Political Watch 1/30/14

• The Lompoc Valley Democratic Club is having its Feb. 5 meeting at 7 p.m. in the club’s new office at 104 South H St. Raymundo Maya, an area insurance agent, will headline the night’s program by discussing the Affordable Care Act. Maya will also showcase how enrollment is completed on the Covered California website. The presentation will be done in both English and Spanish. For more information, call 291-3007.

• U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) was joined by James Brabeck, president and chief executive officer of Farm Supply Company in San Luis Obispo County, in attending President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Jan. 28. Members of Congress are given one ticket to invite a guest of their choice to attend the annual address. Guests are seated in the Gallery of the House of Representatives chamber, where the address is given before a Joint Session of Congress. Capps said in a press release that she was delighted Brabeck was set to join her in attending the State of the Union. “He has been a dedicated leader in our community for many years and it is an honor to have him present for the President’s annual address,” Capps said in the press release, which was sent out on Jan. 24.

• California Gov. Jerry Brown gave his annual State of the State address on Jan. 20. It was a short speech, totaling about 17 minutes of talking, during which he said California has come a long way since the recession. Brown spoke of locking a rainy day fund into the state’s constitution, and new challenges facing teachers in the state, namely the newly established Local Control Funding Formula, which changes the way schools are funded, and Common Core standards, which change the way core subjects are taught and tested. Brown also spoke of the drought, and asked for progress to be made on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. The plan calls for two tunnels to be built around the Delta to bring water from the Sacramento River to the California Aqueduct and south. “It’s a tall order, but it’s what we must do to get us to the end of this drought and prepare for the next one,” Brown said. “We can take this drought as a stark warning of things to come.”

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