• The heavy rain (good) California’s been receiving for the last two months has caused serious flooding (not so good) to the point of damaging the Oroville dam, which came dangerously close to bursting. An evacuation order for more than 180,000 people came Feb. 12. On Feb. 23, California Sen. Kamala Harris (D) took an aerial tour of the dam with local public officials to survey damage and repair work. Previously, Harris and Diane Feinstein (D), California’s other senator, sent a letter to President Donald Trump calling on him to approve an emergency declaration for the counties affected by the dam. Trump approved the declaration, along with $162.3 million in emergency repair funding.
• On Feb. 19, California Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) announced that he reappointed Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), who represents the 19th Senate District in the California Legislature, as the chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management, a bicameral committee that oversees state disaster spending. Jackson has served as vice-chair of the committee for the last two years. The chair and vice-chair rotate every two years between the Senate and Assembly. Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez (D-Pomona) has recently been appointed to vice-chair. In the past, committee hearings have dealt with issues such as counterrorism, pandemics, fires, power outages, and climate change. Jackson’s appointment comes as the Oroville dam is damaged by heavy rains.
• On Feb. 17, Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) released his 2017 legislative agenda, which includes bills that support enhancing public safety, expanding the water supply, and improving small business in California. AB 903 would commission a study to explore creating a uniform standard for THC intoxication levels for motorists. Under AB 484, a person would be required to register as a sex offender if found guilty of rape “by threatening the use of the authority of a public official to incarcerate, arrest, or deport the victim of another.” AB 657 would require the state to fill a small business liaison vacancy in a state agency in six months and to publish contact information on the agency’s website. AB 996 would require the California State License Board to implement a website feature that would allow consumers and licensees to monitor worker’s compensation renewal applications. AB 457 would ask the state to conduct a feasibility study to repurpose the desalination facility of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant for local use. On the same token, AB 554 would establish a statewide goal to desalinate 300,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2025 and 500,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2030. AB 445 would ensure reliable funding for Career Technical Education by creating a permanent $300 million fund to help schools provide up-to-date classes for Claifornia’s job market. It also includes support for vocational education in community college. For increasing government transparency and accountability, AB 744 would require time-stamping a bill to ensure that the Legislature is in compliance with the “72-hour in print” rule in Proposition 54, and AB 1233 would establish a transportation inspector general position to oversee California’s transportation projects and bureacracy.
• On Feb. 23, Assemblywoman Monique Limon (D-Santa Barbara), supported House Resolution 20��”a resolution introduced by Assemblymembers Jose Medina (D-Riverside), Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), and Ron Bonta (D-Oakland)��”which encourages students to apply for the California DREAM Act. Limon said during a speech given to the Assembly: “More than anything, this is an investment in the promise of our high school students. I stand in support and also want to remind folks that the students that we’re talking about, the investments that we’re making, are students in all of our communities and students who have worked really hard to achieve their goals of higher education.”
This article appears in Mar 2-9, 2017.
