Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
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The Legislature just passed a budget for fiscal year 2021-22, and the Governor has until June 30 to sign it into law. Revisions are likely, and a series of “trailer bills” to fund specific programs will be considered over the coming months. More than $267 billion will be spent, including $195.5 billion from the General Fund. Positively, the budget increases funding for Special Education, including individuals with disabilities. More money for childcare will expand access and...
Providing relief and dignity to terminally ill patients suffering from extreme pain can run into legal and bureaucratic roadblocks. SB 311 (Hueso), bipartisan legislation that recently passed the Senate, may help. SB 311, known as Ryan’s Law, is named for Ryan Bartell, a terminally ill patient in Seattle who found that he was often unconscious because of opioids prescribed by his doctors to deal with his pain. He wanted to spend his remaining time with his 9-year-old son a...
I’m very proud to jointly author Assembly Bill 22 (AB 22) with Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D – Sacramento). AB 22 will phase in Transitional Kindergarten for all California four-year-olds by the 2032-33 school year. Transitional Kindergarten programs have a major positive impact on all participating students, including language skills for English learners and math skills for low-income students. Too many children enter kindergarten unprepared, but research shows that acc...
The Appropriations Committee can be a place where good bills go to die. But despite its reputation, some important legislation made it through Appropriations before the May 21 deadline. That includes two of my bills, AB 653, which creates a grant for substance use treatments in county jails and for those on supervised parole, and AB 22, a bill I jointly authored to phase in Transitional Kindergarten eligibility for all four-year-olds. Another important education bill, AB 498...
Access to broadband service is vital in today’s world and our rural north county area has a great need to improve access to the internet. Having a high-speed internet connection can make the difference when it comes to getting an education, a job, seeing a doctor or simply staying connected with family and friends. That’s why my caucus and I have long supported efforts to close the digital divide throughout California. A study commissioned by the California Public Uti...
COVID-19 has had a disproportionately severe impact on California’s low income, African American, Latino and Pacific Islander communities, as well as on essential workers such as those in the healthcare, grocery and cleaning service industries. That’s why I am proud to support Assembly Bill 1038 introduced by Assemblyman Mike Gipson (D – Carson). The bill establishes the California Health Equity Program within the Department of Public Health to provide grants supporting local...
On May 1st, the Women in California Leadership (WiCL) Foundation Minerva Scholarship program, now in its second year, will begin accepting online applications from eligible female students. The program was established to assist deserving female students by offering financial assistance to meet educational expenses. Eighty-four $2,500 Minerva Scholarships and one $10,000 Golden Minerva Scholarship will be awarded this year. In order to be eligible for scholarship consideration students must meet the following requirements: ...
May is National Military Appreciation Month, with several observances honoring our veterans and their families, including Military Spouse Appreciation Day on May 7, Armed Forces Day on May 15 and Memorial Day on May 31. Honoring the service and sacrifice of our active-duty military and our veterans is important, but supporting them means more than holidays or national commemorations. This session I am very pleased that members of my Caucus have introduced important...
As the constitutionally mandated June 15 deadline for passing a balanced budget nears, discussions in Sacramento about spending priorities are ramping up. California is facing a variety of challenges. First of all, we must get the economy up and running again, and we can use our budget surplus to help bring back jobs. Through additional investments in the Small Business Grant Program, and by targeting surplus revenues to reduce unemployment insurance debt for employers, we...
Devastation from California’s wildfires has been at record levels in recent years. Last year our wildfire season resulted in over 4 million acres burned in 9,600 fires – 31 people died. The economic costs to homeowners, utilities, ratepayers, insurers and local governments has been catastrophic. While electric utility infrastructure has accounted for less than 10% of wildfires historically, downed power lines have been responsible for about half of California’s most destr...
This year I am joining Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D – Arleta) to author Assembly Joint Resolution 5 (AJR 5), to urge the federal government to place a roundup moratorium on the state’s free-roaming horses and burros. Wild horses and burros can trace their North American origins way back, though current populations originated with more recent European settlement. From the 1600s to the early 1900s, California was an ideal habitat for hundreds of thousands of these mag...
Arbor Day is April 30, an observance that began in 1872 when the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture adopted a resolution creating a day set aside to plant trees. The holiday spread throughout the United States and is observed in many countries around the world. California’s observance is March 7, and coincides with the birthday of botanist Luther Burbank. Today, many communities organize tree-planting and litter-collecting events to coincide with the holiday. But whichever d...
The Employment Development Department has been mired in crisis for more than a year now. The massive backlog in unemployment claim processing hasn’t really budged, millions of daily calls go unanswered, fraud is rampant – estimated at $11 to $31 billion – and appeals can take over three months; the failure list is long. There’s plenty of blame to go around too. Former Governor Jerry Brown ignored a 2011 audit that pointed out EDD’s shortcomings, and new directives from the...
This year California observed Ag Day on March 22; a day we celebrate our state's unique contributions to the nation’s food supply. It’s also an opportunity for me to remind legislators from north of the Tehachapi Mountains that our region helps make California the country’s leading agricultural state. Agriculture is a major contributor to our economy. According to the 2019 Crop Report, California’s agricultural output generated $50 billion, with exports totaling $21.7 billion....
We all know, public safety was front and center last year, and will continue to be a big issue this year. This includes things like officer records, officer training, and oversight, to name a few. The COVID-19 outbreak within our prison system was not handled well, with well-reported outbreaks and deaths among prison staff, including correctional officers, and those incarcerated. In an attempt to reduce drug addiction and repeat offenses, one of my bills, AB 653, will create...
As co-chair of the Assembly Rare Disease caucus, I recognize the struggle of patients and their families living with rare diseases. Among these are almost 7,000 diseases and conditions considered rare, with 80% of those considered ultra rare. By definition, a disease is considered rare when it affects fewer than 200,000 people. Since only a relatively small number of people are involved, treatments for these diseases can be limited, have sky-high costs or are completely...
California’s 2020 wildfire season set back the state’s fight against climate change, putting more carbon dioxide into the air than millions of passenger vehicles driving over the course of a year. Almost 4.2 million acres burned from 9,600 fires, killing 31 people, and emitting an estimated 112 million metric tons of carbon dioxide according to a California Air Resources Board report released Dec. 31. We have to fight this growing threat, which is why my colleagues and I hav...
Last week I supported bi-partisan legislation signed by the Governor to mitigate the economic and social damage done by the long, state-imposed COVID-19 shutdowns. This legislative package, funded without new taxes from existing General Fund revenues, included a bill I co-authored to provide assistance for small businesses and nonprofits, many right here in our region. Thousands of businesses throughout California have seen their revenues plummet, with many forced into bankrup...
Lake Wohlford Dam is an important water storage, flood control and recreational facility that has served Escondido for generations. Restoring storage capacity and making it earthquake-safe is critically important, which is why I introduced AB 692. The dam was originally constructed in 1895 to store water transported via a wooden flume from the San Luis Rey River to Escondido. One of the first rock-fill dams in California, Lake Wohlford Dam was 76 feet high and had a storage...
The economic fallout from the pandemic has made it difficult for thousands of Californians to keep a roof over their heads. Early on, federal funding provided some assistance to renters and landlords alike, but many were unable to access that aid. More needed to be done. That’s why I joined my colleagues to pass Senate Bill 91, bipartisan legislation that was signed into law by Governor Newsom. The bill, which became effective Feb. 1, provides assistance to qualified landlords...
Wildfires are an ever-present threat in California. Last year was the worst on record with over 4.2 million acres burned. As we can all remember, local fires such as the Cedar, Witch, Cocos, Guejito, and Lilac fires have devastated this region as well. We’ve been spending billions trying to prevent and fight wildfires, but the situation has worsened. What we’ve been doing simply hasn’t worked. We need a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach to preventing wildfires, which...
The Governor has recently announced a partial reopening for many California businesses. The general stay-at-home order is rescinded, and most California counties are back in the “purple” tier, allowing personal services like barbershops and hair salons to reopen, while allowing restaurants to provide outdoor dining for their customers. These steps are welcomed, but I have concerns about how these decisions are made and what data is being used. We appear to be lurching fro...
California’s high cost of living, crumbling infrastructure, rising crime and constant threat of natural disasters always present challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has made matters worse by stressing ICU capacity, causing tragic loss of life, damaging our economy and robbing many students of a year’s education. During the upcoming budget discussions, I am urging the Governor to follow a path relying on science to best respond to the pandemic. More than 2.6 million people los...
COVID-19 has claimed the lives of about 1.8 million people worldwide, approximately 27,000 of which are right here in California. The virus captures our attention, while many other long-standing issues are ignored. We aren’t prepared for the next drought, wildfires pose an ever-increasing threat, and our insufficient power grid has led to rolling blackouts as a fire prevention tactic. Violent crime is rising, and our already-failing education system is in shambles after a...
On Jan. 1, hundreds of new laws went into effect. Many are non-controversial or have limited impact, but some will directly affect the lives of thousands of Californians. Among these are laws impacting businesses and employees. California’s minimum wage will increase to $14 for companies with 26 or more employees and $13 for smaller companies. California companies with five or more employees (instead of 50 or more) will now be required to provide 12 weeks of family leave. A...
