Senator Brian Jones, Lead Author of SB1377, and Amy Bohn of PERK- Sponsor of SB1377
Republican Senator Brian Jones (Lead Author) and Co-Author Democratic Senator Dave Cortese of SB 1377
Amy Bohn from PERK (Bill Sponsor SB 1377), Republican Senator Brian Jones (Lead Author SB1377) and Lead Witness Dr. Richard Fox (48 Years Practicing Doctor in CA, including Pediatrics)
Dear PERK Members,
We are proud to announce, PERK's Sponsorship of SB 1377 and announcing the additional Democratic Co-Authors of Senator Dave Cortese and Senator Ben Allen.
We have been working with Democratic Senator Cortese for almost two years now and his leadership provided a unique opportunity that created the chain of events for this bill. It would not have happened without him or Senator Brian Jones stepping up to become the lead author at a critical juncture. Senator Ben Allen was also key in building the bi-partisan support needed. We will soon share the story that unfolded and transpired over the past four months. Including what to expect if the bill does or doesn't pass the health committee and why this moment is important.
As the sponsor of SB 1377, we also have been pleasantly surprised as more support from Senators is being made known. There is a break through happening.
We have been honored to be in private meetings with these Senators and their staff leadership creating strategies and movement on a challenging and stigmatized issue.
We want to thank Free Now Foundation for their recommendation of Dr. Fox who was chosen as our lead witness today. Richard B. Fox, M.D., J.D., is a California-licensed physician, board-certified pediatrician, and attorney. He's been in practice for 48 years. Though the committee did not ask him a lot of questions, he was prepared to address the members and be a resource with his wealth of knowledge and 48 years of professional medical experience including pediatric care.
The Senate Health Committee heard SB 1377 (Jones) today, Wednesday, April 15th at 1:30 p.m. in Sacramento, CA. It was not an easy hearing and there have been expected challenges. The bill was amended with a lot of the language taken out, which the Senators chose to accept from the Chair. If they had not, it would not have passed the first committee. While that could be a dissapointment, it has produced an interesting scenario for many reasons. We may be required to start at a more simple framework and build from there. We will explain the outcome in more detail tomorrow.
Republican Senator Brian Jones did an excellent job delivering his opening remarks about the bill, the reason it's needed, and the intent of the language proposed as the lead author. Democratic Senator Dave Cortese also provided targeted opening remarks as a co-author and meaningfully articulated closing remarks on the issue at hand. Both Senators stood strong defending you all on these issue.
We appreciate each of you and how you've done your part. We could not have sponsored this bill without your support every step of the way. We'll keep you posted on what's happening over the next few days. We explain the co-authors announcement in the video below.
Sincerely,
Amy Bohn
