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AB 1382, the Ethics Over Aesthetics Act, authored by Assemblymember Leticia Castillo (R-Corona), and coauthored by Assemblymembers Isaac Bryan, Diane Dixon, and Senators Brian Jones and Rosilicie Ochoa-Bogh, and sponsored by Social Compassion in Legislation, failed to pass the Senate Appropriations Committee when it was held on the suspense file by Senator Sabrina Cervantes.
“After 19 years of sponsoring legislation in Sacramento, I know the difference between a legitimate policy or fiscal concern and when politics starts creeping into the process. AB 1382 was not keyed fiscal by neither the Assembly nor Senate Rules Committee, meaning it was not identified as having a cost to the state, and it was waived from the Assembly Appropriations Committee altogether. Yet in the Senate, the bill was pulled into the Appropriations Committee by the Chair and ultimately killed on the suspense file. Given the lack of bill’s fiscal impact, that outcome is ludicrous," said Judie Mancuso, Founder and President of Social Compassion in Legislation.
"That immediately raised a red flag for us because the Senate Appropriations Committee is chaired by Senator Sabrina Cervantes, whose sister, Clarissa Cervantes, is running against AB 1382’s author, Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, in a rematch of a 2024 Assembly race that Castillo won by just 596 votes."
"When you’ve worked in the Capitol as long as I have, you understand that good bills can become political assets or political liabilities during an election cycle. In Sacramento, legislation can become political currency during a campaign. I can’t tell you what was in anyone’s mind, but when a bill that was not keyed fiscal, was waived from Appropriations in the Assembly, and then was specifically pulled into Senate Appropriations by the Chair and killed there under these circumstances, the appearance of a conflict is impossible to ignore. It is difficult not to question whether AB 1382 was ultimately judged on the merits of the policy at all.”
We heard from Cervantes' staff there was "concern over potential court costs." But when we reached out to the Judicial Council, which is the policymaking body of the California court system, they expressed no concerns about costs to the courts.
To our eyes, and to anyone that refuses to be gaslit by the "court cost concerns" expressed by Senator Cervantes' staff, this bill was killed so that Assemblymember Castillo would not get a legislative "win" which she could tout on the campaign trail.
It is disgusting and emblematic of why people hate politics and politicians. A good bill to save animals and which nobody opposed killed because, in our opinion, Senator Cervantes wants to help her sister get elected.
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