FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — California bill aimed at preventing registered sex offenders from holding local elected office was halted Tuesday after a Senate committee declined to advance the measure without changes opposed by its author.

Assembly Bill 2753, introduced by Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria in February, would have prohibited anyone who is or has been required to register as a sex offender from running for local elective office.

“This issue is critical. We have heard loud and clear from the community that we must do something,” Soria said.

The proposal came to a stop in the Senate Elections Committee, where lawmakers argued the bill’s restrictions were too broad.

California’s sex offender registration system is divided into three tiers. Tier 1 offenders are generally required to register for 10 years, Tier 2 offenders for 20 years and Tier 3 offenders for life.

According to Soria, committee members proposed limiting the bill to Tier 3 offenders. She rejected those amendments, arguing that the legislation should apply more broadly.

“For this not to be the law today, where we’re banning people that have committed some of the most horrific crimes against children, against other people, you know, and we have survivors out there, I think it’s a disservice,” Soria said.

The bill had attracted significant support before reaching the Senate. It was backed by the Fresno City Council and passed the Assembly floor in April.

Fresno City Council President Nelson Esparza traveled to Sacramento to testify in favor of the measure and said he was disappointed by the outcome.

“I call it really a gut punch for our community, and what we had experienced here, and sort of the upheaval… I don’t think we want that to happen again here at Fresno,” Esparza said.

Esparza referenced controversy earlier this year involving registered sex offender Rene Campos, who sought a seat on the Fresno City Council but ultimately did not qualify for the ballot.

Opponents of the bill argued that candidacies should be decided by voters rather than restricted by law.

“It should be a decision made by the voters, so a person should not be barred from running for office and let the voters make the decision that makes the most sense for them,” said civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci.

With the committee declining to move the bill forward under its current language, efforts to enact the proposed restrictions have stalled for now.

Gov. Josh Green may block the Legislature’s intended deposit into the state’s “rainy day” fund for a third time in four years.

Green announced on Friday that he intends to veto a bill that lawmakers passed in May to put $50 million of state general fund revenue next fiscal year into Hawaii’s Emergency and Budget Reserve Fund.

The legislation to make such a deposit was one of four bills that Green said he may veto from among 267 bills the Legislature passed this year. The governor plans to further analyze some of the four bills before making a final decision, and has until July 15 to veto any of the four bills or they will become law.

Green said in a statement that it would be financially imprudent to sock away $50 million in general fund money when the reserve fund has a record balance over $1.5 billion while other high-priority needs exist.

Priorities cited by the governor were disaster- recovery efforts, affordable- housing development, lowering the cost of living for residents and reducing unfunded state liabilities that include pension obligations.

If Green vetoes the rainy day fund deposit measure, Senate Bill 2600, it would be the only major funding appropriation vetoed this year. The governor on Friday signed the state budget bill, House Bill 1800, without using his line-item veto power to strike any appropriations.

SB 2600 was expected to boost the fund’s estimated balance to about $1.67 billion from around $1.62 billion. But Green has previously opted to keep more state revenue available for future uses by nixing deposits into the reserve fund.

In 2023, Green vetoed a $500 million rainy day fund appropriation after a projection for state revenue growth was reduced shortly after lawmakers passed the budget bill.

Then in 2024, the governor vetoed a $300 million appropriation for the fund, saying that the state should be preserving its cash reserves instead of boosting the reserve fund’s balance beyond $1.5 billion.

Hawaii’s Constitution requires that some amount of revenue be deposited into one or more of three places whenever there is at least a 5% general fund surplus in two successive fiscal years. The options are the rainy day fund, pocketbooks of Hawaii taxpayers and a trust fund to pay for future retirement benefits of Hawaii government workers.

To fulfill the constitutional requirement in 2024, $1 deposits were made into the two funds.

The state’s cash balance is projected to be $1.88 billion at the end of this fiscal year on June 30, down from $2.12 billion a year earlier.

Without any additional deposits, the rainy day fund is projected to grow to $1.93 billion in the 2031 fiscal year from $1.62 billion at the end of this fiscal year, or by $300 million due to interest income.

The other three bills that Green may veto include one to form a commission recommending consolidation or closure of inefficiently operating public schools, one that would affect how the head of a teacher standards board is selected, and one that would affect employment at three state agencies.

HB 2344 would establish the Public School Realignment and Closure Commission modeled after a federal commission that recommended the consolidation or closure of unneeded military bases. Green said the state Board of Education and Department of Education already have authority and responsibility for such a task that may be duplicated by the proposed commission with no benefit.

SB 3262 would require that the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board submit three nominees for its executive director for selection by the BOE subject to advice and consent of the state Senate. Green said additional evaluation is needed to assess, in part, whether such a change creates ambiguity regarding governance and accountability.

SB 2338 would affect employment at the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., the Hawaii Community Development Authority and the Hawaii Public Housing Authority in part by limiting the salary of the HHFDC and HCDA directors to 99% of the governor’s salary. The bill also would establish conditions for employment contracts at all three agencies. Green said it may be possible to make changes sought under the bill administratively, and that more review is needed to determine that.

“Our assessments are guided by sincere dedication to our community, taking each opinion into consideration, with the goal of making decisions that truly reflect what is best for Hawaii,” Green said.

The governor added that putting four bills on his intent-to-veto warning list followed an extensive legal and fiscal analysis, and reflects collaboration and hard work between the Legislature, his administration and community stakeholders.

Last year, Green vetoed nine bills after vetoing 11 in 2024 and 13 in 2023.

The Legislature can override any vetoes with a two-thirds majority vote if the House and Senate call for a special session. However, Senate President Ron Kouchi (D, Kauai-Niihau) announced on Friday that the Senate does not intend to convene a special override session.