EXCERPT: - A proposal to study seismic safety improvements for public schools - which won initial legislative support - quietly died in an Assembly committee during the last weeks of the legislative session. 

     A California Watch investigation last year found the (DSA) office routinely allowed children and teachers to occupy buildings with structural flaws and potential safety hazards reported during construction. More than 16,000 school projects across the state lack the required certification, with roughly 42,000 students in buildings with unresolved safety issues. ... 

     Earlier this year the state Senate approved SB 1271, which had garnered broad support from the school construction community. But the bill stalled in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Last month, outgoing Chairman Felipe Fuentes, D-Arleta, moved the measure to the committee's "suspense file," which is an internal process used by Assembly leaders to privately review expensive legislation.

     After the review, Fuentes' successor, Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, declined to move SB 1271 out of the suspense file, effectively killing the bill without taking a public vote. The bill was among several measures killed by the committee Aug. 16 without a vote.

     No reason was given for the decision. ...

To read the complete article please visit:  Californiawatch.org/dailyreport/assembly-kills-school-seismic-reform-measure-17825   

Link to SB 1271: http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_1251-1300/sb_1271_bill_20120223_introduced.html