Day One Agenda

My First Bills In The Senate

These are the first measures I would introduce, starting with the ones that touch everyday life. Each one comes from a section of the platform. Open any card to see the problem, the proposal, the safeguards, the cost, and how success would be measured.

Open Books And Sunsets

Strengthen the California Public Records Act and attach expiration dates to new programs.

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The Problem: Residents cannot easily see where public money goes, records requests can be slow and costly, and programs can continue for years without showing results.
The Proposal: Strengthen the California Public Records Act so requests are answered quickly and cheaply, post spending, contracts, and meeting records online in a searchable format, and attach an expiration date to new programs unless they are renewed.
Safeguards: Records that must stay private to protect individuals stay protected. Renewal requires published goals and results, so no program ends or continues by accident.
Cost: The main costs are staff time and technology to post records online. A dollar estimate will be published with the draft bill before it is introduced.
How We Measure Success: Average days to answer a records request, the share of spending and contracts searchable online, and the number of programs that publish goals and results.

From Transparency And Accountability

Mediation Before Enforcement

Offer free, voluntary mediation before court or enforcement action in property disputes.

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The Problem: Disputes between landlords and tenants, or over encampments on private land, often go straight to court or enforcement, which is slow and costly for everyone involved.
The Proposal: Offer free, voluntary mediation before any court or enforcement action in property disputes.
Safeguards: Mediation is voluntary, and either side may still use the courts. Mediators work under published standards.
Cost: The main cost is paying mediators, which should be compared against the cost of the court cases it replaces. A dollar estimate will be published with the draft bill before it is introduced.
How We Measure Success: The share of disputes settled, the time from complaint to resolution, and how both sides rate the process.

From Property Rights And Fair Compromise

Taxpayer Designation Pilot

Let filers direct part of their state income tax toward chosen categories, and let local governments offer the same choice.

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The Problem: Residents have almost no say over where their tax dollars go.
The Proposal: Pilot a way for filers to designate a portion of their state income tax toward chosen categories, and authorize cities and counties to let residents direct a share of local taxes.
Safeguards: Essentials such as courts, emergency response, and basic safety are funded first. The pilot covers a share of taxes, not the whole budget, and the results are published. If the pilot fails, it ends.
Cost: The main cost is administration of the pilot. A dollar estimate will be published with the draft bill before it is introduced.
How We Measure Success: How many filers take part, which categories they choose, whether essential services stay fully funded, and a published report on the results.

From Taxes And Budget Choice

Private Courts Access

Make voluntary arbitration and mediation more affordable and available, with firm protections for consumers and workers.

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The Problem: Ordinary disputes can be too slow and too expensive to resolve in court.
The Proposal: Make voluntary arbitration and mediation more affordable and available for more kinds of disputes, building on private arbitration that California already enforces.
Safeguards: Arbitration has to be a real choice, not a fine-print trap. Firm protections for consumers and workers are written into the bill, and I will publish the draft protections for public comment before it is introduced.
Cost: The main cost is any public support for lower-cost arbitration and mediation. A dollar estimate will be published with the draft bill before it is introduced.
How We Measure Success: Cost and time to resolve a dispute compared with court, complaint outcomes, and how consumers and workers rate the process.

From Justice, Policing, And Competing Providers

Choose Your Provider

Allow neighborhoods and communities to contract with accredited public safety providers under published standards.

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The Problem: When a provider cannot lose its customers, it has little reason to serve them well.
The Proposal: Pass enabling law so neighborhoods, business districts, and housing communities can contract with accredited public safety providers of their choice, including local police, the county sheriff, or licensed private firms.
Safeguards: Local police remain available to every resident. Every provider is certified to published standards on training, conduct, and use of force, honors due process, publishes its procedures and complaint outcomes, and accepts a neutral appeals process when two providers disagree.
Cost: Costs depend on how certification and oversight are run. A dollar estimate will be published with the draft bill before it is introduced.
How We Measure Success: Response times, published complaint outcomes and use of force reports, and resident satisfaction in neighborhoods that make a different choice.
Still Being Worked Out: Who investigates misconduct, how disputes between providers are settled, and who holds final authority over the use of force. I will publish my answers and invite public comment before introducing this bill.

From Justice, Policing, And Competing Providers

Alternative Bar Recognition

Begin the legislative and constitutional work to recognize accredited alternative bar associations alongside the State Bar of California.

See How It Would Work

The Problem: Every California lawyer must belong to one organization, so there is little pressure to compete on standards or price.
The Proposal: Press the Legislature and the California Supreme Court to recognize accredited alternative bar associations alongside the State Bar of California.
Safeguards: Alternatives must be accredited, and lawyers still answer to published standards of conduct.
Cost: The main cost is the accreditation process. A dollar estimate will be published with the draft bill before it is introduced.
How We Measure Success: The number of accredited alternatives, published standards and discipline outcomes, and what clients pay for legal help.

From Justice, Policing, And Competing Providers

Privacy From Surveillance Networks

Require a warrant to search stored location and identity data on people not suspected of a crime, and set short deletion deadlines.

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The Problem: Cameras, license plate readers, and data platforms now record where ordinary people drive and go, and private companies can pool that information across agencies. California law already bars sharing license plate data with federal and out-of-state agencies, yet enforcement has depended on the Attorney General warning agencies and suing a city. Efforts to strengthen the rules have stalled in Sacramento. Residents rarely know who holds their data or who has searched it.
The Proposal: Require a warrant to search stored location and identity data about people who are not suspected of a crime. Set short deletion deadlines for data that is not tied to an investigation. Bar sharing with out-of-state and federal agencies without a court order. Bar private companies from selling or reusing public safety data for any other purpose. Let residents learn what is held about them, and let them sue when their privacy is violated.
Safeguards: Investigators keep the ability to act fast in a real emergency or an active case, including a missing child or an immediate threat. Contracts with technology vendors must forbid secondary use, log every search, and allow independent audits, with the results published.
Cost: The main costs are audits, enforcement, and the work of deleting old data. A dollar estimate will be published with the draft bill before it is introduced.
How We Measure Success: How many days data is kept, how many agencies publish audit reports, how many searches, warrants, and outside-agency requests are logged, and how many privacy complaints are resolved.
Still Being Worked Out: How long to keep data that is tied to no investigation, how to treat older data that police say helps solve cold cases, and how rules should differ for agencies and for private companies. I will publish my answers and invite public comment before introducing this bill, and I want to hear from police officers as well as privacy advocates.

From Transparency And Accountability

These briefs are a first draft. Costs are listed as drivers for now because I will not give you a number I cannot support. If you see a problem or a better way, tell me.

Still Have Questions?

Read my answers to the toughest objections, or tell me what I have wrong.

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