Senator Henry Stern

WHO:               State Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) with victims and community groups, along with a briefing from Southern Division California Highway Patrol leaders.

WHAT:             Building on last year’s bipartisan legislation and funding efforts, Stern will announce legislation to combat side-shows, street racing, and reckless driving across the region.

PORTER RANCH, CA – Today Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) stood with community advocates to roll out a roadmap to close the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage facility. As the CPUC contemplates the “feasibility” of closing Aliso Canyon as late as 2035, pursuant to a law (SB 380) Stern helped write back in 2015, the two-term state Senator for the San Fernando Valley pledged to introduce new follow-on legislation to drive the process forward, and bring the necessary investment and alignment needed to expedite closure next year.  

GLASGOW – As the international climate conference wraps up in Scotland, California leaders are taking action to stop the “silent killer” of extreme heat waves intensified by climate change back home. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara will sponsor legislation jointly authored by Assembly Members Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando Valley) and Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) to establish the nation’s first ranking system for heat waves, a critical step toward preventing heat-related deaths and injuries.

LOS ANGELES – The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) voted 4-0 to increase the natural storage capacity of the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility by over 20 percent.  Currently, the facility is capped at 34 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas storage, but the new decision will raise this to 41.16 bcf.  Citing the possibility of an exceptionally cold winter season in Southern California, the PUC stated that natural gas demand could constrain supply, despite the state’s aggressive climate and energy goals.

SACRAMENTO –  In the past week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 790, SB 406 and SB 317  by Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) into law. Governor Newsom had previously signed all 4 other Stern bills passed to his desk. Stern's new laws aim to improve conditions for nursing home patients, help those in need of mental health assistance, promote wildlife corridors, and tackle wildfire prevention, power shut offs, and oil pollution to the Governor’s desk. 

Wildlife Corridors

MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE, LOS ANGELES - Governor Newsom announced today a historic $40 million investment to combat rising anti-Semitism and other acts of hate, with a particular emphasis on the public school system, in light of new evidence showing a lack of knowledge about the Holocaust and other recent genocides among California students.  

SACRAMENTO – The most vulnerable part of anyone’s life is often the beginning and the end. At the end of life, some of our most vulnerable members of society live in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs).  At the beginning, low income moms and babies need more healthcare coverage.  Yesterday, Governor Newsom signed two bills authored and co-authored by Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles).   Stern’s legislation mirrors life, with bills on more just beginnings and ends of life for the most vulnerable.

SACRAMENTO – SB 63, The Wildfire Resilience through Community and Ecology Act, by Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles), has been signed into law and will take effect on January 1.  SB 63 establishes a Fire Resiliency Corps at the state and neighborhood levels designed to link with the President’s Civilian Climate Corps proposal, among other things.  

SACRAMENTO –  As the Legislature recessed for the remainder of the year, Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) was able to move bills to improve conditions for nursing home patients,  help those in need of mental health assistance, promote wildlife corridors, and tackle wildfire prevention, power shut offs, and oil pollution to the Governor’s desk.  To date, Governor Newsom has signed two of those bills regarding public safety power shutoff and electric grid resilience, and the Governor has until October 10, 2021, to sign, veto, or allow Stern’s other measures to become law w

LOS ANGELES – The largest wildlife corridor project in the world, across the 101 Freeway at Liberty Canyon in Agoura Hills, is one step closer to breaking ground.  Last month, the Wildlife Conservation Board, with funding secured by Senator Stern in this year’s climate change budget negotiations, awarded $20 million to the project, matching a recent private philanthropic gift from the Annenberg Foundation.