Bill to ban sex offenders from running for office fails in California senate committee

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Set us as preferred California Democratic senators failed to advance a proposal Tuesday that would have barred registered sex offenders from running for office.State Sen.Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) voted against Assembly Bill 2753, while fellow Sens.

Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) and Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) abstained from a vote that ultimately failed 2-1-2 in the Senate Elections and Constitutional Committee.The committee’s lone Republican, Steve Choi (R-Irvine), and Sen.Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) voted in favor of the bill, which is likely dead because it failed to get support from a majority of the five-member panel.

AB 2753 could be reviewed in a floor session Thursday, but staff from the office of Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria (D-Fresno), who authored the bill, are conceding that’s unlikely.The defeat comes on the heels of unanimous support, including a 60-0 vote in favor on the Assembly Floor on May 7.Business A new state law that allows denser housing development near major transit stops goes into effect in July, opening the door to construction of more than 1 million new units in California’s urban centers.

“I am deeply disappointed and disheartened after the Senate Elections Committee has failed to advance AB 2753, a bill that would have prohibited any registered sex offender in the State of California from running for local or state public office,” Soria said in a statement.The bill’s wording said the legislation would “prohibit a person from being a candidate for, or elected to, any state or local elective office if the person has ever been required to register as a sex offender.”Inquiries to the offices of Sens.Wiener, Umberg and Allen were not immediately returned.Sex offenses in California are broken up into three tiers.

First-tier offenses call for a minimum of 10 years placement on the ...