[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jenny Oropeza
California State Senator

This summer marks the 40th anniversary of the “Poor People’s Campaign” to address issues of economic justice conceived by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. shortly before his death.

And while the Civil Rights movement stressed integrated schools and voting rights for African-Americans, the Poor People’s March encompassed the economically disadvantaged of all races: Latinos, Native Americans, Third-World immigrants and poor whites.

In his book, Why We Can’t Wait, King endorsed a “Bill of Rights for the Disadvantaged” and the idea has as much merit today as it did when the march ended 40 years ago. Dr. King’s agenda included plans for massive federal investments in jobs and housing programs. The march went on after his tragic death in April of 1968, but these plans never passed Congress. Forty years later, how are the poor doing in California?

The answer is that while some progress has been made, the poor in California are now falling behind the rest of the nation. In 1970, California averaged 20 percent fewer poor families than the national average (12 percent of Californians versus 15 percent of all Americans).

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jenny Oropeza
California State Senator

Since Day One of the modern environmental movement that began in the 1960s, California has shown national leadership. We passed landmark Clean Air and Water acts, with bipartisan support, and quick federal adoption of Golden State initiatives set the standard for 50 states — and many countries worldwide.

Among several pro-environment bills passed last year, Assembly Bill 32 became internationally famous for committing California to lead the fight for more energy-efficient buildings and reduced greenhouse-gas pollution.

The next logical step: Ensuring future generations of California’s schoolchildren are protected from air pollution and life-threatening respiratory diseases from nearby freeways. Senate Bill 1507 seeks this goal by barring new construction or expansion of freeways within 500 feet of a school.

With help from the Legislature’s 27-member Latino Caucus and others, the public is becoming increasingly aware of the serious health risks to students and employees when a school is located near direct sources of air pollution.

Consider two alarming facts:

A recent state study of Los Angeles area freeways measured fuel particulates near freeways at up to 25 times greater than less congested areas.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jenny Oropeza
California State Senator

Early one Tuesday morning last January, Quirino Mateo Antonio, 31, was barreling down Sepulveda Boulevard at 95 mph in his Toyota pickup. At about 3:30 a.m., as Antonio’s truck crossed Wilmington Avenue, his vehicle slammed into a Cadillac — killing Juan Gabriel Ontiveros, a 32-year-old father of four.

Tests showed Antonio’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.

When is one drink too many? That is what many should worry about after an evening of fun with friends or family before deciding if it’s safe to get behind the wheel of a 4,000-pound battering ram.

Extreme drunken drivers, because of either addiction or apathy, don’t care about the law or about the safety of fellow motorists. While drinking alcohol impairs one’s judgment, intoxication is neither an excuse for stupidity — nor a license for murder.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jenny Oropeza
California State Senator

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

In the post term-limits era, it has been unusual to have a contested race for Speaker. Speakers Bustamante, Villaraigosa, Hertzberg, and Wesson were all pre-ordained. Speaker Nunez emerged as speaker after a lengthy four-way battle with now Sen. Jenny Oropeza, and then-Assemblymembers Dario Frommer and Joe Nation.
 
So this year's wide open battle -- with an election set for March 11 -- is fairly unique. The number of candidates and potential candidates is larger than it's ever been. And Nunez said yesterday he's not making an early endorsement.
 
Unlike Congress, the election will be decided by outgoing members as well as those who will be returning next year. For example, Speaker Nunez, Assemblymember Mark Leno, and other termed out legislators will get votes. Yet freshmen elected in November won't get a vote for the Speaker that will lead them (they do get a formal vote in December, but Speaker Nunez said yesterday the vote would come from within the Democratic Caucus next month, making that vote pro forma only).
 
Assembly-watchers tell me that a Speaker election is unlike any other. It's a personal, member-to-member struggle. Personal loyalties and friendships are put ahead of ideology. The role of outside interest groups is limited.
 
That said, here's the current line-up and the odds of them picking up the Speakership.
 
Karen Bass   3-1
 

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jenny Oropeza
California State Senator

We are killing our children by poisoning the air they breathe.

At the same time, it comes as no surprise, that those living closest to pollution sources like congested freeways, refineries and the ports also are the ones most likely to believe regional air pollution is a problem and are more willing than most to support paying for improvements, according to some of California’s top policy experts. Such experts include respected pollster Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California; Alberto Mendoza, president of the Coalition for Clean Air; and Manual Pastor, director of the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity at the University of Southern California.

Baldassare, Mendoza and Pastor were members of a kickoff policy panel I moderated Nov. 30 on Latinos and air pollution sponsored by the 27 Latino members of the Legislature. Other panels during the recent two-day event in Santa Monica focused on health impacts, economic costs, regulation, decision making and advocacy.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jenny Oropeza
California State Senator

How many times have you ever had to hold your breath while walking out of a building because of a cloud of cigarette smoke?

Some may argue that you have the freedom to walk a different direction.

Or what about the type of hotel room you stay in?

Yes, you can opt to stay in a non-smoking room if available.

Now, imagine you are a child strapped – dare we say trapped? – in a car filled with cigarette smoke…

Do children really have a choice in making an adult put out that dangerous cigarette?

When California banned smoking in the workplace and, most notably, at restaurants and bars, the idea was to ensure that people were not forced to be exposed to a harmful environment.

That is because among the most important obligations of government is to protect its residents.

But how broad and how far that protection extends is at the center of many policy debates we have in America.