Assembly

• Assembly Bill 2286 (AB 2286), formerly Assembly Bill 316 (AB 316), is part of the CARS package that the Teamsters are advocating for in Sacramento, alongside Senate Bill 915.
• We cannot allow driverless vehicles weighing ten times that of a robotaxi onto our roads without a human operator.
• The AV human operator bill was first introduced by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D - Winters) in January 2023 and received overwhelming bipartisan support in the legislature, with more than 90 percent of California lawmakers voting in favor of the legislation.
• "The autonomous trucking industry has cast this bill as a ban on technology when it explicitly states that testing and deployment will happen with a Human Safety Operator.

• SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- To protect public safety and good jobs, the Teamsters and California lawmakers will announce the reintroduction of the autonomous vehicle (AV) human operator bill at a rally on Monday, February 12, at 2pm PT.
• AB 2286, formerly Assembly Bill 316, requires a trained human operator behind the wheel of self-driving trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds, putting safety first while preserving hundreds of thousands of good-paying trucking jobs.
• Earlier this month, the Teamsters held a rally to announce the introduction of SB 915, a bill that would give California's local municipalities more authority over AV regulation.
• The growing statewide support for AV safety measures comes as Waymo seeks to expand its robotaxi operations in California .

• Democratic member-based organizations like labour unions, co-operatives, student unions and recreational clubs play profound roles in society.
• Whether building community, driving social change or grappling with shared challenges around work, childcare and learning, these organizations offer opportunities to advance members’ interests through localized democracy.
• Yet despite their representative reputations, these organizations often struggle to maintain vibrant, effective democracy.

Challenges with achieving democracy

• Democratic member-based organizations commonly structure their democracy around two core bodies: an elected board of directors and general assemblies open to the entire membership.
• General assemblies’ responsibilities often include holding the board accountable, discussing shared concerns and proposing and agreeing on resolutions.
• Those of the board of directors often include overseeing the organization’s management, preparing items for consideration at the general assembly and implementing approved decisions.

Mini-publics as a promising solution

• A mini-public brings together a microcosm of a particular population — selected through a democratic lottery — to learn and deliberate about one or more topics in a supported environment.
• Twelve students were selected through a stratified lottery that accounted for self-identified characteristics like gender, fee status and race.

• Compared to self-selected general assemblies and elected boards of directors, mini-publics’ use of lotteries engages significantly more diverse groups of participants.
• Participants can also emerge with new skills, confidence and a heightened desire to contribute to the organization in other ways.

Making use of mini-publics

• While mini-publics have been capitalized on by governments around the world, their potential has typically been overlooked by member-based organizations.
• Yet there are many ways these organizations could use them to complement their existing board of directors and general assembly.
• First, mini-publics could be used to evaluate specific resolutions regarding strategic plans, financial and sustainability reports and nominees for the board of directors.

Simon Pek's contributions to the research projects referred to in this article are partially funded through his President's Chair award. Jeffrey Kennedy was formerly at Queen Mary, University of London's School of Law as a Senior Lecturer, with relevant work there funded by internal grants, including the QM Impact Fund Award and Westfield Fund for Enhancing the Student Experience Grant.

• NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- World Trade Centers Association® (WTCA®) — an international trade organization connecting more than 300 World Trade Center® (WTC®) locations in nearly 100 countries — and World Trade Center Bengaluru will host the 54th annual WTCA Global Business Forum (GBF) in Bengaluru, India from March 3-6.
• This will be the first time WTCA presents its newly rebranded Global Business Forum (formerly called the "General Assembly") in India to focus on the B2B aspect of the event.
• The association's premier annual event will bring together WTCA Members and their global networks consisting of leaders in business, government, academia, media and international organizations — reflecting WTCA's diverse global footprint.
• "India is experiencing rapid economic growth, coupled with a surging demand for commercial infrastructure and global business connectivity.