Bills that promote environmental, economic development, education and health improvements await signature
(SACRAMENTO) – Thirteen bills sponsored by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) cleared the legislative process and now head to the Governor:
AB 197 (E. Garcia) - Climate Equity and Transparency Act: brings greater equity, transparency, and public accountability to future climate change policies. AB 197 creates a Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies, in addition, this bill requires the Air Resources Board (ARB) to prioritize direct emission reductions and consider potential impacts when adopting regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Lastly, AB 197 will add two additional non-voting member’s from the legislature to the ARB.
“In order for California to remain an economic and environmental leader, the state will need to be a leader on issues related to equity. We need to prioritize the health and economic impacts of climate policy on vulnerable populations to ensure healthy communities and economic prosperity,” said Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia.
AB 1033 (E. Garcia) - Small Business Regulatory Impacts: authorizes the use of a single small business definition that can be used by state agencies when calculating the impact of proposed regulations on small businesses. AB 1033 streamlines the state regulatory approval process, resulting in lower costs and greater transparency.
AB 2056 (E. Garcia) - Cal Grants: requires the California Student Aid Commission to accept a high school senior’s transcript until August 31st following the academic year. The purpose of this date is to ensure pupils who must complete summer school to graduate are not excluded from Cal Grant awards.
“AB 2056 continues to chip away at systematic barriers high school students face when obtaining funding for higher education. This bill ensures all students who may qualify for Cal Grant awards compete on an equal playing field,” said Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia.
AB 2394 (E. Garcia) - Non-Emergency Medical Transportation: ensures that low-income Medi-Cal beneficiaries in rural areas have access to transportation to medical appointments. This will allow Medi-Cal recipients to be reimbursed for transportation to and from the doctor.
AB 2719 (E. Garcia) – Out-of-School Youth: makes out-of-school youth a state workforce development priority and therefore makes services accessible for this group through funds available under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
“Every 26 seconds another young person fails to finish high school and California accounts for more than one million of these students,” noted Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia. “Improving the alignment of California’s workforce development system with schools serving out-of-school youth is an important step to reducing the amount of dropouts and strengthening our workforce.”
In addition to the above bills, Assemblymember Garcia co-authored the following bills that also are waiting action from the Governor’s:
SB 32 (Pavley/E. Garcia) - California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 :Requires the Air Resources Board (ARB) to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030.
“This is a great win for California, as AB 197 and SB 32 are vital pieces of legislation that will continue our state’s legacy of prioritizing renewable energy resources and limiting carbon emissions,” said Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella.
AB 797 (Steinorth/E. Garcia) – Rescue Animal Protection: exempts a person from criminal and civil liability who removes an animal from a vehicle. One of the qualifications for said exemption is that the animal must be immediately turned over to a representative from law enforcement, animal control, or other emergency responder at the scene.
AB 1046 (Hill/E. Garcia) Ignition Interlock Devices: effective July 1, 2018, and until January 1, 2025, requires installation of an ignition interlock device for a specified period of time as a mandatory condition of receiving a restricted or reinstated driver’s license for driving-under-the-influence offenders statewide.
“This is a life-saving drunk driving measure I was proud to coauthor with Senator Jerry Hill,” said Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia. “This serious issue hits close to home. A few years ago, Celena Nava, a 25 year old Coachella resident was killed by a three time DUI offender while jogging home. The passage of this bill will help ensure that more Californians make it back home to their families safely,” he concluded.
SB 1074 (Hueso/E. Garcia) Geothermal Plants: authorizes revenues to recover lithium, metals, and other beneficial minerals from highly mineralized geothermal brines at existing geothermal facilities that are in disadvantaged communities. These activities will provide economic growth and local employment opportunities.
AB 1561 (Cristina Garcia/ E. Garcia) – Ban Tampon Tax: establishes a sales and use tax exemption for tampons, sanitary napkins, menstrual cups, and menstrual sponges.
AB 1577 (Eggman/ E. Garcia) – Cal Food Program: renames the State Emergency Food Assistance Program to the Cal Food Program and would rename the State Emergency Food Assistance Program Account to the Cal Food Account.
AB 2016 (Alejo/ E. Garcia) Ethnic Studies Curriculum: requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to oversee the development of a model curriculum in ethnic studies.
AB 2492 (Alejo/E. Garcia) Community Revitalization: authorizes an authority to carry out a community revitalization plan if the census tract or census block groups within the community revitalization and investment area are within a disadvantage community, as prescribed.
Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) serves as the Chairperson of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy. He represents the 56th district, which comprises the cities and communities of Blythe, Brawley, Bermuda Dunes, Calexico, Calipatria, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, El Centro, Holtville, Imperial, Indio, Mecca, Oasis, North Shore, Salton Sea, Thermal, Thousand Palms, and Westmorland
