Pleased to meet you.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1741, Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco’s “Safe at Home Act,” which allows prosecutors to charge certain sexual batteries committed after an unlawful residential entry as either a felony or misdemeanor. The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, which sponsored the bill, thanked the Assemblywoman for carrying it through the Legislature and said the change gives prosecutors greater flexibility to seek felony convictions in serious residential cases.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Friday expanding the ability of California community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees. One of the two measures, AB 2694, was authored by Assemblymembers David Alvarez and Blanca Pacheco. Together with SB 960, the new law replaces the existing prohibition on community-college bachelor’s programs that duplicate UC or CSU offerings with a framework based on regional workforce needs and college performance. The laws take effect Jan. 1, 2028.

The Legislature passed AB 2592 late Sunday, sending the measure to Gov. Gavin Newsom. The bill would bar lobbyists convicted of public corruption from lobbying for 12 years and transfer lobbyist ethics training to the FPPC. Assemblymembers Blanca Pacheco and Dawn Addis co-sponsored the legislation.

As a measured next step, Assembly Bill 1754, authored by Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, would require statewide bond measures to define clear objectives, establish meaningful ways to measure progress, and collect data to evaluate success and publicly report — in a simple-to-read format — whether those outcomes are being achieved. Think of it as a one-page report card.