• Gov. Jerry Brown signed an official proclamation naming Jan. 22 a Day of Remembrance of the Montecito Mudslides, which ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff at the state Capitol. “As we remember those we lost in this disaster, we should also remember the injured, the missing, and the survivors who may need our help in rebuilding their lives and spirits,” the proclamation said.
• After the U.S. Senate agreed to a short-term bill to fund the government on Jan. 22 after three days of shutdown, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) released a statement in reply to criticism of Senate Democrats from President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans. “Closing the government isn’t something I take lightly,” she said. “But we’ve been debating the Dream Act for almost 20 years now, with constant opposition from Republicans. The solution is simple: allow a vote on the Dream Act as an amendment to a must-pass vehicle or lock in an iron-clad agreement that the Democratic caucus agrees with that would pass in the shortest time possible.” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) opposed the stopgap-spending bill, saying that any bill that didn’t address Dreamers was inadequate. “I refuse to put the lives of nearly 700,000 young people in the hands of someone who has repeatedly gone back on his word. I will do everything in my power to continue to protect Dreamers from deportation,” Harris said in a statement. “I will continue to work with my colleagues to find a long-term solution that supports members of our military and national security priorities, funds children’s health insurance and community health centers, provides resources for those recovering from disasters like the California wildfires, and guarantees a future for young immigrants who are as American as all of us.” Rep. Salud Carbajal had announced on Jan. 20 that he would donate his salary during the duration of the shutdown to the Direct Relief Mudslide Fund for Central Coast recovery efforts and the Adsum Education Foundation, which provides educational scholarships for Dreamers. “Members of Congress should not be held to a different standard than thousands of government employees who will go without pay during this shutdown,” he said in a statement.
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) issued a statement on Jan. 22 noting the 45th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Roe v. Wade case, which decided abortion rights for women in the U.S. Feinstein said in a statement that President Donald Trump and his administration have put “a women’s right to make her own health care decisions under relentless attack,” and called for protections for women’s rights. “In the first year of the Trump administration, we’ve seen attempts to defund Planned Parenthood and restrict women’s access to birth control, legislation to ban certain medical procedures, the creation of new government offices to undermine women’s health care, and judges nominated who openly oppose women’s privacy rights,” she said. “I remember what it was like before Roe v. Wade. I know the lengths women took so they could make their own decisions regarding their health and their destiny. I know all too well just how dangerous it was before Roe v. Wade, and I’ll continue to fight to protect a woman’s hard-fought right to control her own body.”
• State Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-Templeton) criticized California’s high speed rail project on his official Facebook page while sharing a link to an LA Times article with the headline, “California bullet train cost surges by $2.8 billion.” “The Central Valley portion of High Speed Rail is now 77 percent more expensive than the original estimate,” Cunningham wrote in the post. “And they’re talking about coming back to the Legislature to ask for more taxpayer money? No thanks. High Speed Rail is gobbling up resources that could be used for needed infrastructure improvements that could benefit people throughout our state.”
This article appears in Jan 25 – Feb 1, 2018.