• Noreen's View: Global Warming Solutions
  
• Your Legislator at Work
• An Eye on Legislation
• An Eye on the Governor
• Legislature Passes State Budget
• Veronica Bethel Stone Joins Noreen's Staff in Vallejo
• Meals on Wheels Breaks Ground in Santa Rosa
• Napa Mobilizes to Help Children in Afghanistan
• Transportation Summit 2006

NOREEN'S VIEW: GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTIONS

Our nation’s debate on global warming is breaking into new territory. I am proud to say California is leading the way to confront this problem threatening our planet.

Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court agreed to consider whether the federal government must regulate emissions that cause global warming. If the Court responds in the affirmative, and I certainly hope that it does, it means that bold new steps must be taken at the national level to fight global warming.

While this prospect is very exciting, it is long overdue. I am proud to say that California is not waiting around for it to happen. That’s never been our style.

I strongly believe that we owe it to ourselves, our children, and our world to confront global warming because it threatens our air quality, water supply, public health, and economy.

A new report by the National Academy of Sciences revealed that the Earth is the hottest that it has been in as much as the last 2,000 years. It also found that human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming. As one of the world’s largest emitters of pollutants that cause global warming, California has a moral obligation to lead in solving this problem.

California ranks third among states in emissions that cause global warming, behind Texas and Florida. But if emissions from out of state power plants that provide us with were included, California would be the largest emitter in the nation. That translates into the twelfth largest emitter in the entire world.

So, how is California leading the world in confronting global warming?

Last year, my colleagues and I in the State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. If passed by the Senate and signed into law by the Governor, it will institute a cap on global warming emissions in California and reduce them to 1990 levels by 2020. This will create a new market for and new jobs geared to the development of clean technologies that reduce global warming pollution. That’s a win-win scenario for California.

Just days ago, the legislature concluded a years-long debate about the installation of solar panels on a million homes across California through Senate Bill 1, also known as the “Million Solar Roofs Initiative.” This legislation will work in tandem with a $3.2 billion solar program through the Public Utilities Commission to install 3,000 megawatts of solar power by 2017. In so doing, it will reduce our dependence on energy sources that cause global warming, help insulate our energy market from volatility, and secure California’s position as a global leader in solar energy.

These initiatives are an exciting and innovative start for the work ahead to find solutions to stem the causes of global warming in our state. But we have our work cut out for us, considering that global warming emissions have increased by 85% between 1960 and 2001 in California.

Despite the underlying trends reflected in these numbers, we must never forget that all great movements for change come with good first steps that build momentum. That is what we have coming together in California, perhaps even in our nation. And, with our desire to lead and our capacity for innovation in California, I strongly believe that we have the tools to get the job done.

YOUR LEGISLATOR AT WORK

In the wake of the June primary election, when voter turnout was a mere 28 percent, Californians may need some encouragement to go to the polls.

The good news is that there are several new and innovative ideas working their way through the legislature that might help by restoring faith in our election system. I am proud to author one of these bills, Assembly Bill (AB) 2460.

This legislation was inspired by a problem associated with Proposition 77 last year, which would have shifted the drawing of election districts from the Legislature to a three-member panel of retired judges. The problem was that proponents of the measure solicited voter signatures for their initiative petition using a text that was different than what was submitted to the Attorney General to launch the petition drive. AB 2460 will establish some common sense safeguards in the initiative process to ensure that what the voters are signing is what they will see on the ballot.

My legislation requires:

• the Attorney General to transmit the text, title, and summary of an initiative to the Secretary of State upon issuance; and
  
• an initiative’s proponents to submit two copies of the proposed petition to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State will compare the text in the petition with the text submitted to the Attorney General before the petition is circulated for signatures.
  

If, after all the signed petitions are submitted, the title, summary and text on signed petitions are not identical to those originally approved by the Secretary of State, those signatures will be invalidated.

If AB 2460 is signed into law, it will help protect and ensure the will of the voters when signing an initiative petition or voting on an initiative. All Californians have a stake in this.

AN EYE ON LEGISLATION

One person, one vote is the core principle of our democracy, except when it comes to the presidential election.

Under the current system, all of California’s electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who receives the most popular votes within our state. Our state is not alone: 47 other states have the same electoral system in place. But it has serious disadvantages; primarily that it creates “safe” states and “battleground” states.

The consequence of this is that presidential candidates focus their campaigns on the handful of battleground states and their priorities at the expense of the other two-thirds of the country. This adversely affects voter interest and turnout in most states.

Concerns about the current system have led to a national movement that would implement a nationwide popular vote. This can be accomplished if the states join together to pass identical state laws awarding all of their electoral votes to the presidential candidate receiving the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The proposed state legislation in California, Assembly Bill 2948, would come into effect only when it has been enacted, in identical form, by enough states with sufficient electoral votes to elect a president. If successful, the new system will ensure that the presidential candidate who receives the most votes throughout the country is assured of being elected.

As a result, presidential candidates will need to pay more attention to the issues of importance to California, as opposed to only concentrating on a few select states.

For more information about this legislation and the national movement, please visit www.nationalpopularvote.com.

AN EYE ON THE GOVERNOR

ACTIVITIES:

On June 30, the Governor signed the state budget for California.

On June 26, the Governor called a special session of the state legislature, starting on June 27th, to address prison crowding and recidivism.

On June 22, the Governor signed an executive order to expand state wide firefighter efforts and to protect local communities from wildland fires.

On June 6, the Governor declared a state of emergency in the coastal counties of Northern California due to restrictive new federal regulations put in place on the commercial salmon industry.

On June 1, the Governor reached an agreement with President Bush to send 1,000 California National Guard troops to support the President’s deployment of the guard to the United States/Mexico border. The deployment will last from July 15, 2006 to December 31, 2008.

For further information about the Governor, please visit www.governor.ca.gov.

LEGISLATURE PASSES STATE BUDGET

On June 27, 2006, the state legislature passed a budget for California that was signed by the Governor on June 30th. The following is a basic breakdown of how this budget provides funding for key issues to our state and our community:

• K-12 Education – $40.5 billion provided in total. $500 million will support arts, music, and physical education. $426 million to support Proposition 49 after school programs. $100 million will expand state preschool programs.
  
• Higher Education – $11.3 billion provided in total. $125 million provided to assure that fees for students enrolled in the University of California and California State University campuses remain at current levels. $40 million provided for career technical education equipment at community colleges. $4 million provided to assure that students have office hour access whether their instructor is full-time faculty or not.
  
• Health and Human Services – $29 billion provided in total. $9 million provided for controlling West Nile Virus. Directs state to stockpile treatments for a potential outbreak of Pandemic Influenza. $75 million provided to enable children in our foster care system to receive better care and receive new services when emancipated as young adults, including financial aid for higher education.
  
• Resources and Environmental Protection – $2.6 billion provided in total. $250 million provided for maintenance needs at our state parks. $14 million for salmon and steelhead habitat restoration. $30 million provided to hire and retain new game wardens. $9 million provided for fish hatcheries. $100 million provided for state share of local flood project costs. $31.5 million for alternative fuels development.
  
• Transportation – $1.4 billion provided to fully fund Proposition 42 for road maintenance. $1.4 billion provided to repay Proposition 42 suspension in 2003-04 and a partial repayment of the 2004-2005 suspension.
  
• Local Interest – $10 million to the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District to help keep Napa’s flood project on schedule. $3.8 million to establish a new Alzheimer’s and Dementia Unit and $8.3 million to renovate the recreation building at the Yountville Veterans Home. $1.3 million funding increase to help the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission to expedite wetlands restoration, improve public access to the bay, and improve commerce around the bay.

For further information, please refer to an analysis conducted by the Assembly Budget Committee online at http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/newcomframeset.asp?committee=4.

VERONICA BETHEL STONE JOINS NOREEN'S STAFF IN VALLEJO

I am pleased to announce that Veronica Bethel Stone recently joined my staff to serve as a field representative in my Vallejo District Office.

As a field representative, Veronica will represent me at meetings and events throughout Solano County. She will also assist constituents with a variety of concerns when government and community resources can lend a helping hand.

Veronica is a Vallejo native and daughter of Jesse Bethel for whom the City of Vallejo has named one of its high schools. Prior to joining my staff, she most recently served as a K-12 substitute teacher in Vallejo Unified School District. She was also a business owner.

Long active in her community, Veronica has served on numerous boards and commissions addressing affordable healthcare for children, healthcare access, land use, education, and small business development.

MEALS ON WHEELS BREAKS GROUND IN SANTA ROSA

The Sonoma County Council on Aging broke ground for the new Meals on Wheels kitchen to be constructed at 2350 Santa Rosa Avenue. The 10,000 square foot kitchen will be used to serve the Sonoma County’s growing senior population and will have the capacity to serve 2,500 meals per day. That’s 1,500 more meals per day than can be produced in the current kitchen.

The new facility will also be equipped to handle high capacity food delivery, preparation, and have a separate packaging and storage areas. The groundbreaking event celebrated the community’s support for the new kitchen and the continued commitment of local leaders to providing for the longevity and health of Sonoma County’s seniors.

Further information is online at http://www.councilonaging.com/newkitchencapitalcampaign/.

NAPA MOBILIZES TO HELP CHILDREN IN AFGHANISTAN

When people in Napa heard about the deplorable conditions for children in war torn Afghanistan and the dire situation of their schools, they generously donated school supplies to help out.

It started when Napa’s own Army Major Patrick Burke, stationed in Baghram, had befriended some of the children and visited their school which, in his words, was basically four walls, a roof, and a dirt floor which was used as a chalkboard by a very creative teacher.

He reported this situation to Laurie Puzo, my field representative in Napa, who worked with members of our community – such as the County office of Education, the California Highway Patrol, and local businesses and individuals throughout the Napa Valley – to help. Word quickly spread and, within days, the supplies were accumulating in my Napa district office.

But we soon found a big logistical hurdle in front of us: how would we ship all of these supplies to Afghanistan? Most conventional courier companies do not operate in Afghanistan and those that do charge thousands of dollars. The answer was Roots of Peace, an organization that goes into war torn countries and helps communities rebuild their lives through planting crops, business development, and school construction. Because of their help, 500 Afghani children now have the tools to improve their lives and the future of their country.

We will continue to help these children. This fall, we are planning an event with Roots of Peace in Napa to raise the awareness of how we can further help Afghani children.

TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT 2006

I applaud the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce for helping educate North Bay residents about transportation issues in our community during its first annual Transportation Summit on June 21, 2006.

This well attended event featured speakers from many organizations, such as the Sonoma County Transportation Agency, the California Alliance for Jobs, and the Bay Area Council, who discussed the pros and cons of our current transportation systems and various means to improve them in the future.

The day focused on three ballot measures that will be going before North Bay voters in November:

• Proposition 1a. Prohibits the state sales tax on gas from being used for any purpose other than transportation improvements.
  
• Proposition 1b. Provides $19.9 billion for a spectrum of transportation projects and improvements to existing transportation systems.
  
• Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART). Authorizes a ¼ cent sales tax to fund a 70+ mile rail corridor that stretches from Cloverdale to Larkspur.
  

I encourage other groups to organize events on these and other important issues in our community.

Further information about Propositions 1a and 1b, please visit http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_j.htm#2006General. Further information about SMART, please visit http://www.sonomamarintrain.org.