• Gov. Jerry Brown delivered his last “State of the State” address on Jan. 25 in Sacramento, opening with statistics on California’s economic improvement since the Great Recession, and thanked Democrats and Republicans in the state Senate and Assembly for passing pension reform, workers’ compensation reform, the water bond, the rainy day fund, and the extension of the state’s cap-and-trade program. Brown also addressed recent natural disasters, including the Montecito mudslides and Thomas Fire, saying they “show us how much we are affected by natural disasters and how we can rise to the occasion—at the local level, at the state level, and with major help from the federal government.” Brown said that the mudslides and wildfires were a “profound and growing challenge,” linking them to climate change, and saying he would convene a task force of scientists and “forest practitioners” to review how to manage forests in California. “We have to be ready with the necessary firefighting capability and communication systems to warn residents of impending danger,” he said. “We also have to manage our forests—and soils—much more intelligently.”
• After reports that President Donald Trump ordered his chief counsel to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) issued a statement saying that attempts to fire Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would be “a blatant move to subvert the law.” “Justice Department regulations still prohibit the firing of Special Counsel Mueller without good cause, and to do so would be a fundamental violation of the rule of law,” Feinstein said in the statement. “It’s very unfortunate that this president doesn’t respect the law or the Constitution, and if he fires Bob Mueller, I expect Congress won’t stand for it and will take action.”
• Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) and Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Detroit Lakes), the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, will hold a listening tour regarding the Farm Bill, including a stop in Santa Maria on Feb. 1 from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Santa Maria Fairpark, 937 S. Thornburg St. “The Central Coast provides families across the nation with nutritious food, and we must even the playing field for our local producers,” Carbajal said in a statement. “It is essential that specialty crop block grants and programs that Central Coast growers depend on are well-funded. It is equally important that this bill includes support for SNAP and nutrition assistance programs, which are such vital lifelines for low-income children and seniors on fixed incomes.”
• Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-Templeton) spoke at the San Luis Obispo County Courthouse on Jan. 26 to announce new legislation to combat human trafficking on the Central Coast. “Highway 101 is a trafficking corridor. This puts San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties on the frontlines of the fight against trafficking” Cunningham said. “However, our position places us in a unique position to save lives. I’m committed to stopping the corridor and strengthening our community.” The proposed legislation includes AB 1735, which would extend 10-year protective restraining orders to victims of human trafficking, pandering, and pimping; AB 1736 would allow victims’ prior statements to be introduced at trial even if they were inconsistent with later statements, and allow the initial statements to be audio recorded rather than just video recorded; AB 1737 would synthesize six different theories of the legal definition of pandering into a single theory that comports with existing law; and AB 1738 would require registration as a tier 2 sex offender for an individual who is convicted of attempted or successful commission, soliciting, or engaging in an act of prostitution with another person who is a minor and also add the person to the Megan’s Law website. “This is a $150 billion global industry, and the stats on the depth of trafficking are sobering,” Cunningham said among community leaders, advocates, and officials. “But as we can see here today, this is not a partisan issue.”
This article appears in Feb 1-8, 2018.