Education
"We've made a commitment to smaller class sizes, strong reading skills and more math and science. We can't let the kids down now."
Environment
"If we don't protect land and water today, it will be gone or degraded tomorrow. That's especially true of the fragile Delta."
Economy and Jobs
"Invention and productivity are California's hallmark. A well educated workforce, affordable housing and modern transit systems will keep it that way."
Family Security
"Clean drinking water. Rapid response in a fire. Safe streets. Toys you can trust. Public safety is government's #1 responsibility."
Housing
"The Valley has been hit hard by the mortgage crisis. California needs to do more to protect current and prospective homeowners from unconscionable mortgages."
Protect Farms
Farms are critical to the Valley, and that's why Lois is working hard to protect them. She recently wrote AB 2881 to protect farmers from nuisance suits for their everyday actions. Yolo County Ag Futures Alliance (AFA), which is sponsoring the bill, said that this "measure will help ensure that potential buyers have the information they need before deciding to purchase land in an agricultural area, thus helping avoid disputes between farmers and their new neighbors."
Lois Laws '07-'08
AB 5Flood Management
Establishes a comprehensive set of policies to move towards 21st-century flood protection, coordinating state and local efforts to connect land-use decisions and flood management planning. Linked to a comprehensive package of flood protection bills, including: SB 5 (Machado/Wolk), AB 162 (Wolk), SB 17 (Florez), and AB 156 (Laird) and AB 70 (Jones).
AB 112Highway 12 Double Fine Zone
Designates a dangerous stretch of State Highway Route 12 in Solano County between Interstate 80 to Interstate 5 as a safety enhancement-double fine zone, and creates a process for designating future double fine zones throughout the state for traffic violations such as speeding, reckless driving, and drunken driving.
AB 162Flood Planning
Requires cities and counties in California to incorporate flood hazards in their general plans in order to minimize risk in flood-prone areas.
AB 373Mello-Roos Clean-up
Makes numerous updates to the Mello-Roos Act to help finance the construction of schools, parks, police and fire service, streets, and other basic infrastructure and services needed to accommodate new housing.
AB 443CHP Relocation
Allows the California Highway Patrol to move their headquarters to West Sacramento, by changing current law to require that the CHP headquarters is within 20 miles of Sacramento.
AB 478Bicycle Safety/Bike Lights
Requires bicycle lights to be used on sidewalks where bicycles are permitted, and on pathways used primarily used by bicyclists; allows bicyclists to use reflectors on their shoes or ankles, instead of on each bike pedal.
AB 532Solar Heated Swimming Pools
Requires solar heating to be evaluated as an option for all state operated swimming pools.
AB 646Cache Creek Resources Management
Extends until December 31, 2012, an existing resource management plan to balance the need for environmental review of seasonal gravel extraction on the lower Cache Creek in Yolo County with the needs of local flood management, water supply and conveyance, habitat, recreation, and agricultural production.
AB 1426Central Valley Vision
Requires the State Department of Parks and Recreation to develop and implement a detailed plan to expand and improve park facilities and recreation programs in the Central Valley State Park System.
AB 1683Quagga Mussels
Provides the Department of Fish and Game with the authority necessary to prevent the spread of quagga mussels, a highly invasive species threatening California's water delivery and natural ecosystems.
AB 1908Allowing School District's Sale of Surplus Farmland
Allows the Dixon Unified School District to sell its excess farmland property located 5 miles outside of the Dixon city limits, in an unincorporated area of Solano County. The sale of the surplus farmland should generate enough revenue to restore the district’s reserve and resolve its current budget deficit.
AB 2100Nursing Home Abuse: Mandated Reporting
Requires nursing home ombudsperson to report suspected elder abuse complaint with local district attorney, in addition to complaint filed with state agencies.
AB 2881Right to Farm Protections
Adopts statewide right-to-farm laws which limit the exposure of farmers to nuisance suits and reimburses farmers for the costs of such suits if they prevail. Signed by Governor and Chaptered September 30, 2008.
AB 2911Oiled Wildlife Care Network & Inland Oil Spills
Enhances the State's capacity to rescue oiled wildlife in the event of an oil spill, and also strengthens the state's response to inland oil spills.
AB 3000Physician’s Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST)
Would provide consumers with a new mechanism – Physicians Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) – to ensure that their wishes are honored regarding medical treatment towards the end of life.
SB 1608ADA Compliance
Together with several Senators, Lois worked to enact several reforms intended to increase voluntary compliance with longstanding state and federal laws requiring access to persons with disabilities in any place of public accommodation.
ACR 7Officer David Lamoree Memorial Highway
Designates a portion of State Highway Route 12 in Solano County as the Officer David Lamoree Memorial Highway.
Lois Laws '05-'06
AB 56Bike Signals
Makes permanent the provisions in existing law allowing bicycle traffic signals in specified locations, including the City of Davis.
AB 573Construction contracts, indemnity
Protects design professionals from unfair contract provisions holding them liable for other parties’ negligent acts and omissions.
AB 574Recycled Concrete
Allows for the use of recycled concrete in building materials if the end user is aware that it is recycled.
AB 575E-Waste Recycling
Provides for the collection of e-waste disposal fees for leased electronic devices subject to the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003.
AB 576California State Immunization Registry
Creates a statewide immunization registry to ensure that more children are immunized, reducing the risk of disease, hospitalization and lost time from school and work.
AB 796Library Name Change
Allows certain public library districts, including the Governing Board of Dixon Unified School District Library District of Solano County, to determine their own names.
AB 797Delta Protection Act
Strengthens the Delta Protection Commission, enabling the board to better protect the water, agricultural land, and other Delta resources.
AB 798Delta Levee Subventions
Enables the state to continue paying the majority of ongoing costs for Delta levee projects, making it easier for local governments to afford maintenance and improvements to satisfy urgent needs.
AB 874Avian Flu Wildlife Surveillance Act
Increases the state’s preparedness for an outbreak of the Avian Flu.
AB 1188Impeding a Mandated Report Elder/Child Abuse
Establishes uniform fines and penalties for failing to report or impeding a mandated report of child and elder abuse.
AB 1245West Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency
Expands the authority of the West Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency to accomplish new flood protection projects.
AB 1328Cache Creek Wild & Scenic River Designation
Designates 31 miles of Cache Creek in Yolo and Lake Counties as a State Wild, Scenic and Recreational River.
AB 1329Design Build
Authorizes the use of the cost-effective, design-build construction process in Yolo and Solano County cities.
AB 1610Charter Schools
Strengthens accountability measures and ensures equity for charter schools.
AB 2155Pharmaceutical Hazardous Waste
Modifies state’s hazardous waste permitting law to accommodate processes used by small batch pharmaceutical manufacturers.
AB 2538State Transportation Improvement Program
Increases funding for local or regional transportation agencies for project planning and monitoring, helping avoid delays in construction projects.
AB 2918Partnership Health
Expands County Organized Health Systems statutory authority to create and administer certain health service programs other than those already specified in law (MediCal, Healthy Families, Medicare).
AB 2939Port of Sacramento Governance Structure
Gives full management of Port of Sacramento to host jurisdiction, the City of West Sacramento and Yolo County, expanding the port’s business prospects.
SB 1018Elder Abuse
Authored with Senator Joe Simitian, this bill mandates bank employees to report elder financial abuse to law enforcement.
ACR 13Spay Day Resolution
Declared February 22, 2005, to be Spay Day USA 2005.
ACR 16CHP Sgt. Gary R. Wagers Memorial Interchange
Designated the interchange of State Highway Route 5 (SR) and SR 113 the "CHP Sergeant Gary R. Wagers Memorial Interchange."
ACR 21Watershed Awareness Month
Proclaimed the month of May 2005 Watershed Awareness Month.
HR 8National Library Week
Acknowledged the celebration of National Library Week from April 10 through April 16, 2005.
Lois Laws '03-'04
AB 163Fairfield-Suisun School Fix
Authored with Assemblyman Joe Nation, this bill allows Fairfield Suisun School District to use year-round single-track calendar year without suffering significant penalties. ($14 million)
AB 164Principal Training Program
Provides intensive professional development in management and standards-based instructional leadership to high school principals.
AB 1400Universal Design for New Home Construction
Requires all builders of new, single family homes, duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, and condominiums, to provide buyers with information on universal design features for disabled access and the opportunity to add these features to their homes.
AB 1402CalWORKS Quarterly Reporting
Fixes a conflict with federal law to allow the state to implement a simpler and less wasteful system of reporting information by families who need Food Stamps or CalWORKs. Benefits will be based on current rather than past circumstances and will be submitted quarterly rather than monthly.
AB 1405Statewide Watershed Policy
Recognizes local partnerships in watershed restoration efforts, and sets forth policies that will allow the state to fully collaborate with local watershed partnerships.
AB 1407Solar Rights Act I
Requires cities that receive state grant-funding for solar energy systems to comply with the Solar Rights Act that ensures there are no unreasonable restrictions placed on homeowners who wish to install solar energy systems.
AB 1408Pipeline Oil Spill
Requires the immediate reporting of a threat or an actual discharge of oil in marine waters to the Office of Emergency Services. Also requires the State Fire Marshal, in its report to the Legislature every five years, to assess the condition of all pipelines in the state.
AB 1409Bicycle Racks on Buses
Amends the Vehicle Code to permit commuter buses to be equipped with folding, front-mounting bicycle racks.
AB 1410Transit Oriented Development
Gives the right of first refusal to local agencies to purchase state surplus land in order to develop a transit village or infill opportunity zone.
AB 1411Anti-Hazing Enforcement in Schools
Gives school administrators the authority to suspend or expel students for hazing. The bill also expands the definition of hazing in the Education Code.
AB 1413Adoption Birth Certificate Processing
Accelerates the processing of birth certificates for adoption of foster children.
AB 1716County Welfare Caseload Realignment
Allows restoration of $27 million from increased sales tax revenues to replace earlier declines in realignment funding for county social services. Resulted in $287,000 increase in Solano County and $153,000 in Yolo County.
AB 1956Diversion For Autistic Defendants
Includes autism and other cognitive developmental disabilities among mental illnesses eligible for criminal diversion programs in misdemeanor cases.
AB 1982Mosquito Reduction on State Managed Wetlands
Requires all state managed lands to implement healthy and habitat friendly mosquito abatement in order to stop the spread of West Nile Virus. SB 1545, co-authored by Wolk, appropriates $750,000 to implement AB 1982.
AB 1984CCRMP/ Surface Mining
Reinstates Public Resources Code (PRC) section 2715.5 which allows Yolo County to use Cache Creek Resources Management Plan (CRMP) in place of a reclamation plan.
AB 1985Auto Insurance Claim Records
Expressly permits insurers to retain electronic copies of claim forms in auto theft-related claims.
AB 1986CDSS Evaluation/ Background Checks
Extended authority for counties to grant exemptions from disqualification of prospective foster parents for certain crimes when county finds substantial and convincing evidence of good character.
AB 2054BIFS
Extends the sunset date for new University of California Biologically Integrated Farming Systems (BIFS) projects from December 31, 2005 to December 31, 2010.
AB 2292Visitation/Legal Guardians
Allows a guardian to be granted visitation rights if the court believes it is in the best interest of the child to continue that contact after adoption or reunification.
AB 2473Solar Rights Act II
A follow-up to AB 1407, the bill prohibits local governments from restricting the installation of a solar energy system based on aesthetics.
AB 2795CWS PIP
Implements state's Program Improvement Plan (PIP) for services to abused and neglected children by allowing counties an additional 30 days to develop case plans and allowing 6-month extensions of Family Maintenance Services if needed.
ACR 251Assisted Living Week
Proclaims the week of September 12-18 2004 as Assisted Living Week in California.
AJR 71Veterans’ Health Care
Urges the President and Congress of the United States to provide a guaranteed level of funding for veterans’ health care and restore the medical benefits package for veterans in Priority Group 8.
“Wolk is one of the most effective legislators in California now because of her common sense approach to issues.” Doug Ford, Solano Board of Education, The Reporter
10/9/2004
"We've made a commitment to smaller class sizes, strong reading skills and more math and science. We can't let the kids down now."
"If we don't protect land and water today, it will be gone or degraded tomorrow. That's especially true of the fragile Delta."
"Invention and productivity are California's hallmark. A well educated workforce, affordable housing and modern transit systems will keep it that way."
"Clean drinking water. Rapid response in a fire. Safe streets. Toys you can trust. Public safety is government's #1 responsibility."
"The Valley has been hit hard by the mortgage crisis. California needs to do more to protect current and prospective homeowners from unconscionable mortgages."
Farms are critical to the Valley, and that's why Lois is working hard to protect them. She recently wrote AB 2881 to protect farmers from nuisance suits for their everyday actions. Yolo County Ag Futures Alliance (AFA), which is sponsoring the bill, said that this "measure will help ensure that potential buyers have the information they need before deciding to purchase land in an agricultural area, thus helping avoid disputes between farmers and their new neighbors." 
back to top
