When the Legislature convenes for the 2023-2024 session December 5th, some big issues will be waiting for us. They include crime, the cost of living, water supply  – these problems and many more need immediate attention. According to a recent report from the Attorney General’s office, violent crime increased by 6.7% from 2020 to 2021. Property crimes increased 3%, the total arrest rate decreased 7.3%, adults on probation are at the lowest level since 1980, and the total number of full-time criminal justice personnel decreased by 2.7%. So crime rose, but law enforcement personnel, arrests and… read more

The current legislative session ended on August 31st. In normal times, no more business would be conducted by the Legislature in Sacramento until the next session officially begins on December 5th. But these are far from normal times. Violent crime is exploding and the homelessness crisis is worsening.  Gas prices are approaching $7 a gallon, and families are being forced to choose between paying the rent, buying food or putting gas in the car. The Legislature needs to take immediate action, We should pass legislation suspending our state’s gasoline tax, the nation’s highest. This could be… read more

Fentanyl is taking it’s deadly toll on our state and nation. According to a recent press release, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 5,091 pounds of fentanyl in Imperial and San Diego Counties during the first 9 months of Fiscal Year 2022. That’s 60 percent of the 8,425 pounds seized in the entire country. Drug precursors are typically manufactured in China, then processed in Mexico and smuggled into the U.S. by cartels across our increasingly wide-open southern border. According to the San Diego County Medical Examiner, fentanyl related overdose deaths increased 2,375 percent in San… read more

As a trained Project Wildlife Native Songbird Rehabilitator, my experience raising orphaned and injured songbirds and returning them to the wild has guided me in legislation I introduce and support. I’m happy to report that most of that legislation has been signed into law. The “Beagle Freedom Bill,” which I co-authored, requires research institutions that use dogs or cats to offer those animals for adoption. I also co-authored legislation that indemnifies good Samaritans who break into hot cars to rescue trapped animals, and I supported a bill that bans puppy mills and encourages adoption… read more

As any Economics 101 student knows, when the federal government creates billions/trillions of dollars out of thin air, the result is massive inflation. That inflation has now reached a 40-year high, and those with low and moderate incomes are bearing the heaviest burden. Even so, Californians pay more. Compared to national averages, Californians pay a 46% premium for gasoline, (now approaching $7 a gallon) a 37.4% premium for diesel fuel, a 73% premium on residential electricity, and nearly a 50% premium for natural gas. 47% of all Californians and 61% of renters report that housing costs… read more

In 2020, there were just under 46,000 suicides in the United States, making it the nation’s 12th-leading cause of death. California’s suicide rate is 10.7 per 100,000, compared to 13.4 nationally. Suicide rates across the United States have been increasing, and are now double homicide rates. Obviously, more can be done to end this ongoing tragedy. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and this session I co-authored Assembly Concurrent Resolution 37, declaring September 5 through September 11 Suicide Prevention Week in California. To view ACR 37, please click here. While suicide… read more

Legislation in Sacramento often flies under the radar. Here are a few bills you may have missed that made it through, along with some that didn’t: Bills forwarded to the Governor that remain unsigned as of this writing include AB 2188, prohibiting employers from terminating or refusing to hire persons using cannabis if impaired work performance is unproven; SB 70, requiring children to complete a year of kindergarten before entering the first grade; and SB 1157, phasing in additional water conservation targets by reducing indoor use from 52.5 gallons per person/day (gpcd) to 42 gpcd by 2030… read more

In 2011, federal courts ruled that California prisons were overcrowded -- populations had to be reduced. As a result, Assembly Bill 109 was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. The state’s prison system was “realigned,” meaning the responsibility to incarcerate, monitor and track lower-level offenders would now rest with the counties, not the state. 80 percent of incarcerated felons have Substance Use Disorders (SUDs), and in the San Diego region alone, 1 in 3 arrestees in 2018 tested positive for more than one drug. But county jails weren’t funded or equipped to hold felons serving… read more

The 2021-2022 legislative session is history --- we adjourned around 1:30 a.m. on September 1st. As usual, some of the most significant legislation was delayed until the last days, with votes sometimes occurring late at night and in the wee hours of the morning. In light of continuing attempts to place Sexually Violent Predators (SVPs) in rural San Diego County, I was a big supporter SB 1034 which creates more structure and transparency to make local authorities and stakeholders participants in the SVP placement process. I’m happy to report that SB 1034 passed without opposition. Other… read more

California’s mental health system is struggling to keep up with demand.  Those seriously in need of treatment are trapped in a rotating cycle that takes them from living on the street, to the emergency room, sometimes to jail, then back to the street. Since more serious cases get the most attention, people with milder symptoms don’t receive needed care and often fall into the same cycle. Today, only about a third of Californians with mental illness receive the care they need, and 31 of California’s 58 counties with a “high need” for mental health services report a shortage of mental health… read more