Assembly Member Lori Saldaña

Assembly Member Lori Saldaña is Chair of the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development. The Committee’s jurisdiction includes reviewing legislation in the areas of housing, structural fire safety and redevelopment.
  
She also chairs the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Base Closure and Redevelopment, and serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee, the Natural Resources Committee, the Local Government Committee, and the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting. She was recently appointed to serve on the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Services and Homeland Security.  Saldaña serves as Vice Chair of the Legislative Womens Caucus and as a member of California Commission on the Status of Women.

Communities Served

COMMUNITIES SERVED
Bay Park, Bird Rock, Bay View, City Heights, Clairemont, Downtown, Hillcrest, Kearny Mesa, Linda Vista, Midway, Mission Hills, Mission Beach, Mission Valley, Normal Heights, North Park, Ocean Beach, Old Town, Pacific Beach, Point Loma,
Serra Mesa, South Park, Tierrasanta, University Heights, Uptown

Constituent Services

Assistance with state agencies

Copies of legislation & bill status information

Summaries and analyses of specific bills

Information on the Legislature and the legislative process

Information on ballot propositions

Renters/homeowners assistance programs

Property tax postponement

Government forms

Department of Motor Vehicles

Consumer complaints

State Franchise Tax Board

Unemployment and disability insurance

Medicare and Medi-Cal

Veterans' affairs

State pamphlets

Reports issued by the Legislature and state agencies

And much more...

Contact Information
Capitol Office
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0076
Phone: (916) 319-2076
Fax: (916) 319-2176

District Office
1557 Columbia Street
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: (619) 645-3090
Fax: (619) 645-3094

Check out the new features on our website!

www.assembly.ca.gov/saldana

Cleaning Up the Subprime Mess
Saldaña Announces Home Ownership and Mortgage Resource Fair

Tens of thousands of California families are in danger of losing their homes in the current subprime mortgage crisis.  In San Diego, the situation is especially grave.  According to the real estate information clearinghouse DataQuick, foreclosure rates in the San Diego region increased by 353 percent in 2007.

In recent years, subprime lenders and brokers flooded the growing subprime market with dangerous mortgages that come with "exploding" adjustable interest rates.  The result is the current epidemic of foreclosures that harm families, destroy credit, destabilize property values and diminish the quality of life in residential neighborhoods. 

Subprime mortgages are high-cost home loans intended for borrowers with weak or less-than-stellar credit histories.  Higher interest rates may make sense for higher-risk loans up to a point, but the subprime market has been rife with problems that are rare in the mainstream mortgage market, including excessive fees, high penalties for refinancing, refinances that provide no real benefit to homeowners; and marketing more expensive loans to borrowers when they qualify for a better rate. 

According to the Center for Responsible Lending, nearly two out of every eight homeowners that received loans in the last two years may default.  That means that nearly 180,000 California homes will be lost to foreclosure from the 836,900 subprime loans made in 2005-2006 alone.  California could lose nearly $3 billion in property tax revenue and another $1 billion in sales and transfer tax revenue. 

Recently, I supported a series of bills that the Assembly Democrats have introduced to aggressively address the foreclosure crisis.  The reforms are contained in three bills, AB 69 (Lieu), AB 180 (Bass),  and AB 529 (Torrico).  These measures include provisions that will:

• Identify “at-risk” loans and determine what lenders have done to assist them;

• Requires a lender to notify a borrower of interest rate changes starting 120 days out on adjustable rate loans ;

• Protects homeowners from foreclosure scams; and

• Toughens the requirements on foreclosure consultants and requires any contract to be in the language used by the homeowner if their ability to understand English is inadequate.

The bills moved rapidly out of the Assembly and are currently under consideration in the Senate.

If you believe you may be at risk of losing your home, I will be hosting a free Home Ownership and Home Mortgage Resource Fair from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on April 24th at the Caltrans Building 4050 Taylor Street in Old Town.   Representatives of non-profit and government agencies with expertise in home mortgages will be on-hand to provide information about avoiding foreclosure.

Assembly Democrats have also put together a website designed to provide the public with essential and pertinent information.  It can be found at http://adc.asm.ca.gov/issues/MortgageCrisis/. 

I encourage you to take advantage of these resources.  If you have questions, please feel free to call my District Office at (619) 645-3090.

Assembly Member Saldaña Appointed to State Women's Commission

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez has appointed Assembly Member Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) to the California Commission on the Status of Women.

Saldaña, who also recently became Vice-Chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus, said she is looking forward to working on issues affecting women and girls both in the Legislature and on the Commission.

“I believe my work in each capacity will be complimentary,” Saldaña said. “I can bring a policy-making perspective to my work on the Commission, and carry the focused issue-oriented work of the Commission back to the Caucus and the Legislature.”

Saldaña said the Commission is already working on a number of issues that coincide with her concerns in the Legislature, including reconsidering veterans programs in light of increasing numbers of women service members; issues of teen violence and sexually exploited minors; and the status of women in the prison and juvenile justice systems.

Measure Aimed at Improving Education of Military
School Children Introduced

Assembly Member Lori Saldaña has introduced a measure, Assembly Bill 1809, that would include California in an interstate compact establishing uniform standards for military children transferring between school districts and states.

Saldaña said that military families encounter significant school challenges when dealing with enrollment, eligibility, placement and graduation requirements when transferring between schools.

“The average school-age military dependant transfers seven times in the course of their school career,” she said. “They may have to take additional classes and their graduation might be delayed when their course credits don’t carry over between states.”

“This measure would ease the transition between schools and reduce stress for the families by creating uniform expectations for the students.”

There are over 63,000 school-age military dependants in California. About 25 percent lose their course credits due to multiple school transfers from out-of-state and out-of-country Department of Defense schools to California schools.

The legislatures of Missouri, Washington, Delaware, Virginia, and Kentucky have also introduced legislation to become parties to the compact. About 18 other states have also signaled their intention to do the same. 

Saldaña, who is a member of the Assembly Committee on Veterans Affairs, passed legislation in 2006 to address similar requirement discrepancies between school districts within California.

Update on Assembly Member Saldaña’s  2008 Legislation

If you would like more information on these or any other bills, go to the assembly website at www.assembly.ca.gov

Environmental Protection & Energy Efficiency

AB 218 (Saldaña) – Electronic Waste 
Would require electronic devices sold in California to be free of hazardous materials, including lead, mercury and cadmium. These pose a serious health hazard to employees recycling businesses and to the general public as the materials aggregate in landfills and seep into ground water and soil
Status: Passed from Assembly to Senate Committee on Environmental Quality

Assembly Member Saldaña announces the introduction of her Climate Protection and Energy Efficiency Bond Act at a Clean Technology media event in Sacramento.

AB 2112 (Saldaña) –Energy Self-Sufficient Residential Buildings
This bill would require the use of energy efficient construction methods and distributed energy to achieve energy self-sufficiency in new residential construction by 2020.
Status: Introduced

AB 2003 (Saldaña) – Climate Protection and Energy Efficiency Bond Act of 2008
Creates the Climate Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund to expand energy conservation and efficiency, and the development and use of solar, wind, geothermal energy and fuel cells and other energy generating technologies and will increase energy efficiency in low income communities buildings and state facilities 
Status: Introduced

AB 1832 Tidelands Statutes (Saldaña) –
Would repeal statutes that have been used to convey constitutionally protected waterfront public properties to private developers.
Status:  In Asm. Natural Resources Committee  

Military Families

AB 1809 (Saldaña) – Education of Military Dependents
This bill would create a compact with other states to help military dependents transition between schools in different states.
Status: In Assembly Committee on Education

Health Care and Seniors

AB 1022 (Saldaña) Care at Home
This bill would allow seniors who prefer to live at home to receive assisted living services provided by Continuing Care Retirement Communities.
Status: In Senate Human Services Committee

AB 2137 (Saldaña) Ensuring Senior Care
In order to reduce the number of unjustified rescissions of long-term care by insurance providers, AB 2137 would create transparency in the rescission of long-term care policy by requiring insurers to provide reasons for rescissions in addition to justifying documentation.
Status: Introduced
Homeowner Protection

AB 567 (Saldaña) - Common Interest Development/Home Owners Associations
Creates a Common Interest Development (CID) Bureau to provide education, dispute resolution and enforce laws governing CIDs and Home Owners Associations.
Status: In Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing

AB 1921 (Saldaña) – Davis-Sterling Act Cleanup
Repeals and replaces the Davis-Sterling Common Interest Development Act with a new statute that continues the substance of existing law in a more user-friendly form
Status: Introduced

Public Safety
AB 2297 (Saldaña) – Alcopops
Allocates funds from higher taxation of alcoholic drinks marketed to young consumers
Status: Introduced

AB 2049 (Saldaña) Sex Crimes
Clarifies the existing definition of sexual battery so that it applies to health care professionals if the act is contrary to the will of the patient.
Status: Introduced

Women's History Month-
Fight for Women's Rights Stretches over 160 Years

Each March, during National Women’s History Month, we acknowledge the accomplishments and contributions of those who have helped to improve the status of women in our society. From Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, there are influential women who have, and continue to be, pioneers in working to make women full participants in all parts of our society.

Like many other amazing stories, the history of the women’s rights movement in America began with a small group of people questioning what they saw as an injustice.

At the Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted the Declaration of Sentiments, which outlined the ills of women’s sub-status in society. It was modeled after the Declaration of Independence.

Stanton’s document declared the woefully unfair status of women at that time.  Some of their points reiterated that:

• Married women were legally dead in the eyes of the law and women were not allowed to vote;
• Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation;
• Married women had no property rights;
• Husbands had legal power over and, responsibility for, their wives to the extent that they could imprison or beat them with impunity;
• Divorce and child custody laws favored men, giving no rights to women;
• Most occupations were closed to women ;and
• Women had few means to gain an education, since the overwhelming number of colleges or universities would not accept women students.

It is easy to see how the status of women in society has improved over the past 160 years. Today’s women would not be enjoying the civil liberties and rights they have today without the dedicated, hardworking, outspoken individuals who led the way.

Young girls of this era can list many diverse and interesting professions when they are asked, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” The dramatic social and legal changes that have occurred, which make it possible for our daughters to envision their endless potential, generally go unnoticed. Many people who have lived through the recent decades of this process have come to accept as a matter of fact all that has transpired before them. Many take the changes for granted, naively assuming that life has always been this way.

Life, however, has not always been what it is today. In fact, it was not that long ago that women were not involved in government at all.

Each year, as a part of National Women’s History Month, the National Women’s History Project selects a number of women to honor for their role in American history. From Bella Abzug and Abigail Adams to Eleanor Roosevelt, Katharine Graham and “Babe” Didrickson Zaharias, the women who have been honored since 1980 are truly women who have changed America for the better in culture, history, science, sports and politics. This year, the honorees are to be women that have created wonderful art throughout history.

SACRAMENTO & AROUND THE DISTRICT

Assembly Member Saldaña presents a Legislative Resolution honoring retiring San Diego City Librarian, Marilyn Gibbs.	Lori addresses the State Independent Living Council quarterly meeting
Assembly Member Saldaña and climate researcher Dr. Richard Somerville participate in a panel discussion on climate change at UCSD.	Lori at the dedication of a new Purple Heart monument at the San Diego Veterans Museum.