Dear Friends:

On Friday, March 28, I toured the I-215 Improvement Project in San Bernardino, which will widen the freeway and replace outdated on and off ramps. This project is a collaborative effort of several agencies that work together for the benefit of relieving traffic congestion.  I commend The Federal Highway Administration, SANBAG, Caltrans, and the City of San Bernardino for their joint efforts.  Their dedication and well established goals will help reduce traffic congestion to improve freeway operations. 

Their collaboration should be a theme for all to follow.  In the upcoming months, critical decisions will be made at the state level on how to allocate important bond dollars. I want to applaud SANBAG for joining with our neighbors in Southern California for working on a consensus group including the counties of Riverside, LA, Orange and Ventura.  In the same spirit, I have joined not only with my colleagues in the Inland Empire Caucus, but also with my fellow legislators in Southern California to advocate for SANBAG’s priorities. 

The city and county of San Bernardino face a great challenge.  We are one of the fastest growing regions in the nation, but historically we are often overlooked when it comes to important funding decisions on the state level. We cannot allow this situation to continue.  Working with our neighbors is just one strategy to make sure we get our fair share.  Being vocal is the most important thing we can do.  In the upcoming months, important decisions will be made and we will be heard. I am excited to see this project start and it should be one of many that are on the way. I ask that you keep me apprised of your priorities and to stay engaged with all of the decision makers in this process.

Sincerely,

Wilmer Amina Carter

Working Together to Solve Our Transportation Problems

Assembly Member Carter; San Bernardino City Council Member Esther Estrada; and Project Consultant Dennis Green.

Assembly Member Carter spoke at a Caltrans press conference and toured the construction sites that will expand I-215 from three to five lanes in both directions over 7.5 miles from just north of Interstate 10 to the University Parkway exit. She viewed a model of the construction project with San Bernardino City Council Member Esther Estrada and Project Consultant Dennis Green.

Are you concerned about perchlorate contamination?

Assembly Member Carter invites you to attend an informational hearing about perchlorate contamination at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 24.  Hear experts from Sacramento discuss the latest clean-up efforts and strategies for ensuring clean water in our area. 

The informational hearing is at the Rialto City Council chambers, 150 S. Palm Ave. in Rialto. You can RSVP or get more information at (909) 820-5008.  View a map of the location by visiting the Assembly Member’s website

Inland Empire Minority Businesses Prepare for Expo

The biggest minority business expo in the Inland Empire gets under way May 16 with more than 100 exhibits of products and services and seminars on procuring government contracts and surviving and succeeding in slower economic times. Assembly Member Carter is a supporter of the event.  With more than 95,000 minority businesses in the Inland Empire, “It is important to support the growth of minority businesses to become an even greater economic force in the region,” said Assembly Member Carter.

For more information, call (909) 273-9481, email lennellj@blackchamberofcommerce or visit the website  www.blackchamberofcommerce.org

Allensworth Centennial Exhibit Comes to San Bernardino

The Centennial Celebration of Allensworth, a town founded, established and governed by African Americans in 1908, has come to the Inland Empire with the opening earlier this month of an historic exhibit at the San Bernardino County Government Center, 385 N. Arrowhead Avenue.  You may tour the exhibit weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through April 30. There is a new link for Allensworth State Park:  100 Years of the California Dream click www.parks.ca.gov/.

Assembly Member Carter to Honor Local Veteran

Freddie V. Martinez will be honored by Assembly Member Carter and the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee at a luncheon scheduled for May 7, 2008 at the State Capitol. 

Mr. Martinez completed one tour of duty in Vietnam with the 25th Infantry, he also served in the 5th Mechanized Unit.  During his tour, he was selected for the Purple Heart, and received the Campaign Ribbon, the Combat Infantry Badge, the Bronze Star, and was honorably discharged in 1968.  Later, he served as a police officer for the City of Redlands, and for the Department of Corrections.  He currently has membership in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 8737, the American Legion Post 422, and Bail Bond Association. He is the chairman of the VFW 8737 House Committee while volunteering for many veterans organizations and community and high school programs. Assembly Member Carter will honor Mr. Martinez at an event at the State Capitol.

“I am honored to salute Freddie V. Martinez who served so honorably in our nation’s armed forces, ” stated Assembly Member Carter.

Assembly Member Carter Welcomes the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority to the State Capitol

The western chapters of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (AKA), Inc. paid their annual visit to the State Capitol on March 24.  Assembly Member Carter spoke at their luncheon and presented D. Lavonne Lewis, Far West Regional Director, with a resolution commemorating the groups' centennial. She also recognized her visiting sorority sisters during the Assembly floor session.  The sorority was founded in 1908 to politically, socially and culturally engage and empower African American women.  Assembly Member Carter has been a sorority member since 1982.

Assembly Member Wilmer Amina Carter, Far West Regional Director
D. Lavonne Lewis, and Speaker Elect Karen Bass.

Legislative Updates

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 96 (Carter)
The Deputy Frank M. Pribble Memorial Highway

A resolution introduced by Assembly Member Carter and sponsored by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department  names a portion of I-10 in Fontana in honor of fallen officer Deputy Frank M.  Pribble. Deputy Pribble was shot and killed in the line of duty after locating a suspect who had been involved in a domestic disturbance. The resolution passed unanimously out of the Assembly Transportation Committee on March 24

Assembly Bill 368  (Carter)
Hearing Aids for Children

This bill requires that health insurance providers offer hearing aid coverage up to $1,000 to all enrollees and subscribers less than 18 years of age. The average price of a hearing aid is around $2,000. 

Assembly Bill  2396 (Carter)
Credit for Civic Engagement

This bill expands existing law by providing that students engaged in qualified leadership and civic engagement activities will be eligible to be excused from class and receive credit for their work.  Existing law requires a school district to deem a student's absence to be excused when that absence is caused by any of a number of specific reasons that presently do not include leadership and civic engagement activities.

Assembly Bill 2825 (Carter)
Auto Body Full Disclosure Act

A Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) report found that 42% of the vehicles inspected had parts or labor listed on the invoice that were not actually supplied or performed.  Auto body shops are not required to provide the consumer with a certification that the part, or parts, the consumer paid for were actually installed in the car.  This bill requires all auto body shops to provide full disclosure to its consumers as to what parts were actually used to repair their cars when consumers pick up their vehicles.

Assembly Bill 2509 (Galgiani and Carter)
Home ownership Preservation Mortgage Guarantee Program

This bill creates the Homeownership Preservation Mortgage Guarantee Program within the California Housing Finance Agency to assist low-to-moderate income homeowners who are faced with the possibility of foreclosure.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 83 (Carter supports):
California Holocaust Memorial Week

This concurrent resolution proclaims April 28 through May 4, 2008 as California Holocaust Memorial Week.

Student Resources Now on Assembly Member Carter's website

The new Student Resources Section of Assembly Member Carter’s 62nd District 62nd District web site www.assembly.ca.gov/62 has information about educational and career opportunities for high school and college students. Students can find information about loans, scholarships, internships and educational programs.

Assembly Member Carter to Receive Girl Scouts' Women of Distinction-Lifetime Achievement Award

Assembly Member Carter receives flowers and Girl Scout cookies from Shawn Sandoval,
Girl Scouts development coordinator.  Also pictured is Robbin Lewis-Coaxum,
chief of staff to Assembly Member Carter.

Assembly Member Carter received the Girl Scouts’ Lifetime Achievement Award.  She is among those being honored by Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council at a Riverside Marriott luncheon from 11:30 a.m.  to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 16.  “I am honored to be recognized among such fine women and by an organization that helps girls build confidence and character. The Girl Scouts deserve our support.” – Assembly Member Carter.

Youth Leadership Program

The African-American Youth Leadership Program, a division of the Research and Policy Institute of California, is seeking 50 high school sophomores and juniors for this year’s week-long summer African-American Youth Leadership Conference in Sacramento from July 28 to August 2. Students will be housed at the Sacramento State University dorms and receive leadership training on campus, culminating with a full day at the State Capitol, hosted by the Legislative Black Caucus.  Participants receive leadership, personal development guidance, and mentoring in successful pathways to education, business, and civic engagement.  Hands-on experience, such as developing academic and career plans, running political campaigns and participating in the legislative process are also part of the week-long curriculum. Completed applications must be postmarked by May 1, 2008.  For information about academic and other requirements, visit the web site http://www.calresearch.org/african-american-youth-leadership-program.html.

Hundreds Attend Assembly Member Carter's Open House

More than 200 people attended Assembly Member Carter’s Open House on Wednesday, including mayors and council members from the 62nd District on March 19. District 63 Assembly Member Bill Emmerson (R-Rancho Cucamonga) also visited.  Assembly Member Carter held a question and answer forum with constituents, business owners and city leaders.

	Roxanne Pena of Trinity Youth Services chats with Assembly Member Carter at the open house. Roxanne is a recipient of Assembly Member Carter's 2007 30 under 30 Latino and Native American Award.
Carter High School Graduate Nitra Malina Huff (2007), granddaughter of Pastor Ray Turner, meets Assembly Member Carter at her Open House.
	Assembly Member Bill Emmerson, 63rd Assembly District, visits with Assembly Member Carter at her Open House.

Carter in the Community

Assembly Member Carter with Fontana Palmetto Elementary School students Jessica Bejarano, Josias Lopez and David Lopez, who designed displays for the Rosa Parks Memorial Dedication and Carole Lee, Palmetto Vice Principal.
	From left, Assembly Member Carter, San Bernardino City Council Member Rikke Van Johnson, Lois Carson , Rialto City Council Member Joe Baca, Jr., San Bernardino City Council Member Esther Estrada, San Bernardino County Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales, State Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod, and Rialto City Council Member Deborah Robertson.
Assembly Member Carter and California State Senator Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and a champion of Career Technical Education, toured  Wilmer Amina Carter High School at her invitation on March 7.
From front left, Rialto Unified School District Board Member Dennis Mobley; Assembly Member Carter; State Senator Torlakson;  and RUSD Superintendant Edna Herring. From back Left, Carter High School students: Kevin Jordon, Browly Do, Leonard Tampkins, Alex Padilla, James Chavez, and Terresa Pritchett, and Principal Veronica Smith-Izsard.
	Assembly Member Carter attended the renaming of the Beatrice E. Watson Post Office in the City of Fontana on March 28.  She presented a Certificate of Recognition to Mrs. Watson’s husband Larry Watson, and said a few words about Mrs. Watson’s leadership in the community and dedication to the residents of Fontana.
Assembly Member Carter and her nominee for 2008 Woman of the Year in District 62, Lois Carson, and Karen Bass, Assembly Speaker-Elect, attend the Woman of the Year recognition ceremony on the Assembly Floor in the State Capitol. “Education and helping disadvantaged people has been a big part of Lois Carson's life.” – Assembly Member Carter.
	Assembly Member Carter attended the State of Women's Summit in Rialto in March Senior Legislator Fran Givens; Rialto City Council Member Winnie Hanson; Rialto City Council Member Deborah Robertson; Assembly Member Carter; Colton Mayor Kelly Chastain; and Rialto City Clerk Barbara McGee.
Assembly Member Carter and Linda Hill, Communications Director for San Bernardino City Unified School District, reads to the children for City of Readers Family Story Time on San Bernardino Cable TV on March 7.
	Assembly Member Carter and other New Democrats meet with Governor Schwarzenegger. First row from left to right: Assembly Member Anna Caballero, Assembly Member Mary Hayashi, Assembly Member Wilmer Amina Carter, State Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod, Assembly Member Jose Solorio and Cathleen Galgiani. Back row from left to right:  Assembly Members Charles Calderon, Nicole Parra, State Senator Ron Calderon, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Assembly Member Curren Price.
On March 5, Assembly Member Carter presented Bloomington High School student Julio Cesar Heredia of Future Farmers of America (FFA) an honorary certificate for his outstanding participation in FFA. “FFA has a rich agricultural tradition and makes important contributions to the Inland Empire and the State of California,” said Carter.
	Aboard the C-SPAN Campaign 2008 Bus, Assembly Member Carter participated in the non-partisan voter outreach program when it stopped in Sacramento in March.  The Legislative Women’s Caucus honored the Campaign 2008 Bus for its extensive public service with a resolution commemorating the efforts of sponsors C-SPAN and Comcast.  Over 2,700 teachers and 21,000 students have visited the Campaign 2008 Bus since its launch in 1993.
Pictured are Assembly Members Patty Berg, Lori Saldaña, Wilmer Amina Carter, and State Senator Gloria Negrete-McLeod.