Politics & Government
Legislative Wrap-Up: Veterans Town Hall, Equal Rights Amendment, College Costs
Here's some of what East Bay legislators were doing in Sacramento and Washington this past week
A Veterans Town Hall meeting organized by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the VFW Hall, 301 Main St. in Pleasanton.
Swalwell and Oakland Department of Veterans Affairs Director Douglas Bragg will provide an update on efforts to reduce the backlog of veterans' disability claims.
About 70 percent of Bay Area veterans' claims have been pending for more than 125 days with an average wait time of almost two years.
Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) this week applauded President Obama's plan to address affordability and access to colleges and universities.
“President Obama is offering a bold effort to rein in skyrocketing college costs. As Congress works to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, his important ideas must be drivers in our conversations to push America’s higher education system into the future," said Miller, a member of the House Education and Workforce Committee.
The state Assembly this week approved on a 55-10 vote a joint resolution sponsored by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) that urges Congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.The resolution, AJR 18, specifically asks Congress to approve Senate Joint Resolution 10, the amendment that was approved by the Senate and House in 1972 but failed to be ratified by three-fourths of the states.
“Women are not yet in every corporate boardroom or every political office or every profession,” Skinner said. “Discrimination against women remains strong and prevalent. This resolution is about ensuring that all women are treated equally under the law.”
The Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a bill by state Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis) to help ensure oil and gas drilling companies pay for environmental damage caused by drilling.
The bill, SB 655, would strengthen bonding requirements for these companies, so money is available to pay for damages.
“This legislation has no cost to the state and will help protect taxpayer dollars that are currently used to cover the cost of responding to abandoned wells and other violations by oil and gas drillers,” Wolk said.
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee on Wednesday approved a request by state Sen. Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) to audit the Public Utility Commission Transportation Reimbursement Account.
The account includes funds to oversee and regulate limousine service in California.
The audit request comes after a limousine fire killed five women on May 4 as they were being driven across the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge on their way to a wedding party.
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