Two bills by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay) have been signed into law by Governor Brown. Both measures enjoyed bipartisan support in the Legislature.
“I’m pleased that these measures earned the support of the Governor,” said Stone. “These new laws will help streamline some governmental processes that could be more efficient and effective.” 
Under Assembly Bill 643, public schools will better serve foster youth by ensuring that the many services a foster youth receives are better coordinated. The new law helps ensure that state and local child welfare agencies can work closely with school staff and teachers to provide California’s faster youth with the educational support and services that they need to succeed at school. Specifically, it brings the Education Code into compliance with the federal Uninterrupted Scholars Act (USA) to allow state or local welfare agencies access to a foster youth’s educational records. This new law furthers a part of Stone’s primary agenda to improve educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth during his time in Sacramento.
AB 727 is a good government bill that streamlines the process by which harbor districts, marinas and ports, acquire state approval to perform maintenance-related dredging that is essential for the maintenance of the State’s navigation systems. The measure removes bureaucratic barriers while retaining appropriate government oversight, and it is designed to ensure that such needed maintenance will be performed in a more timely manner.
Both bills will take effect on January 1, 2014.