Caucus News

Bob Wieckowski

Assembly Judiciary Committee approves Wieckowski private student loan bill

June 13, 2017

Sacramento – The Assembly Judiciary Committee today approved a bill by Senator Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) that would provide relief to Californians struggling to pay off their private student loan debt by lowering the wage garnishment cap to the same level as people who defaulted on federal student loans. 

Currently, the garnishment rate is 25 percent of a person’s paycheck for those who have defaulted on their private student loan.  But the cap on federal loans is only 15 percent.  Wieckowski’s SB 16 would lower the private rate to 15 percent. 

Ed Hernandez

Advisory: Senate Health Leader to Visit Communities Living with Contaminated Drinking Water

June 13, 2017

Senator Hernandez will tour parts of the Central Valley, speaking with community members

California is facing a drinking water crisis because more than one million Californians are exposed to unsafe drinking water in their homes and schools each year. Some Californians have lived with this problem for a decade or more. This is a statewide issue with a large concentration of impacted communities located in the Central Valley, with Latino and low-income communities disproportionately affected.

Holly J. Mitchell

June 13, 2017: Watch, listen to Sen. Holly J. Mitchell explain state's 2017-18 budget

June 13, 2017

Watch, listen to Sen. Holly J. Mitchell, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, explain the state's 2017-18 budget by clicking on the image above.

Ben Hueso

Senator Hueso’s Bill To Secure $2.1 Million for Tijuana River Valley Unanimously Passes Senate Committee

June 13, 2017

San Diego, CA… Senator Ben Hueso and Principal Co-Author Assemblymember Todd Gloria today presented before the State Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee, Senate Bill 507 which will reallocate $2.1 million for the restoration and recovery efforts associated with the Tijuana River Valley (TJRV).   The legislative proposal unanimously passed 9-0 and is now headed to Senate Appropriations.

Senator Newman Secures Victories for Senate District 29 in State Budget Bill

June 13, 2017

Sacramento, CA – In his inaugural term as a California State Senator, Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) has successfully secured several victories for the people of Senate District 29 in this year’s State Budget bill.  Public safety, schools, the environment, and local veterans were Newman’s top priorities for SD 29, in negotiations with the Governor’s office.

The following funding items were secured by Newman, who serves as Chair of the Veteran’s Affairs Committee:

Senator Mike McGuire

McGuire advances wins for Northern California in State Budget

June 13, 2017

Sacramento, CA – With the release of the California State Budget bills, Senator Mike McGuire is pleased that many of the critical issues he fought for that will benefit Northern California have been included in the state’s budget. 

Robert M. Hertzberg

Bill Creating Compassionate Options for Arresting Mentally Ill Passes Committee

June 13, 2017

SACRAMENTO – Legislation by Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, that provides more options for law enforcement on how to handle people suffering a mental health crisis when they are arrested rather than taking them to jail passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee today.

SB 237 was unanimously approved as part of the committee’s consent calendar and goes next to the full Assembly for consideration.

Bob Wieckowski

Senate committee passes Wieckowski bill to expedite land transfer for new Fremont school

June 13, 2017

Sacramento – The Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 178, authored by Senator Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) this morning to allow for the development of a much-needed elementary school near downtown Fremont to help address school overcrowding issues in the Fremont Unified School District (FUSD).

Senator Mike McGuire

Senator McGuire drives North Coast priorities in Cannabis Budget Trailer Bill

June 12, 2017

Sacramento, CA – California’s North Coast is the epicenter of cannabis country with four Northern California counties growing approximately 60 percent of the cannabis in America.

Senator Mike McGuire, who represents those cannabis rich counties, has been the lead legislator in the Senate to help craft the cannabis budget trailer bill that was released today. 

Senator Steven Bradford

Bradford Bill to Help Carson Residents

June 12, 2017

Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) has introduced Senate Bill 343, to provide an exclusion from state income tax for residents of a housing development known as the Carousel Tract in Carson, California.

In the 1960’s, an industrial property was sold by the Shell Corporation to the Barclay Hollander Curci Corporation to create a housing development of 285 homes in the city of Carson.  In 2016 workers began to remove contaminated soil left buried under residential property in the Carousel neighborhood.