- HOME
- About
- Topics
- Angelides
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- California Attorney General Race
- California Congressional Races
- California Democratic Party
- California Governor Race 2010
- California Legislative Races
- California Lt. Governor Race
- California Secretary of State Race
- California State Budget
- California State Controller
- Campaign Finance Reform
- Campaigns
- Cell Phones
- Children and Families
- Consumer Rights
- Corporate Accountability
- Criminal Justice
- Death With Dignity
- Disaster Preparation
- Discrimination and Civil Rights
- Education
- Elections and Voting
- Electoral College
- Energy
- Environment
- Farm Animal Cruelty Ballot Measure
- Flood Control
- Food Safety
- Gas Prices
- Governor's Election Race
- Gun control
- Health Care
- Health Insurance
- Hiram Johnson's Corner
- Housing
- Human Rights
- Humor
- Immigration
- Infrastructure
- Initiative Reform
- Insurance Commissioner Race
- Labor
- Language and Politics
- Legal System
- Media and Communication
- Minimum Wage
- Open Government
- Pharmaceutical Companies
- Politics
- Preschool
- Presidential Election 2008
- Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act Prop
- Prison Reform
- Privacy
- Privitization
- Prop 11-Redistricting/Reapportionment
- Prop 1A--High Speed Rail
- Prop 2--Treatment of Farm Animals
- Prop 3-Children's Hospital Bonds
- Prop 4 Waiting Period and Parental Notification
- Prop 5--Non-violent drug offenses
- Prop 7 and 10-Alternative Fuel and Energy Bond
- Prop 8 and-Marriage Equality
- Prop 85 Parental Notification
- Prop 86 Tobacco Tax
- Prop 87--Alternative Energy
- Prop 9 Parole
- Prop 90
- Prop 91--Transportation Funding
- Prop 92- Community Colleges
- Prop 93--Term Limits
- Props 94-97--Tribal Gaming
- Props 98 and 99
- Racial Disparities
- Responsible Lending
- Retirement Benefits
- Site of the Day
- Solar Initiative
- Structure of California Government
- Taxes
- Toxic Chemicals
- Transportation/Transit
- Water
- Westly
- Workers' Compensation
- Stories
- Cavala: A Constitutional Convention for California?
- Eight Years From Bush v. Gore to Palin: The Bridge to Nowhere
- California Proposition 11: Redistricting Commission – YES
- What Does a Republican Running in an Increasingly Democratic District Do? Why Aghazarian Wants to Make Legislative Races Non-Partisan
- Prop 1A and High Speed Rail's Role in Fighting Dependence on Oil and Sprawl in California
- Schwarzenegger Vetoes Bill Recommended By Autism Commission
- Governor Schwarzenegger Can Put a Dent in Auto Repair Fraud and Protect Consumers by Signing AB 2825
- California Assembly District 26: Republican Refuses to Debate Eisenhut in Close Race Democrats May Pick Up
- Bankruptcy Relief and the Bailout
- A Renewed Call for Mortgage Reform in California
- Preschool Legislation Aimed at Closing the Achievement Gap in California Becomes Law
- Debate: Opening Advantage Obama
- Directory
- Donate
- Contact Us
RSS Advertise Here
Deliver your message to thousands of readers every day.
Our readers are influential opinion makers - politicians, journalists and activists.
Our latest headlines
- Today’s California College Students: Indentured Servants?
- California Must Find the Funds to Feed Students
- PPIC Prop 8 Poll: Republicans and Evangelicals Motivated to Win
- Two Views on the Failure of the Campaign to Defeat Prop 8 and Optimism for Building a Structure for Victory in 2010
- Democrats Propose Majority Vote for California State Budget, Speaker Creates Accountability Committee
- Congressional Candidate Charlie Brown Concedes, Thanks Supporters, and Reflects on What Was Accomplished
- Looking Beyond Funding In Education Reform
About Us
The California Progress Report is published by Frank D. Russo, a longtime observer of and participant in California politics.
About Frank Russo.
About California Progress Report.
Got a news tip? Want to write a guest column? Contact Frank here.
Sponsors
Books
As California Legislature Winds Down--Some Progress, Some Stumbling On Bills to Regulate Toxics--Bad Water Bonds and Good Water Legislation
By Traci Sheehan
Executive Director
Planning and Conservation League
This week the Legislature approved two critical measures that advance efforts to reduce toxic chemicals in consumer products. AB 1879 (Feuer) authorizes the State to initiate a public process to establish a list of chemicals of concern and prioritize those chemicals on their potential for exposure and impacts on sensitive populations such as children and infants. SB 509 (Simitian) permits the State to create an online clearinghouse of information on the hazards associated with various chemicals, giving health advocates, consumers, and others easier access to this information.
Two other important toxic chemical bills remain stuck on the Assembly Floor after failing to receive enough votes to head to the Governor's desk. SB 1713 (Migden) enacts the Toxin-Free Toddlers and Babies Act, prohibiting bisphenol-A from any bottle, cup, or other container that may be used by children three years of age or younger. SB 1313 (Corbett) bans perfluorinated compounds from food containers.
Some Assembly Members are not convinced that bisphenol-A and perfluorinated compounds are harmful to our environment and health despite the prevalence of these chemicals in our food, water, and bodies - and evidence that the chemicals can cause devastating long term developmental, reproductive, behavioral, and neurological effects.
Both bills will have a chance to be reconsidered by the Assembly in the final hours of the session. Please urge your Assembly Member to protect us from dangerous chemicals by voting in support of SB 1313 and SB 1713.
Bad Bonds and Good Legislation: Special Committee on Water Gets an Earful
On Tuesday, the Assembly Special Committee on Water passed two strong water bills to the Assembly Floor and also heard testimony from many parties who have serious concerns about proposals to place a nearly $10 billion water bond on the November ballot.
The committee's first order of business was to pass SBX2 1 (Perata), which appropriates existing bond funds for much needed ecosystem restoration, water quality, and water supply reliability projects, and ABX2 7 (Wolk) , which ensures water planning and management will incorporate existing information on the impacts of climate change to water resources. SBX2 1 subsequently passed off of the Assembly Floor on Thursday and ABX2 7 is scheduled to be heard on the Assembly Floor on Friday. Both of these bills have garnered broad support and are priority bills for the environmental community.
The committee then turned its attention to an informational hearing on the Assembly water bond proposal, ABX2 8, and the bond proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. Both these proposals would provide over $9 billion in bond funds. Both include $3 billion for highly controversial water storage projects including new dams. The informational hearing consisted of several panels of stakeholders giving their input on the water proposals.
PCL's Jonas Minton participated in one of the panel discussions. His testimony cautioned that all versions of the bond have significant unresolved issues, including conflicts over how funding for storage projects would be distributed, and how to construct and fund an effective Delta restoration plan. "Rushing a bond through this session without addressing these significant problems may create more problems than it will solve," noted Minton after the hearing.
In addition to the stakeholder panels, the committee heard from the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO). The LAO reported that the estimated debt service on ABX2 8 would reach $638 million per year. In public comment, the Service Employees International Union, the California Teachers Association, the California Faculty Association, and the California Tax Reform Association all expressed concern that such a large debt service would further stress the state's ability to provide adequate resources for education and health care.
For more information, you can watch the hearing webcast. Highlights include Assembly Member Feuer's comments on sustainable funding (02:30:56) as well as testimony by PCL's Jonas Minton (03:32:09) and Community Water Center's Susana de Anda (03:56:18).
Where do we go from here?
PCL has been working hard to develop a broad coalition in favor of a truly positive water policy. To date, fifty environmental, environmental justice, and community-based organizations have joined together to support ten comprehensive water policy principles outlined in a letter opposing the Governor and Senator Feinstein's water bond proposal. Our coalition will continue to work with the Legislature to reshape California water policy to address California's water needs with sustainable and equitable solutions.
Traci Sheehan is the Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation League, a statewide, nonprofit lobbying organization. For more than thirty years, PCL has fought to develop a body of environmental laws in California that is the best in the United States. PCL staff review virtually every environmental bill that comes before the California Legislature each year. It has testified in support or opposition of thousands of bills to strengthen California's environmental laws and fight off rollbacks of environmental protections.
Comments
Post a comment
Get Email Updates
Want the California Progress Report by email? Once a week, we'll send you the latest and greatest headlines.
© 2008 California Progress Report Our copyright and fair use policy.
Powered by Mandate Media. Logo design by Jane Norling.
