• Noreen's View: Leading by Example
  
• Your Legislator at Work
• An Eye on Legislation
• An Eye on the Governor
• Labor to Neighbor
• Noreen Honors Doctors at Napa Medical Society Awards
• Alive at 25
• Vallejo Businessman Honored as Green Entrepreneur

NOREEN'S VIEW: LEADING BY EXAMPLE

One of my favorite phrases is that action always speaks louder than words. I am constantly mindful of this phrase because, ultimately, it is the outcome of my work and the work of the entire legislature that measures our success in serving the public.

This past year, we achieved a lot in Sacramento: ranging from the passage of a historic bond package to rebuild critical infrastructure in California, to the first ever framework to reduce climate altering emissions, to a raise in the minimum wage, and to the preservation of arts education for our children. A key reason behind this success was the tone set by legislative leaders and a willingness to find common ground.

Make no mistake, however, as Democrats and Republicans we had our share of disagreements and debates, as should be the case in any vibrant democracy. But we were able to get past them in order to generate real results for the people of California.

This is the legacy that I carry with me in my new role as Chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus.

As a member of the Assembly Democratic leadership team, I will be working directly with the Speaker and other legislative leaders to help Assembly Democrats identify and implement their legislative agenda. I will also work to establish a tone of harmony so that we can continue to put politics aside in favor of making progress against the challenges of our state. Indeed, my motto will be that our actions must speak louder than our words.

With nearly thirty new members of the Assembly entering public office this winter due to term limits, it will be the responsibility of legislative leaders – like myself – to foster a constructive environment where we may respectfully debate the issues in the Capitol and, hopefully, resolve some of them too.

I am very excited about this opportunity to serve. Although keeping the Capitol on the right track is a pretty tall order, I intend to lead by example so that the legislature can continue serving the public with great success.

YOUR LEGISLATOR AT WORK

I am pleased so say that eight of the bills that I authored this year were signed into law. Below is a summary of each bill.

EDUCATION:

AB 368 will help schools obtain technical education equipment at bargain prices by requiring the state to develop and maintain an Internet registry of career technical education equipment that can be sold from one school district to another.

HEALTHCARE:

AB 2609 will prevent medication management mistakes that could cost seniors their lives through establishing training requirements for the staff of residential care facilities where residents take, on average, 4.6 medications per month.

AB 2757 will remove administrative burdens and costly barriers facing community and free clinics by allowing them to streamline their application process for laboratory licensure. This will enable free clinics to provide better services to patients by performing laboratory testing on site.

PRIVACY PROTECTION:

AB 2251 will help reproductive health providers and patients keep their home addresses, home telephone numbers, and images off of the Internet when it is posted with the intent to threaten or incite violence against them. It also prohibits the online sale, trade or solicitation of this information with the same intentions.

AB 2291 will expand privacy protections for California consumers by prohibiting car manufacturers and other key business partners of car dealers from requiring access to personally identifiable information about customers as a condition of doing business with a car dealer.

PROTECTING CHILDREN:

AB 2480 will protect the rights of foster youth in appellate dependency proceedings by requiring judges to appoint counsel for foster youth if the court determines that the child would benefit from counsel.

LEGAL AND GOVERNMENT REFORM:

AB 1286 provides that the Legislature will review the effectiveness of financing mechanisms used by community college districts to fund energy saving improvements to their facilities. It is a follow up measure to Evans’ AB 1492 (2005) which allowed community college districts to fund these improvements through the use of “intercept” mechanisms to improve the credit rating of lease-revenue bonds.

AB 1553 establishes that a plaintiff will have the opportunity to pursue a remedy through arbitration if he/she has filed suit in a court which decides that the issue is subject to arbitration because the statute of limitations for arbitration will pause until such a determination is made by the court.

Further information about this legislation is available online at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov.

AN EYE ON LEGISLATION

Have you ever been in a situation or read something and thought to yourself: There should be a law. If so, I want to hear from you.

This fall, I will be reviewing ideas for legislation to author next year. If you would like to have me consider a bill idea that you have had, please fill out a legislative request form available on my website at http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a07/pdf/ConstituentLegislativeProposal.pdf and forward it to my Capitol Office at the address listed on the document.

I look forward to receiving your ideas and appreciate you keeping me informed about the issues that are important to you.

AN EYE ON THE GOVERNOR

ACTIVITIES:

On September 30, the Governor reached the last day to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature this year. He signed a total 910 bills and vetoed 262. Further information about his action on legislation is available online at http://gov.ca.gov/bills/.

On September 30, the Governor signed Senate Bill 1380 which provides that any wine made with at least 75% of grapes grown in Sonoma County can be labeled Sonoma wine. I co-authored this legislation because it will preserve the integrity of Sonoma County wines and protect consumer confidence in California wine labels.

On September 26, the Governor welcomed home about 100 California Army National Guard Members from the 49th Military Police Brigade headquartered in Fairfield, CA.

On September 15, the Governor called on the federal government to demand the release of Mr. Cong Thanh Do, a U.S. citizen from California who is being imprisoned by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

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

(why is she promoting the Governor so much? Was there a bill that he vetoed that she was disappointed about or anything like that?)

LABOR TO NEIGHBOR

The Napa-Solano Central Labor Council held their annual Labor Day picnic in Vacaville on September 4th. A good time was had by all who came out and joined the fun. The weather even cooperated too.

The 7th Annual Picnic featured music provided by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union’s own City Light Band, great food and raffle prizes, and several inflatable party jumpers for the kids.

Representatives from my office were joined by those for Senator Wesley Chesbro, Congressman George Miller, Senator Mike Machado, Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher and Senator Mike Thompson’s office.

NOREEN HONORS DOCTORS AT NAPA MEDICAL SOCIETY AWARDS

A good physician is an important person to have in your life. At the annual Napa County Medical Society’s awards dinner on September 27, I was proud to present two physicians with a Professor Emeritus Award.

This award is given to a recently retired physician who has exemplified the art and practice of medicine in Napa County. This year’s recipients are Dr. John Hodgkin, a retired ear, nose and throat specialist, and Dr. Robert Urrea, a retired specialist in pulmonary diseases and critical care.

I also presented these great doctors with were resolutions from the State Legislature commending their longtime service to our community.

The Napa County Medical Society was founded in 1903 to promote and develop the science and art of medicine, the betterment of the medical profession, and to protect public health. Further information available online at http://www.ncms.com.

ALIVE AT 25

I must applaud Sonoma County for being the first location in California to participate in the “Alive at 25” program.

Alive at 25 is a four-hour course developed by the National Safety Council to prevent traffic fatalities, collisions, and violations among young drivers. It is the only such course in the nation taught exclusively by off-duty State Highway Patrol, Municipal Police Officers, and Deputy Sheriffs. Its goal is simple: getting attendees to adopt safe driving practices.

Did you know:

• Young drivers are involved in fatal accidents at more than twice the rate of all others?
• The first year for a newly licensed teenage driver is the most dangerous with more than 20% involved in accidents? and
• Each year, nearly 6,000 teens are killed in vehicular accidents and over 326,000 young drivers are seriously injured?

For further information about Alive at 25, please visit http://www.alive-at-25.org. To sign up, please visit https://busapp02.santarosa.edu/CommunityEducation/ListCourse.aspx?CourseVrsnNbr=01003901&ID=2006745

VALLEJO BUSINESSMAN HONORED AS GREEN ENTREPENEUR

I was pleased to honor Vallejo’s own Larry Asera of Solarize Photovoltaic Energy Company at the fifth annual Green Entrepreneur Awards on September 16th, hosted by SAFE-BIDCO. This recognition honors small business leaders in the North Bay and North Coast who use sustainable practices and produce environmentally-friendly products.

Asera is a third-generation Filipino-American from Vallejo. He is a scientist, engineer, educator, and entrepreneur specializing in solar cell energy technology. Twenty years ago, he received a small business loan from SAFE-BIDCO to open Solarize’s first research and development office. The company now has offices in Vallejo and Davis.

A noted pioneer in the solar industry, Asera has been honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for his development of the solar electric generating plants for the City Hall, City Library, and Water Pumping station for the City of Vallejo. Solarize has also been honored for its accomplishments by the California Energy Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Minority Business Development Administration.

SAFE-BIDCO serves as a non-traditional financing source for existing and start-up businesses, whose financing needs are underserved by traditional lending institutions.

Further information about Solarize Photovoltaic Energy Company is online at http://solarize.net.