| LEGISLATION | EMAIL ASSEMBLYMEMBER JIM BEALL, JR. | SIGN UP FOR E-UPDATES | VISIT MY WEBSITE |
MARCH 2007
IN THIS ISSUE |
Welcome to my first newsletter as an Assemblymember. Since assuming office in December, I have been very busy. On my first day of work I introduced my first bill, Assembly Bill 12. AB 12 will enable counties and/or local health plans to offer affordable health coverage to low-income workers employed by small businesses. I also authored a letter signed by all members of our local delegation urging the California Transportation Committee to allocate $384 million from the recently approved transportation bond funds for BART to San Jose. The committee’s approval of these funds is a big victory but we must continue to advocate and do everything possible to ensure that Santa Clara County gets its fair share of the voter approved bond money. I was fortunate to be appointed Chair of the Human Services Committee. Over the course of my chairmanship I plan to revamp the Lanterman Act, develop a strategy to combat hunger, and develop strategies and recommendations to help reduce the overrepresentation of children of color in the child welfare system. To begin this process, I introduced four bills to protect and improve the quality of life for children in the child welfare system including a bill that will assemble a Child Welfare Council comprised of experts to look at strategies to address the issue of overrepresentation. California continues to face financial challenges and has a structural deficit that outpaces our revenues. To balance the State budget this fiscal year, I will look for creative budget solutions including identifying administrative efficiencies and opportunities to obtain more federal dollars. As part of this effort, I assembled a Select Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse. The purpose of the committee will be to look at ways to draw down additional federal funds to support drug and alcohol programs, document the extent to which alcohol and other drug problems impact the state of California and local governments throughout the State, identify the extent to which alcohol and other drug problems influence the costs and services across all state departments, and develop a comprehensive vision and direction for the State to address alcohol and other drug problems in a comprehensive and coordinated manner across all State departments. Additionally, on March 12 the California State Assembly approved a joint resolution, AJR 4, that I authored. AJR 4 urges Congress and the president to revise and repeal aspects of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 which limit California’s ability to implement effective welfare-to-work and child support programs. The DRA added a new $25 fee for non-TANF families who receive more than $500 in child support, and eliminated the federal match on child support activities paid with performance incentive funds. These cost shifts, if not replaced, could mean $825 million in lost child support collections over five years. The state should not have to backfill these federal cuts. Finally, I plan to study the recently released research report spearheaded by the University of Stanford, “Getting Down to the Facts,” and meet with local community education experts such as superintendents and principals. Getting Down to the Facts examines and provides recommendations relating to how California can more effectively and efficiently finances education. Below is a partial listing of the twenty-four measures I introduced. If you wish to view my entire legislative package or download the full text of a particular piece of legislation, you may access my web site at the following address: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a24/. ASSEMBLY BILL (AB) 12: The Adult Health Coverage Expansion Program AB 95: Batterer Intervention Programs AB 152: The California Prepaid Tuition Program AB 346: The Prevention of Youth Access to Alcoholic Beverages with Special Appeal to Minors Act of 2007
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