Government Watch

• Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill aimed at protecting animals after the deaths of their owners yesterday. Senate Bill 685, authored by state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, is expected to reduce the burden on pet shelters, conserve public services and funds, protect defenseless animals and guarantee that people’s wills are carried out as intended.

Many animal shelters are filled with pets of deceased owners, despite the fact that a number of the owners made arrangements for the pets after their death.

Currently, pet trusts in California are honorary and not enforceable by law. Senate Bill 685 will address the present unenforceability in the administration of pet trusts by removing the discretion of trustees in fulfilling the trust. The bill also allows courts to appoint a caregiver if the trustee does not wish to arrange for the pet care.

• Yesterday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill authored by state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, that ensures employees of temporary staffing agencies are paid in a timely manner and resolves uncertainty in current labor law as result of a 2006 California Supreme Court ruling.

In 2006, the California Supreme Court ruled in the case of Smith v. L’Oreal, USA, Inc., that completion of a finite project or assignment constitutes a "discharge” under the California Labor Code requiring immediate payment of wages. However, the case did not involve a third-party employment relationship with a temporary staffing firm. Temporary staffing agencies, which are often small businesses or serve small businesses, were concerned that the ruling could be applied to their industry.

Temporary employees generally work intermittently, often on multiple assignments with different customers, and almost never are on or near the premises of the temporary staffing firm that is responsible

Specifically, Senate Bill 940 requires weekly pay for employees of temporary service agencies, and provides that an employer that pays in compliance with this requirement shall be deemed to have timely paid wages owed upon completion of an assignment. Employers who violate this payment requirement would face civil and criminal penalties.

• The contentious issue of "trees versus solar power” –– that produced a criminal conviction and drew international attention –– has been put to rest. Yesterday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill authored by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, which will protect trees and shrubs prior to the installation of a solar collector; eliminate criminal prosecution as a penalty for violating the law; provide a mechanism for written notice between neighbors; ease the ability of comities to adopt and enforce local rules.

Senate Bill 1399 will also "decriminalize” violations of the California Solar Shade Control Act (a violation will no longer be considered a crime, and enforcement will be a matter for the civil court system). "It just seems a little heavy handed to call in the district attorney over a neighbor-to-neighbor dispute –– not to mention the expense to the public,” Simitian said in a prepared statement.

The bill is one of the winning entries in Simitian’s annual "There Oughta Be A Law” contest. Sunnyvale residents Richard Treanor and Carolynn Bissett, who consider themselves environmentalists, tree lovers and good neighbors, ran afoul of the 1978 law which currently provides criminal penalties for homeowners whose trees cast shade on their neighbors’ solar panels. The couple became disillusioned after they were criminally prosecuted, forced to chop off the tops of the redwood trees in their back yard and paid more than $35,000 in legal fees.