Leno Speaks Out Against Budget Cuts

As a leader in the Assembly, Assemblyman Mark Leno is working with Speaker Fabian Núñez and Speaker-elect Karen Bass to fight against Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed across-the-board 10 percent budget cuts. The cuts would hit schools and programs for the poor and elderly especially hard while parks and beaches would be closed. In his work as Chair of the Appropriations Committee, Leno is committed to finding a more balanced approach to solving California's financial crisis, as the state faces a $16 million budget deficit. To learn more about our current fiscal crisis and solutions Leno has proposed, check out his comments on his website.

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Leno Authors Comprehensive Legislative Package

Assemblyman Leno has introduced legislation this year to safeguard our environment, protect families, boost consumer rights, promote public health, move our economy forward, and honor our leaders. Below are just a few legislative highlights:

Safeguarding our environment

• Leno is working to fight the California Department of Food and Agriculture's plan to spray pesticides on Bay Area communities to eradicate the light brown apple moth. His measure, AB 2760 will require the State to complete an Environmental Impact Report before the spray could begin. The bill passed out of Assembly Natural Resources on April 14, 2008 and is an urgency measure, meaning it could apply to the spray currently being considered in the Bay Area.
  
  
• Assemblyman Leno has introduced a measure to improve the state's response to oil spills in the water off our coasts. AB 2547, the "Oil Spill Response and Technology Improvement Act" would boost the technology employed to fight oil spills, such as the Cosco Busan disaster that spilled 58,000 gallons of toxic bunker fuel into the San Francisco Bay.
  
  
• Following the recent sewage discharges in Bay Area waters, Leno's AB 2986, the Clean Water Act of 2008, would require the state to issue every sewage treatment plant in California a report card that shines a light on waste water collection systems that are polluting our waters. Leno held a press conference in March along with Friends of the Earth and San Francisco Bay Keeper at the sewage treatment plant in Mill Valley to announce its introduction. See more from the press conference here.
  
  
• Leno's AB 2863 would revolutionize solar power in California. It would expand solar power use by encouraging a new kind of power company that would install solar generation on a home or business, retain the equipment, and sell the power back to the resident or business at a price comparable to their electric utility.

Consumer Protections

"No one should be denied basic necessities when stranded for hours on the tarmac." - Assemblyman Leno

• Working with Kate Hanni, the founder of the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights, Leno introduced AB 1943, the California Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, on the one-year anniversary of major passenger delays at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The measure would protect passengers who have been stranded on an airplane by requiring airlines to provide basic amenities such as drinking water, snacks, fresh air, sanitary restrooms and lights.

Keeping our families safe

• Leno is working with Mayor Gavin Newsom, District Attorney Kamala Harris, and Chief of Police Heather Fong on his bill, AB 2948, the "Cow Palace Gun Show Ban." It would prohibit the sale of firearms and ammunition at the Cow Palace, thereby ending gun shows at this state-owned facility and help reduce gun violence in the neighboring residential communities of Daly City and San Francisco. Harris testified on it at the Assembly Public Safety Committee where it passed in April.
  
  
• Leno's AB 2809 will protect children who have been witness to a violent crime by providing them with counseling and other services. The measure will allow children to get these services through the Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board.
  
  
• Leno hosted an Assembly Select Committee Hearing on Youth Violence Prevention on creating safer communities at the San Francisco Main Library in April featuring testimony from a number of Bay Area officials, experts, activists and community members to address youth gang violence and intervention programs.
  
  

Protecting Seniors

• Leno's AB 2598 would protect seniors on fixed incomes from being faced with large rent increases at their Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFE). It would allow local governments to take essential action to safeguard their seniors by instituting controls on rental rates at RCFEs. While the national average rental rate at RCFE's increases 4-5%, many California residents have faced increases of 8-11% which can have tragic results on our most vulnerable seniors on fixed incomes.

Boosting Public Health

• Leno's AB 2704, the "Free Drinking Water in Schools Act," would help schools promote fresh drinking water to children by ensuring its availability in all school cafeterias and other environments where the students eat. Many times, the option does not exist for students to drink fresh tap water at lunchtime and throughout the day because water fountains are inoperable and there is no other access given to students. AB 2704 would improve nutrition in schools and help combat obesity by encouraging students to drink the healthiest of beverages- water.
  
  
• In 2006, Leno passed landmark legislation to create the "Healthy Food Purchase" pilot program to assist small grocers in offering more fresh fruits and vegetables to consumers. Leno is now working on launching that program through AB 2726. AB 2726 will also provide the Department of Health with more flexibility in finding creative funding mechanisms, such as private donations and federal funds, to implement the pilot program.

Moving the economy forward

• Leno wants to crack down on employers who exhibit a pattern of breaking labor or tax laws. His measure, AB 2879 would require the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, Franchise Tax Board, and the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy to work together to enhance compliance by these companies.
  
  
• Leno's AB 2944 would advance California's national leadership position as a magnet for innovative businesses by eliminating the legal barriers that prevent pioneering California companies from securing investment capital. The bill would promote socially responsible corporate conduct by authorizing boards of directors to consider the interest of the full community, the environment and employees, along with the interest of shareholders, when making official decisions on behalf of the corporation.

Honoring our leaders

• Flanked by Harvey Milk's friends and associates and those inspired by his life and work, Leno announced the introduction of legislation to establish a Special Day of Commemoration in honor of civil rights pioneer Harvey Milk's birthday, May 22nd.
  
  
• Assemblyman Leno was proud to honor Judge Donna J. Hitchens (shown here with Leno and Speaker-elect Karen Bass) for her extraordinary accomplishments as a Presiding Judge for the Superior Court of San Francisco County, by naming her "Woman of the Year." Read more about her here.

For a full list and descriptions of Leno's bill package, please visit his website at: http://www.assembly.ca.gov/leno

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"Do You Know Your Carbon Footprint?"

Assemblyman Leno launched a public information campaign this Spring designed to combat global warming by giving each of us information and tools to reduce our own carbon footprint.

"Every gallon of gas burned by a car releases 1.1 pounds of climate changing C02." – Assemblyman Leno.

Check out Leno's Carbon Footprint website to view his public service announcement, online brochure and learn more about global warming and how each of us can take action to prevent it.

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Staff News

We greatly appreciate the hard work of our District Office Interns Tessa Perry, Ella Wolfgramm, Jack Mui, and Natalie Wei. As always, we are grateful for the continuing contributions of our District Office volunteers Bruce Traficante and Michael Chan.

Leno is proud to announce that his staff member Liz Mooney (pictured) was honored by the California Food Policy Advocates with their signature "Stampy Award" for her work to expand the food stamp program.