House Of Origin Wrapup: Bills That Flew Under The Radar

California lawmakers took the day off Friday after slogging through more than 700 bills this week ahead of a key deadline.

Although high-profile bills like single-payer health care and bail reform drew the big headlines this week, California lawmakers also passed other noteworthy legislation.

The Assembly narrowly passed a measure that would ban employers from initially asking whether a job applicant has any criminal convictions.

The “ban the box” bill would remove the check-box on application forms that asks about an applicant’s criminal history. If it passes, employers would need to wait to conduct background checks until later in the hiring process.

Meanwhile, the Assembly also approved a ban on for-profit charter schools. And the Senate voted to create a third gender identity category – ”nonbinary” – on state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards.

Then, there were the “water-cooler conversation” bills.

The Assembly voted to abolish daylight savings time in California – though a similar effort stalled last year, and even if it passes this year, it would still require approval from voters and the federal government.

The Senate voted to let local governments decide whether to allow bars to stay open as late as 4 a.m. That passed over the objections of law enforcement and groups that advocate against drunk driving.

And in the ultimate example of legislative trolling, the Senate passed a bill that would require presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns in order to qualify for the California ballot. (One guess at who that bill is targeted at...)

The action came ahead of Friday’s “House of Origin” deadline – the final day for non-urgency measures to pass the house in which they were introduced. The bills that passed now cross over to the opposite chamber for committee hearings over the next several weeks.