As home to 70% of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies, California is positioned at the forefront of innovation. With that position comes a responsibility to take the lead on sensible AI regulation. Moving forward, California must continue to lead on AI advancements, but we should also follow the example set by the European Union, which recently passed the AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive AI law. On Tuesday, however, President Donald Trump rescinded President Joe Biden’s AI Executive Order, which aimed to reduce risks to consumers, workers and national security posed by AI technology. Now, with a divided Congress, little can be expected of Washington on this front in the foreseeable future. Working cooperatively with the European Union, California must step up to set a model that will guide international technology conglomerates and protect consumers.

California’s Proposition 36 is a compelling story about how Californians respond when feeling unsafe and ignored by their elected representatives. It is also a near-perfect example of how Californians have repeatedly responded to crime via initiative.  This started with the strict Three Strikes initiative passed in 1994, was followed by the more lenient Proposition 47 in 2014, and most recently by the more-balanced approach of Proposition 36. As fentanyl poisoning deaths exploded, news footage of smash and grabs became routine, and deodorant was shelved under lock and key – Californians again reacted strongly this November.  Proposition 36 was approved in every California county and had the highest percentage of support for all ballot measures. To prove that voters meant what they said, they also unelected several progressive district attorneys.  Those of us charged with the duty to keep our constituents safe now have a choice to make. We can assume that nearly 70% of voters were wrong-headed about their support of Proposition 36 or we can look to the mandate and spirit of the measure and answer the call to protect Californians.

The Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) is proud to announce the distinguished recipients of its highly coveted 2025 annual awards. LACBA will celebrate the following three exceptional individuals for their outstanding achievements and remarkable contributions to the legal community at its Installation and Awards Dinner on Friday, June 20, 2025, at the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Proposition 36 will be less expensive to enforce than critics have claimed – and the state will pick up the tab.  That was Sen. Tom Umberg’s message while speaking to a conference of nurses and public health officials in Sacrament on Wednesday. “I say this without seeing exactly how the Senate’s going to respond to the budget, but I think it’s a state responsibility,” the Santa Ana Democrat said of the tough-on-crime measure passed by over 68% of California voters in November. “I don’t think it’s a county responsibility.”  Umberg added, “I think that there are some exaggerated estimates as to what the additional costs may be.”

Many of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrectionists are free from criminal charges, courtesy of a mass pardon from Trump, but they are not free to serve in the California National Guard, a state lawmaker said in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom last week. Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, a retired U.S. Army colonel, sent a letter to the governor reminding him that SB 901, which Newsom signed last September, gives Newsom the power to “to refuse entry of any of the convicted January 6th Insurrectionists from commission or enlisting in the California National and State Guards.” Umberg called Trump’s pardon “gravely concerning.” Trump has called the Capitol rioters “hostages” and has said that they were the victims of a politicized U.S. Department of Justice. Rioters injured more than 140 police officers in their attack on the Capitol, according to NBC News. “Those who would violate their oaths to the Constitution by violently attempting to overturn the results of a legitimate election by the people should not be allowed to defend it. Moreover, we should not use taxpayer money to train them in the use of lethal force,” Umberg wrote in the letter.

Democratic lawmakers were flanked by (adoptable!) puppies as they announced new legislation meant to block the flow of neglected dogs into the state. California prohibited retail stores from selling animals like dogs, cats, and rabbits in 2017. This was to help end the puppy mill industry, where dogs are bred en masse, leading them to be born and raised in filthy and neglected conditions.

Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange) and Assemblymembers Marc Berman (D- Menlo Park) and Steve Bennet (D-Ventura) came together on the west steps of the Capitol to introduce three bills targeting the underground pet market in California uncovered by the LA Times last fall. They were joined by animal advocates and two five-month-old puppies from Sacramento County Animal Services.

The San Diego Humane Society has joined with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to sponsor three bills to end the practice of puppy mills. Puppy milling, also called puppy farming, is the practice of breeding dogs for profit while disregarding the health and well-being of the dogs being bred. The practice is already illegal in California, but legal ambiguities ensure the practice exists.