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With complaints from financially stretched customers growing louder, a flurry of measures aimed at curbing ever-increasing energy and utility bills have been introduced during the current legislative session in Sacramento by lawmakers of both parties.

“Affordability” is the buzzword throughout the hallways of the State Capitol — especially with many members of the Assembly and Senate up for re-election this year. No fewer than 25 energy-related bills are on the docket.

SACRAMENTO, California — A California state Democrat introduced legislation on Thursday to crack down on what she calls misleading recycled content claims — just as Congress starts weighing an industry-backed bill that would move in the opposite direction.

A member of the California legislative assembly has introduced a bill she says is designed to protect consumers from deceptive recycled-content claims.

The bill, backed by the Sacramento-based nonprofit group Californians Against Waste (CAW), is known as Assembly Bill (AB) 2253 and has been introduced by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, a Democrat from Encinitas.

SACRAMENTO, California — A California lawmaker wants to force the state’s investor-owned utilities to reduce their rates by 25 percent, joining a nationwide push to target soaring energy bills amid rising concern over cost-of-living issues.

A decade ago, California banned the sale of rinse-off products, like face scrubs and shampoos, containing plastic microbeads. Leave-on personal care and cleaning products were excluded.

But that could soon change if Assembly Bill 823 is signed into law.

The proposal, introduced earlier this year by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, D-Encinitas, has successfully been making its way through state Senate committees, following approval in June by the Assembly. The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing to consider the bill later this month.

A donation drive at Dewey Elementary School is helping families stock up on school supplies and backpacks ahead of the upcoming school year.

By 2029, eyeshadows, nail polishes and other cosmetics that shimmer and shine from plastic glitter could be banned in California.

In the latest push to curb the prevalence of microplastics in the environment, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a first-in-the-nation bill that would ban the sale of personal care products that contain plastic glitter or plastic microbeads.

June 5, 2025 – The California Assembly on Wednesday passed a $15-a-month broadband affordability bill by a vote of 52–17.

The California Affordable Home Internet Act, introduced by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, D-Encinitas, will now head to the state Senate, which is currently dominated by Democrats, who hold 30 of the chamber’s 40 seats.

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2025 – The California State Assembly's communications committee advanced two broadband bills Wednesday, both of which will now be taken up by the chamber’s appropriations committee.

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2025 – The California Assembly Committee on Communications and Conveyance will hear testimony April 30 on a bill that would require internet service providers to offer a low-cost broadband option to qualifying low-income households.

The bill’s author, Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, D-Encinitas, also serves as chair of the committee that will preside over the hearing.