Steven Choi

California Senate Democrats rejected a Republican effort by Sen. Suzette Valladares that sought to close what she called loopholes allowing those convicted of sex crimes against minors to seek public office. The issue concerns AB 2691, which attempts to add sexual assault and human trafficking convictions to the list disqualifying people from holding elected office. Concern was raised because the proposed law's current language only applies to Tier 3 offenders, exempting others.

California Senate Democrats rejected efforts by Republican Sen. Suzette Valladares to amend AB 2691, a proposal intended to disqualify people from public office convicted of certain sex crimes against minors. The proposed law originally aimed to ban such disqualifications but was amended to only cover tier three offenders, exempting tier one and tier two. California state Sen. Dawn Addis called the bill a "first in the nation" effort meant to protect survivors' trust.