SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Latest on action by the California Legislature (all times local):

3:15 p.m.

The California Assembly is taking one step to try to combat age discrimination in Hollywood amid ongoing criticism of the entertainment industry's alleged prejudices.

Legislators voted 71-4 to pass AB1687 to the Senate Thursday.

The bill would prohibit entertainment-industry employment websites from disclosing actors' ages or dates of birth without their consent.

Democratic Assemblyman Ian Calderon of Whittier says his proposal would give those people more control over their personal information.

Calderon's office contends some referral websites such as IMdB that provide job applicants' birthdates facilitate age discrimination.

The bill has no registered opposition.

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12 p.m.

California lawmakers are advancing a proposal to increase state penalties for violating vehicle air emission standards after Volkswagen was discovered to be cheating the environmental tests.

Members of the Assembly passed AB1685 on a 48-29 vote Thursday. Two Democrats joined Republicans in opposition.

The bill would increase California fines for selling a new car that violates emission standards from $5,000 per vehicle to $37,500 per violation.

Democratic Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles authored the bill in response to the emissions scandal that is projected to cost Volkswagen more than $30 billion.

Volkswagen admitted in September that it installed software on 11 million cars that turns on pollution controls during government tests and shuts them off on the road.

AB1685 would not apply retroactively to the Volkswagen case.

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11:35 a.m.:

The California Assembly has unanimously approved legislation that attempts to give state lawmakers more oversight of the controversial high-speed rail project.

AB2847 by Republican Assemblyman Jim Patterson of Fresno would require rail officials to explain major changes to the business plan, including to the cost, scope and schedule of each segment.

Lawmakers passed it out of the Assembly Thursday, sending it to the Senate.

The rail project's cost is currently pegged at $64 billion and calls for the first segment to run from the Central Valley to Silicon Valley.

The state legislative analyst has called for more oversight of the project and has also urged lawmakers to be added to the board overseeing the project. It's currently staffed by appointees who are largely favourable to the project.

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10:40 a.m.:

The California Assembly has overwhelmingly approved a proposal requiring local police departments to report how many rape kits they collect and give a reason for every kit that goes untested.

Lawmakers voted 72-0 to pass AB1848 Thursday, sending it to the Senate.

Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu of San Francisco says there's a significant backlog of rape kits in California, but there's a shortage of data and explanations.

Chiu says untested samples re-traumatize victims and allow assailants to go free.

Five previous bills attempting to decrease the logjam would have forced police to test the kits more quickly. Those bills died after police testified they do not have enough resources to test everything.

Legislative analysts have projected Chiu's bill would cost police little money or time.

News from © The Associated Press, 2016