A flurry in the statehouse last week can only mean one thing: This year’s legislative session is wrapping up.

While the California Legislature doesn’t actually adjourn “sine die” — that’s a Latin term that means “without a day,” and it also signals the end of the legislative session — until Nov. 30, it’s today, Aug. 31, that closes out work. It’s the last day for the Assembly and the Senate to pass bills.

Sacramento Snapshot

Editor’s note: Sacramento Snapshot is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County’s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on — from committee work to bill passages and more.

That means it was a frenetic dash to the finish line last week for several priority bills for Orange County’s lawmakers, from an effort to strengthen local partnerships that help older adults to a measure re-establishing a statewide wildlife coexistence program, and much, much more.

Let’s take a look at what happened with just a few of Orange County legislators’ final week priorities.

Lawmakers agree on healthy aging

With strong bipartisan support, an effort to support local partnerships helping older Californians stay connected, healthy and independent moved out of the legislature and to the governor’s desk last week.

The bill from Sen. Steven Choi, R-Irvine, allows local health departments, community colleges, universities and other appropriate county departments to establish “healthy aging community partnership programs” geared at providing education and technology training, social connections and healthy living ideas to older adults.

These partnership programs are subject to local resources, Choi’s office said, and should not duplicate or replace existing community college adult education services.

“Our seniors deserve opportunities to continue learning, build friendships and remain active in their communities,” Choi said.

Wildlife coexistence program may be coming back

Among the bills sent to the governor last week was one that would re-establish a statewide wildlife coexistence program that ended in 2024 after funding expired. These programs, Sen. Catherine Blakespear’s office noted, help people keep a safe distance from wildlife and deter conflicts, as well as support efforts to remove and reduce trash, food and other things that could attract animals to unsafe areas.

Senate Bill 1135 establishes the California Wildlife Coexistence Act, and along with it, state policy requiring an emphasis on the safe coexistence of both humans and wildlife, according to the bill analysis.

It also requires the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to establish a program meant to help participants proactively and nonlethally deter wolf attacks on livestock.

“We need a wildlife coexistence program in California, so we can better protect communities, people and animals, both wild and domesticated,” said Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas who represents communities in southern Orange County.

Governor gets to signing

While lawmakers were busy making deals and pushing bills across the finish line, the governor was also busy signing a bevy of legislation into law that had already made it in front of him by last week.

By veteran Sacramento lobbyist Chris Micheli’s count: Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed more than 160 bills this year, with hundreds more due by the Sept. 30 deadline, Micheli said midday Friday.

Among the bills Newsom OK’d last week was a bipartisan effort that places a greater focus on suicide prevention efforts geared at boys and young men.

From Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, D-Anaheim, the bill directs the state’s Office of Suicide Prevention to explicitly focus efforts on boys and young men. This was a particular priority for the lawmaker this legislative session.

Back in February, when Valencia introduced the bill, he noted the Office of Suicide Prevention already places a focus on other groups that are also disproportionately impacted by suicide, including tribal populations, older adults, veterans and LGBTQ+ people.

“Young men and boys are sending us clear signals that they are struggling,” Valencia said then. “Suicide accounts for one of the leading causes of death for people aged 10 to 24, and four out of five youth suicides are male.”

Newsom, in announcing his signature on the bill, said too many young men are “struggling in silence.”

“We have to meet young people where they are, break down the stigma around asking for help and make sure they have the relationships, support and opportunities they need to thrive,” the governor said, adding the bill builds on work “to make sure boys and young men are seen, supported and connected before a crisis becomes a tragedy.”

Here are some other bills Newsom signed last week from Orange County’s representatives:

• Sen. Tony Strickland’s bill meant to help students make healthier daily choices got the governor’s approval. The Huntington Beach Republican’s bill, dubbed the Ready to Learn, Ready for Health Act, instructs the commission tasked with revising California public schools’ health education framework “to consider including information on evidence-based preventive health instruction, including information on nutrition, exercise, stress and sleep health, use of digital technology and environmental factors.”

• Speaking of education, Newsom also signed a bill from Assemblymember Laurie Davis, R-Laguna Niguel, directing the Department of Education to develop standardized e-bike safety and training programs for students in grades 7 through 12.

• Newsom signed legislation that ensures students enrolled in home school, independent study or public schools without a Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program can participate in another local education agency’s JROTC program, so long as they live within the attendance area of that agency. This puts state law in line with federal law, according to sponsor Sen. Bob Archuleta’s office.