SACRAMENTO A trial lawyer-backed bill that sought to reassert class action rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2011 ruling in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion died in legislative committee on Tuesday.
Two Democrats on the Assembly Judiciary Committee, Toni Atkins of San Diego and Alyson Huber of El Dorado Hills, joined with the Republican minority to block Senate Bill 491 in its first legislative hearing. With a deadline looming to hear all bills in policy committees by Friday, Tuesday’s committee defeat likely marks the end of the line for SB 491 in 2012. The bill’s author, Senator Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, would have to engage in significant end-of-session maneuvering to revive it.
