On May 17, the California Senate Elections Committee abruptly suspended a hearing on AB 583, the California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act, reportedly because Senator Gloria Romero (D) left the capitol.
"The official word," states the Greenlining Institute in a news release, "is that Senator Romero, who usually has perfect attendance at Senate Elections Committee hearings, was attending the University of California Board of Regents meeting instead. Senator Romero is not a member of the Board of Regents."
Continues the press release, "It appears that Senator Romero, who says she opposes AB 583 on civil rights grounds, didn’t want to hear testimony from several leading civil rights advocates planning to testify in support of the bill."
The Senate Elections Committee may take up the bill again in late June. In January, the House approved AB583 by a vote of 47 to 31.