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 is a member of California Commission on the Status of Women.

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

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EVENT REMINDER!

Assembly Member Saldaña hosts Home Ownership and Home Mortgage Resource Fair this Thursday

Assembly Member Lori Saldaña will host a free Consumer Home Ownership and Mortgage Resource Fair from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday April 24th at the Caltrans Building, 4050 Taylor Street in Old Town. 

Representatives from several state and private agencies will be on hand to provide information on buying and keeping a home in the current housing crisis. Participants will include CalVet Home Loans, California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development  (HUD) and San Diego Home Loan Education and Counseling. 

To RSVP or for more information, please call (619) 645-3090.

Cleaning Up E-Waste

(Sacramento) - One of the newest and most toxic items in the garbage stream heading into the nation's landfills is e-waste. The hazardous materials in computer parts, cell phones and other electronic devices have the potential to become a toxic nightmare. California Assembly Democrats are taking action now to reduce the impact of e-waste. As we learn in this Assembly Web Report, Assembly Member Lori Saldaña has authored legislation to phase out the use of hazardous materials in all consumer electronics sold in California by the year 2010.

Legislative Hearing on HOAs draws passionate crowd

Last month, more than 90 people attended a hearing of the Assembly Committee on Housing & Community Development to provide feedback on the role the state should play in providing oversight to homeowners associations (HOAs) in common interest developments (CIDs).

Assembly Member Lori Saldaña, Chair of the Housing & Community Development Committee, convened the hearing in San Diego during which the Committee took testimony from experts and the public on a proposed CID Bureau. The proposed Bureau would offer education to homeowners and board members, provide non-judicial dispute resolution and, when appropriate, enforce laws governing these developments.

Many of the attendees who came to voice their opinion on the proposal were frustrated homeowners who, under the current structure, feel their rights are often overlooked and are excited at the potential prospect to hold boards accountable for their actions.

Saldaña noted that many homeowners who have a dispute with their HOA are forced to pursue costly and time-consuming litigation. Homeowners who cannot work out their conflict with their HOA on their own and cannot afford litigation are denied any recourse for the violation of laws designed for their protection.

"Many of the disputes between homeowners and their HOAs don't involve large sums of money, so costly litigation isn't always justified," she said.

"Our proposed bureau would provide an inexpensive forum for dispute resolution that would save the homeowner and the taxpayer the expense of taking these cases to the courts."

The proposal, Assembly Bill 567, has passed out of the Assembly and is currently set to be heard in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee in June.

To get more information, share your insights or register your opinion on this measure, please contact the district office at 619-645-3090.

Fire Chief named AD 76 Woman of the Year

Assembly Member Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) named the City of San Diego's Fire Chief, Tracy Jarman, as the 76th Assembly District's "Woman of the Year."

"Chief Jarman's accomplishments serve as inspiration for other young women and girls considering occupations that have been historically occupied by men," said Saldaña.

Jarman's appointment as Fire Chief is a pinnacle of a 23 year career with the San Diego Fire Department. Since joining the Fire Department in 1984, Chief Jarman has served in a variety positions within the department. In 2003, she became Assistant Fire Chief, which placed her in charge of Support Service areas for all Fire, Emergency Medical and Lifeguard Services within the City of San Diego. Prior to her appointment as Assistant Fire Chief, she served as Deputy Chief overseeing the Fire and Emergency Medical Services 911 Center for five years.

When she assumed her duties in fall of 2006, Chief Jarman became the first female fire chief in the history of San Diego. She is one of only a dozen other women fire chiefs in the country.

The Assembly commemorates Women's History Month each March with a ceremony in which legislators select an outstanding woman from their district for recognition. To view the entire Woman of the Year ceremony, log onto the March 5th Assembly Floor Session webcast on the Cal Channel website at www.thecalchannel.com.

Legislation aimed at increasing energy efficient residential construction passes first hurdle

SACRAMENTO - Assembly Bill 2112, a landmark measure that would require both increased energy efficiency and onsite energy generation for new residential construction in California passed out of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources.

These types of developments - or Zero Net Energy Buildings - combine energy efficient building construction with distributed power generation so that a building is able to produce as much energy as it uses over the course of a year.

Existing Zero Net Energy developments include a 56 unit affordable housing community in Poway, California known as SOLARA. This development incorporates conservation technology and green materials in its construction, and utilizes photovoltaic panels mounted on the roofs and carports to supply all of its electrical demand.

Assembly Member Lori Saldaña, the author of AB 2112 and Chair of the Assembly's Housing Committee, said that these requirements for Zero Net Energy construction would serve a number of the state's environmental objectives.

"The state is committed to reducing greenhouse gases from fossil fuel power generation," Saldaña said. "Incorporating energy saving technology and onsite renewable power generation like solar into new residential construction will make a significant contribution to the achievement of those objectives."

"Instead of continuing to fret about dwindling resources, it just makes sense to conserve energy when we have the technology to do so."

"Aside from environmental benefits, efficiency also means lower utility bills," she said.

Both the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Energy Commission have recommended the adoption of Zero Net Energy construction to address the state's energy, housing and environmental conservation needs.

The bill moves to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.

Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Workshops Offered

The California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) in Kearny Mesa offers workshops on a variety of energy-related subjects for homeowners and businesses. Upcoming topics include Solar for Homeowners, Solar Water Heating Basics, Solar Water Heating Installation, and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for New Construction.

CCSE also offers information on a number of sustainable energy incentive programs. For more information, call the Center at (858) 244-1177 or visit their website at www.energycenter.org.

2008 Legislative Update

Environmental Protection & Energy Efficiency

AB 218 (Saldaña) - Electronic Waste
Would require smaller hand-held electronic devices sold in California to be free of hazardous materials, including lead, mercury and cadmium. These pose a serious health hazard to employees of 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

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: Passed from Asm. Natural Resources Committee

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.
Status: In Asm. Natural Resource Committee

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. Local Government Committee

Military Families

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

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: Passed from Asm. Housing and Community Development Committee. Currently in the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary

Public Safety

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: Passed out of the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions

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

SACRAMENTO & AROUND THE DISTRICT

Assembly Member Saldaña rallies parents, teachers and students against education budget cuts at Serra High School in Tierrasanta	Speaker-Elect Karen Bass, Assembly Member Saldaña and San Diego Unified Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier address budget concerns of parents, teachers and students at Roosevelt Middle School in Hillcrest