552, (D-Friedman): a bill to ban several harmful and deadly rodenticides, which get into the food chain and agonizingly kill various species, including mountain lions, birds of prey and many other predators.
SB 902, (D-Roth): a bill to restrict ownership of firearms by those convicted of animal abuse crimes. Statistics show that those that abuse animals are highly likely to use physical violence against humans. This bill will prevent these perpetrators from possessing a gun and hurting others.
SB 1233, (R-Wilk) a bill which lays the foundation for California veterinary schools to setup a high-volume, high-quality spay and neuter (HVHQSN) certification program for veterinary students and professionals. A core clause of our sponsored ACR 86 (D-Kalra) called out the need for more investment in high volume spay and neuter programs. This bill is just the first step towards training the professionals needed to carry out these kinds of programs.
A bill we helped to defeat:
We led the coalition which defeated SB 921. The bill was initially written to expand animal abuse crimes which we of course support. Unfortunately, industries that abuse animals convinced the author to exempt themselves, including animal agriculture, rodeos, and animal testing industries. We consulted legal experts from around the country to lay out the harm that this bill would have inflicted on animals by insulating these industries, outweighing any positive aspects of the bill. Thankfully Senator Roth and his staff understood the concerns and agreed to pull the bill thanks to our engagement.
SCIL is so thankful to all of you on our email list and our social media who answered our calls for action!
Know that your efforts do make a difference!
All of this work takes financial resources. We need your generous donations to fund our efforts for 2025 - can you please contribute today?
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