KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Assemblywoman Sharon Runner (R – Lancaster) presented legislation on a variety of public safety issues in committee on June 22. These bills will help parents protect their children, keep drunk drivers off the road, protect us from identity thieves, and keep stalkers away from their victims.
“I’m happy to see so much hard work pay off,” said Runner. “We are going to keep
the pressure on with these bills to make sure they get signed into law.”
AB 646 will require a parent to give permission before someone can perform body
piercing on their child. Failure to get permission would result in a $250 fine for
the person performing the piercing. This legislation replicates a law that expired
on
AB 978 makes it illegal for individuals with restraining orders against them to take
action to locate their victims. 17% of Domestic Violence homicides are against
women who already have restraining orders. Hopefully, this will cause stalkers to
think twice before trying to find their victims.
AB 979 allows driving under the influence (DUI) offenders to install ignition
interlock devices (IID) on their cars sooner than current law permits. The bill
also allows police to impound any non-IID equipped vehicle driven by an individual
with an IID-restricted license.
IIDs are one technological advance that has brought a new solution to drinking and
driving. An IID prevents anyone who has been drinking from starting or driving a
car. It requires the driver to blow into the device in order to start the vehicle in
which the IID has been installed. In terms of numbers, attaching an IID to a car
for a year, after its operator is convicted of driving while intoxicated, would
reduce recidivism by an estimated 75% and alcohol-related fatalities by 7%.
AB 1517 allows the Department of Managed Health Care to obtain criminal background
information on prospective employees and contract employees who would gain access to
patient medical records. These records can contain highly confidential information
including social security numbers. Background checks will help screen out would-be
identity thieves.
