Amanda Simmons Testifies in Support of SB 1190 Before the Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee

On July 1, 2026, Amanda Simmons testified in support of Senate Bill 1190, the Safe Passage for Youth Act, at its second Assembly policy hearing — this one before the Committee on Communications and Conveyance, which has jurisdiction because the bill also amends section 5353 of the Public Utilities Code. The committee voted 9–0 to pass the bill as amended and re-referred it to the Committee on Appropriations. The bill was read a second time and amended on July 2.

That a child-protection bill requires a hearing before a committee more accustomed to telecommunications and transportation says something about how youth transport has been regulated in California: as a question of vehicles and routes rather than of child welfare. SB 1190 changes that framing. It brings licensing under the Department of Social Services while closing the gaps left by the existing carrier rules — so that a company transporting a child is held to standards written for children, not for freight.

Testifying at both policy committees meant making the same case in two different registers: to a child-welfare committee, why the trip is part of the placement; to a transportation committee, why the passenger changes the duty of care.

Source Links

•  Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee hearing — July 1, 2026. Amanda’s testimony at 1:00:16–1:09:48 (approx. 9.5 minutes). https://www.assembly.ca.gov/media/assembly-communications-and-conveyance-committee-20260701”

•  LegiScan bill history — legiscan.com/CA/bill/SB1190/2025