The bill prohibits a public animal control agency or shelter, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals shelter, humane society shelter, or rescue group from releasing a dog or cat to an owner seeking to reclaim it, or adopting out, selling, or giving away a dog or cat to a new owner, unless the dog or cat is or will be microchipped, as specified.

Joint authors, Assemblymembers Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield), and Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), and bill co-sponsors, Michelson Center for Public Policy and the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG), today announced the introduction of AB 403, the Fair Access to College Textbooks Act. The Act requires that higher education institutions entering into automatic billing agreements include consumer protection provisions for students.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today announced the new “California Digital Divide Innovation Challenge,” a global competition that will award up to $1 million to the boldest, most revolutionary proposals to eliminate the digital divide and expand high-speed internet access to all Californians.

Joint letter to U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (“FWS”) from Michelson Center for Public Policy, Animal Wellness Action, Animal Wellness Foundation, Center for a Humane Economy, and SPCA International providing notice to seek legal redress for FWS decision to remove gray wolves from the list of threatened or endangered species.

Joint letter to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from Michelson Center for Public Policy, Animal Wellness Action, Animal Wellness Foundation, Center for a Humane Economy, and SPCA International requesting intervention to address potential spread of COVID-19 by U.S.-based mink farms.

This venture joins other philanthropies, like the partnership between the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences, and the Pershing Square Foundation, which award prizes to young scientists who have the potential to transform the future of human health.