What's Inside...
Good Deeds and Accomplishments Should Not Go Unnoticed
District Office:
2400 E. Katella Avenue, Suite 640
Anaheim, CA 92806
Tel: (714) 939-8469
Fax: (714) 939-8986
Capitol Office:
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0069
Tel: (916) 319-2069
Fax: (916) 319-2169
I am pleased to announce that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the 2007-08 Budget into law on Friday, August 24th, ending one of the longest budget stalemates. The Assembly had passed the budget and related legislation more than a month earlier, but the Senate did not approve the budget until August 21st.
The budget ratified by the Senate and signed by the Governor was largely identical to what the Assembly passed in July. In order to achieve the required two-thirds vote in the Senate, Governor Schwarzenegger promised to use his line-item veto authority to reduce spending by approximately $700 million.
For the Governor's summary of the approved 2007-08 Budget and a list of vetoes click here. |
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| Assemblyman Solorio helped secure $1.16 million in funding to preserve the legacy of the Delta Interstage Rocket project at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. |
In other news, I helped secure $1.16 million in funding from the California Cultural Historical Endowment (CCHE) for the Delta Interstage Rocket project at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. The competition was tough. However, the months of planning by Discovery Center staff and Townsend Public Affairs, in collaboration with my advocacy of the project here in Sacramento, ensured that we received the necessary funding for the project.
I believe it is important for the state to preserve the legacy of the Delta rocket which sent the first privately built satellite, AT&T's Telestar, into space in 1962 to make the first satellite television transmission.
I lobbied members of the CCHE board to support the Discovery Science Center funding request and testified before the board in support of the project at a meeting held last month. The funding will help fund the installation of the Interstage and RS-68 Booster into their permanent exhibit space and provide for the development and installation of accurate media showing the actual launch footage as well as interactive kiosks. For more information click here.
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| Assemblyman Solorio hosted a town hall meeting in Santa Ana to discuss community-based solutions to gang and youth violence. |
On August 31st, I hosted a town hall meeting in Santa Ana to discuss community-based solutions to gang and youth violence. The town hall meeting provided community leaders and former gang members with an opportunity to present success stories regarding their work and suggestions for how state government may help their organizations accomplish their goals.
I always welcome any input you may have on how I can better serve the community. Please do not hesitate to contact me at Assemblymember.Solorio@assembly.ca.gov if I can ever assist you with any state matters.
Sincerely,
Jose Solorio
State Assemblyman
Assemblyman Solorio is a co-author of a number of major pieces of legislation. Here is a roundup of some significant proposals:
Health Care: Assemblyman Solorio is a co-author of the two biggest health care reform measures in the California Legislature, AB 8, authored by Assembly Speaker Núñez and Senate Pro Tem Perata, and SB 840, authored by Senator Sheila Kuehl.
AB 8 provides a comprehensive approach to reforming California's broken health care system based on the principle of shared responsibility between government, individuals, and employers. The bill requires employers to spend 7.5% of Social Security wages on health care expenditures for full-time and part-time workers and their dependents, or pay an equivalent fee to a health care fund for the uninsured. This measure would cover an estimated 75% of those currently uninsured.
SB 840, titled the California Universal Healthcare Act, would provide affordable health care to all Californians while providing every Californian with the right to choose his or her own physician. The system would be paid for by federal, state, and county monies that are already being spent on health care and by affordable insurance premiums that replace all premiums, deductibles, out-of-pocket payments and co-pays paid by employers and consumers.
Dental Care for Kids: Assemblyman Solorio is a co-author of AB 834 (Hayashi), which would improve and expand school and community-based dental care for low-income children in grades kindergarten through 6th grade.
Funding Parks and Recreation Facilities: Assemblyman Solorio is also a co-author of two of the most significant parks bills in the Legislature this year. Given the lack of parks and recreation facilities in central Orange County, passage of these measures would be very beneficial.
SB 732, authored by Senator Darrell Steinberg, creates and implements several new programs that will be funded from Proposition 84 - the $5.4 billion parks bond measure that voters approved last year. The bill provides $400 million in competitive grants for local and regional parks and $90 million for a competitive grant program for education and research facilities including natural history museums, aquariums, and botanical gardens. It also makes various other law changes to implement the housing-related park grants, flood control, and safe drinking water portions of the bond act.
AB 31, authored by Assemblyman Kevin de León, establishes the Statewide Parks Development and Community Revitalization Act of 2007, to provide $400 million in bond funding under Prop. 84 for the acquisition and development of parks, recreation areas, and facilities in local communities. It also sets up criteria to ensure that underserved communities in the highest need of improved park access can compete competitively in the grant process.
Good Deeds And Accomplishments Should Not Go Unnoticed
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| Attorney General Jerry Brown |
Thank you Attorney General Jerry Brown for denying the sale of Anaheim Memorial Hospital to Prime Healthcare Services. Attorney General Brown listened to the people of our community by holding a hearing in Anaheim on the purchase and making the landmark decision which denied the sale. The company, which sought to buy the non-profit hospital, has a track record of substantially increasing medical costs for its patients. Special thanks to all of the local elected officials, SEIU-UHW, the health care community, and Orange County community leaders who helped convince the Attorney General to make the right decision.
Congratulations to the Anaheim coalition of residents that submitted over 5,000 petitions to unseat Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) Trustee Harald Martin. Special thanks to community leaders Amin David and Jordan Brandman for helping to organize this successful petition drive. The coalition's 5,000 signatures are more than double the signatures required to remove Martin from the board and allow Anaheim's voters to determine who should hold the seat. Martin was appointed to the AUHSD school board in July despite finishing seventh out of eight candidates in last fall's election and expressing many extremist views.
Congratulations to the organizers of the recent Health Care Town Hall meeting that took place in Garden Grove. Through various organizational partnerships, the town hall provided a forum in which members of the community testified, discussing their experiences with the lack of, or very limited health care coverage, and expressed their support for health care reform in California. Assemblyman Solorio was the only state legislator to attend the meeting and was pleased with the high turnout and the opportunity to listen to the real life experiences of community members.
Pack a Healthy Lunch They'll Love
It's easier than you might think to pack your kids healthy, wholesome lunches that they will love. Below are a few tips to help you this school year:
- Ask Your Kids for Input: No one knows what your kids like better than they do. Take them with you to the grocery store and ask for their input. Discuss and prepare a weekly lunch menu together.
- Plan and Prepare Ahead of Time: Planning ahead can help alleviate the weekday morning rush and prevent you from reaching for those processed packaged lunches. Over the weekend, spend a little time washing fruits, cutting vegetables into sticks, preparing dips, and putting together snack mixes.
- Get Organized: Designate a section of the kitchen to lunch supplies, and keep lunch bags, plastic containers, plastic utensils, napkins, and straws there. You'll know exactly where the supplies are and can check to see if things need to be restocked.
- Keep Food and Drinks Fresh: No one likes warm juice or a soggy sandwich. Freeze juice boxes so they'll still be cold by lunch. Place sandwiches in plastic bags and pack the lettuce and tomato in a separate bag. Don't add mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard to sandwiches. Instead, buy and pack condiment packets so kids can add them to their sandwiches at school.
- Keep Apples from Turning Brown: Fill a spray bottle with a little lemon juice and water and spray the sliced apples before you pack them. If you have a little more time, you can also soak the apples in apple juice for 10-15 minutes before you pack them.
Mini-Biography of Assemblyman Jose Solorio
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Prior to joining the Assembly, Solorio served on the Santa Ana City Council and worked for the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). Solorio has an inspirational personal story to tell. He is the son and grandson of farm workers and grew up working in the fields and orchards of the Central Valley. His parents are humble people who taught him simple lessons: "Study hard. Work hard. Treat everyone equally. Take care of your family." Assemblyman Solorio plans to stay true to those values as he writes laws and engages in the political debate in Sacramento.
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