[courtesy of California Progress Report]

In this week’s Democratic weekly radio address, Assemblymembers Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) and Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont) present the Assembly Democratic plan to solve California’s budget crisis.

You may listen in English or Spanish or read the transcript below.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Limits needed on precinct consolidations

By Assemblymember Alberto Torrico

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is telling the ICE to back off the local economy, reports the LA Daily News. In a letter to the ICE,the mayor said that responsible businesses which depend on undocumentedworkers for labor should be left alone, and that the agency shouldconcentrate on raiding companies that are suspected of mistreatingworkers instead.

Assemblyman Alberto Torrico  (D-Newark) has withdrawn his bill that would have prevented state pension funds from investing in private firms partly operated by foreign governments with human rights abuses, reports the Sac Bee. The bill was opposed by both CalPERS and CalSTRS, as well as Governor Schwarzenegger.

Meanwhile, the Assembly  Education Committee has passed a bill that would require school textbooks to discuss the history of Hmongs, reports the Sac Bee. The bill, introduced Assemblyman Juan Arambula (D-Fresno) was opposed by three Republicans on the panel.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

In this week’s Democratic weekly radio address, Assemblymembers Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) and Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont) emphasize Assembly Democrats’ core values and Republicans refusal to be fiscally responsible in the debate over balancing California’s state budget.

You may listen in English or Spanish. The transcript is below.

Hello, this is Assemblymember Noreen Evans, Chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus.

The art of budgeting is all about setting priorities and making sure the budget funds those priorities. This week Assembly Democrats met for our annual policy summit to set our legislative priorities and to address California’s $14 billion budget deficit.

In order to evaluate possible solutions to the budget deficit, it’s important to first understand how we got here. Only a few short years ago, when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was first elected, he promised to cut up California’s credit card and slash the vehicle license fee.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Assemblymember Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont) is hosting two events this weekend at the California State Democratic Convention in San Jose worth checking out. Tonight, he's hosting "Every Californian Counts!", a casino night hospitality suite inviting Democratic leaders and activists to "urge the Governor and the legislature to pass a budget that leaves no one behind." It starts at 10 p.m. in Suite B-4 at the convention center. (As an aside, I think it's wonderful that the budget crisis has finally united two of my greatest passions: saving the state from societal collapse and poker!) Tomorrow afternoon, Torrico is hosting a free screening of "Uncounted" at the Marriott Hotel Willow Glen Room at noon. Uncounted, according to the promo, "is an explosive new documentary that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 -- and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election. This controversial feature length film by Emmy award-winning director David Earnhardt examines in factual, logical, and yet startling terms how easy it is to change election outcomes and undermine election integrity across the U.S. Noted computer programmers, statisticians, journalists, and experienced election officials provide the irrefutable proof."

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

As tens of thousands of California homeowners struggle with the foreclosure crisis, renters are being caught in the mortgage meltdown as well. California Assemblymember Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont) has written legislation to insure renters know well ahead of time if their landlord is facing foreclosure. Assembly Bill 2586 will require lenders to provide a 60 day, tenant specific, notification of pending foreclosure action against the owners of the residence. There’s more in this Assembly Web Report.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]