Irwindale, CA - California State Assemblymember Dr. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) convened a meeting today of fellow legislators and elected officials representing the greater San Gabriel Valley to draw attention to recent developments and discuss new approaches to some of the region’s most challenging issues.

"All of these topics transcend city boundaries and political lines and thus are of common concern throughout the San Gabriel Valley," said Hernandez "it only makes sense to take a look at them from a regional perspective and discuss regional approaches to the problems." Hernandez added "we are the most effective for our region when we come together and speak with one voice on what is important to the San Gabriel Valley, which is why we are here today."

Hernandez is Chair of the San Gabriel Valley State Legislative Caucus, a group of 6 State Senators and 7 State Assemblymembers whose districts cover the entire region. Hernandez called this special local meeting of the Caucus to discuss the impact of recent legislation on water, the benefits of transit-oriented development, and the status of transportation funding for projects throughout the region. Also in attendance was Assemblymember Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco), who was there to make a presentation on her legislation, Assembly Bill 1221.

"Assemblymember Ma’s bill is part of a larger trend in local and regional development that emphasizes a smarter approach to how we plan our cities and towns" said Hernandez. "We need to encourage the use of alternate modes of transit, like bus lines and rail, if we are ever going to address the problems associated with traffic congestion in this region" added Hernandez, "One of the best ways to do that is to develop mixed-use commercial and residential communities along those transit lines, so people can live, work, and play in and around their transit centers."

Another item up for discussion at the meeting was recent developments in Sacramento and Washington D.C. with regards to water, including Assembly Bill 1010. Hernandez introduced AB 1010 to extend the sunset date of the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority (WQA) until July 1, 2017, allowing the WQA sufficient time to complete its mission. It was signed into law by the Governor on October 10th of this year.

"We have had a variety of legislative activity on water issues this year at both the state and federal level," continued Hernandez "so I thought this was a good time to assess what has been accomplished this last year and what we have left to do." He added that "while we allowed ourselves time to finish our water cleanup efforts here in the San Gabriel Valley by getting AB 1010 signed into law, we still have to secure more funding for water cleanup, conservation, and vital infrastructure."

Also on the agenda was an update on the allocation of Proposition 1B funds, as well as a discussion of the funding status for several transportation projects in the San Gabriel Valley. Proposition 1B was approved by voters in November of 2006, with substantial support from residents in the San Gabriel Valley, to allocate over $19 billion dollars to transportation projects throughout the state. Some of the regional transportation projects discussed at the Caucus meeting included the I-10 HOV lanes between the 605 and 57 freeways, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension, the Alameda Corridor East Project (ACE), and the 10/605 Interchange improvements.

"It would be an understatement to say we have had some major ups and downs with regards to transportation funding this year, especially in the San Gabriel Valley" remarked Hernandez. "We need to continue to work together, as we did when we secured funding for the 10/605 Interchange improvements, to advocate at the federal, state, and regional levels on projects that impact the San Gabriel Valley" said Hernandez.