• On Feb. 20, U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) joined Anthony Foxx, the U.S. transportation secretary, and Mark Rosekind, the National Highway Traffic Safety administrator, in urging Congress to pass legislation requiring rental car agencies and used car dealers to fix safety defects before renting or selling vehicles subject to a recall. In 2012, Capps introduced legislation that would protect consumers by banning rental car companies from renting or selling vehicles under safety recall. The bill was introduced after two sisters from Ojai were killed in a car accident while driving a rented Chrysler PT Cruiser that had been recalled for a power steering hose defect. According to a press release from Capps’ office: “The rental company received the recall notice from the manufacturer, but failed to get the car fixed,” and “because of the defect, the car caught fire on Highway 101, causing a loss of steering and a head-on collission with a semi-trailer truck.” The press release added that the mother of the sisters, Cally Houck, has worked since then to get legislation passed banning rental car companies from renting recalled vehicles to consumers. “Every vehicle under an open safety recall should be repaired as soon as possible,” Secretary Foxx said in the press release. “Requiring rental car agencies and used car dealers to fix defective vehicles before renting is a common-sense solution that would make our roads safer. Safety advocates and the rental car industry have taken a stand for safety, and we need Congress to do so as well.”
• On Feb. 24, Democratic members of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus announced plans to introduce legislation that addresses the wage gap that women face at work. State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), who chairs the caucus, introduced SB 358, which would strengthen California’s equal pay laws to ensure that women are paid equally for work that is comparable to their male colleagues. A press release from the cuacus said, “Women continue to make less than men for doing similar work,” adding that in 2013, a woman working full time in California made a meadian of 84 cents to every dollar a man earned. “The gap is significantly greater for women of color,” the release said. State Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins said in the release that equal pay for equal work is long overdue. “Equal pay for equal work is economic justice and basic common sense,” she said. “California is facing worker shortages in key sectors of our economy, and we have to do everything we can to get more women working in these fields, particularly our vital technology industry.”
This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 5, 2015.
