Latest news with #Arreguín
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Climate activists miss East Bay state senator with Easter Sunday protest
The Brief Protesters gathered outside State Senator Jesse Arreguín's office on Easter Sunday to urge him to vote yes on the Climate Superfund Bill. Arreguín's office was vacant for the weekend and the protesters' messages were washed away by custodial staff. The Climate Superfund Bill, which would hold polluters accountable for greenhouse gas emissions, is expected to be heard by legislators in the near future. OAKLAND, Calif. - Protesters marched to State Senator Jesse Arreguín's office on Sunday, demanding he vote yes on an environmentally-focused piece of legislation. Unfortunately, the senator and his staff did not receive the message. The protest was organized by the Bay Area chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a political action organization, who wanted Arreguín to vote yes on the Climate Superfund Bill (SB684), which would force fossil fuel polluters to pay for the damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Attendees of the event carried signs, left chalk drawings, and hid plastic Easter eggs containing statements about holding polluters responsible for their actions around the premises. Arreguín's Oakland office is only staffed Monday through Friday. A staffer said they were unaware of the protest until KTVU called for comment, and added that the office's janitorial staff had reported picking up "litter" and washing away chalk drawings prior to Monday morning. The backstory The protesters were motivated by Arreguín abstaining from another climate-focused bill, the Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act, earlier this month. That item, SB 222, only received five of the seven necessary votes at an April 8 hearing. Arreguín, who made climate action a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign for state senate, was one of five representatives who abstained from the vote. Even if Arreguín had been present for the Easter Sunday protest, the action may have been for naught — the April 22 hearing for the Climate Superfund Bill was canceled at the request of its author, Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando) on April 10. A spokesperson for Menjivar's office said the bill's hearing will be rescheduled, but a date has not yet been set. "I am committed to supporting clean, healthy communities and proud to continue the East Bay's strong tradition of protecting our environment, parks, and public health. I appreciate the advocates' passion and look forward to meaningful conversations once this bill is formally back before us," Arreguín said in a statement to KTVU. "As an advocate for environmental causes, I was proud to vote for multiple bills this week that advance our climate action goals. I respect the right to advocate and always encourage folks to reach out to my office directly — we welcome those conversations." Big picture view California is one of several states that have proposed or passed Climate Superfund legislation. New York and Vermont both passed their own versions in 2024, and four other states — Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Oregon — have introduced similar bills. The bill, which was introduced in the state assembly by Dawn Addis (D-San Luis Obispo), would require fossil fuel polluters to pay for their share of the damage caused by greenhouse gases released into the covered period, which the bill defines as between the 1990 and 2024 calendar years. That damage is defined as stemming from the extraction, production, refinement, sale or combustion of fossil fuels or petroleum products, to help relieve the state's current and future taxpayers of the burden. If passed, the bill would require the California Environmental Protection Agency to determine and publish, within 90 days, a list of responsible parties, which the bill defines as an entity with a major ownership interest in a business engaged in extracting or refining fossil fuels that operated in the state during the covered period. That entity would also have to be determined to be responsible for more than 1 billion metric tons of covered fossil fuel emissions. "The Central Coast has faced the devastating impacts of climate change, from floods and wildfires to coastal erosion. This year's fires in Los Angeles serve as a stark reminder that collective inaction has catastrophic consequences for all Californians," Addis said in a press release. "We can't deny that climate change is real, and we must take action now to prepare and rebuild after these devastating events."
Politico
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Meet the freshman lawmaker skipping a grade
Presented by This is part of a Playbook series featuring conversations with California's new class of state lawmakers. CHRONIC OVERACHIEVER: California state Sen. Jesse Arreguín may be taking on the most work of any freshman lawmaker. The former Berkeley mayor is chairing not one, but two committees — Senate Public Safety and Human Services — a rare feat for a legislative newbie. And Arreguín has big shoes to fill: He took over a seat previously held by longtime progressive state Sen. Nancy Skinner. She served as the powerful chair of the Senate Budget Committee and was widely respected for her deep knowledge on everything from the criminal justice system to how to wield her authority to help the poor and neediest Californians. Arreguín shared that when Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire called him to relay his assignments, he stressed how rare it was for a member, especially a new one, to chair two committees. 'I really think it's a sign of his confidence in my ability to lead these two committees, and I think alignment with his priorities and the caucus' priorities on these issues,' the senator said. Both the Senate and Assembly now have new faces helming their Public Safety committees, which are traditionally political hot potatoes given the controversial nature of the bills they handle. The committees often pit Republicans and moderate Democrats interested in more stringent sentencing against progressives who advocate for second chances and tend to focus on programs aimed at crime prevention. Arreguín opposed tough-on-crime ballot initiative Proposition 36 last fall, like fellow freshman Democrat Nick Schultz, who is the senator's Public Safety committee counterpart in the Assembly. Even so, Arreguín acknowledged he'll likely be charged with helping put in place pieces of the voter-approved measure. He also spoke passionately about how California can better address homelessness, saying the state needs to play a role in aligning city and county governments on the issue. Playbook sat down with the senator for his take on his new roles. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity. Chairing the Public Safety Committee is an interesting gig. Some lawmakers try to steer clear of it because of the controversial legislation that comes through. How do you feel about taking it on and what will your philosophy be? These issues are really important to our constituents in the East Bay, and so that's why I'm really excited to chair this committee. My vision is, we need to create safer neighborhoods, and that means that we need more police. We do need to enforce our laws. But we also need to focus on prevention, and it's that delicate balance that we have to achieve. I think that's the perspective of my constituents in Oakland and the East Bay. Thousands of people I talked to when I ran for Senate — people were obviously very concerned around public safety, but they don't want to see more people filling our prisons. They want to make sure that we're investing in prevention programs that are addressing gun violence, that are making sure that people have a strong social service safety net, that people have access to jobs, that we're addressing the root causes that lead to public safety. Did you vote for Proposition 36? I opposed Prop 36 … I felt that it was duplicative of the work the Legislature had already done, and it was actually going to roll back the progress that we've made in helping expand access to treatment and services for people who have serious drug and mental health conditions who are in our criminal justice system. This is going to mean more people going into our jails. And I think we're going backwards. But the voters have spoken, and so our responsibility now is to work with [Gov. Gavin Newsom's] administration to budget and implement that law and to make sure that we have the treatment programs in place so that is a viable path for people, or else we're just going to see more people just crowding our jails, and I don't think that's the right direction. In light of Fremont's recent camping ban, what do you think of that decision and the issue of camping bans, in general? I frankly thought that the aspect of Fremont's ban where people that aid or abet people [living] in an encampment [could face criminal penalties] — I thought that was unnecessary. Because there are individuals who provide meals or first aid to people who are living in encampments. We should be encouraging people to help people who are poor and need water and need food and need access to resources. So to criminalize people who do that, I think is wrong. But I do understand Fremont's need to try to have some sort of encampment policy. I think the bigger issue is … each city is kind of on its own to figure out what to do. The governor has urged cities to adopt encampment policies … but there's no guidance from the state about what is an effective framework for how to deal with encampments. As the Legislature is having this conversation with the administration on the budget, we need to put in place some guidelines for how can we effectively address the issue of encampments, looking at best practices. … There's a disconnect often between what the cities are doing, what the counties are doing. And there's a lot of money, there's a lot of resources that the state has to address homelessness. But we're not spending that money effectively, and it's not having the outcomes that we want to achieve. The system is very fragmented, and we have to find a way to put the pieces together. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan have both recently said they think it's become more cost-effective for cities to focus on building shelters over affordable housing. What do you think about that situation? We need to do both. But I do agree that building interim housing, non-congregate shelter, is more cost effective. The cost of building an affordable unit in the Bay Area is anywhere between [$800,000] to $1 million a door. That's just crazy. That's not sustainable. We need to continue to find ways to bring down the cost of building housing. Interim housing or non-congregate shelter, it's been very effective in getting people off the streets, and I think we do need to double down and invest in that. IT'S TUESDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to lholden@ WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY BILL-PALOOZA: Lawmakers' bill introduction deadline is coming up on Friday, which means we're expecting a flurry of potential legislation this week — even with their self-imposed 35-bill limit. We're also well aware this is a bit of a faux milestone. Lawmakers frequently introduce placeholder, or 'spot,' bills they fill in later. And there's always good old gut-and-amend, in which lawmakers co-opt an unrelated bill and replace the language with new legislation. But lawmakers, like journalists, need deadlines. So we'll be watching for new policy priorities to drop throughout this short week. IN OTHER NEWS... PARTY ON: State Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie want to bring more drinking establishments to the city in an effort to attract visitors to downtown areas. The two announced a bill today that would allow the city to get around a state liquor license cap and provide 20 new permits in a downtown hospitality zone. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Lurie wants the zone to include blocks around Union Square, Moscone Center and the Yerba Buena area, although the Board of Supervisors would select its boundaries. 'A truly spectacular array of street fairs, special events, and new small businesses have breathed life back into our downtown over the past year,' Wiener said in a statement. 'Supporting our nightlife scene — including our bars and restaurants — is critical to continuing that strong recovery.' PASS THE TORCH: California could carry on a piece of former President Joe Biden's AI legacy that President Donald Trump trashed on his first day in office, if state Sen. Steve Padilla gets his way. The San Diego Democrat today introduced a spot bill that proposes an 'AI Bill of Rights' for California to ensure AI systems 'respect human rights' and promote 'fairness, transparency [and] accountability.' His proposal is modeled off Biden's 'Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights,' introduced in 2022 as part of his administration's broader push for AI safety testing. Trump repealed Biden's AI strategy in January and has since advocated for reduced regulations on the technology to bolster America's standing in the global race for AI innovation. Padilla in a statement today said Trump's 'mismanagement has left the public vulnerable to the dangers AI poses,' and that it's up to California to 'provide guiderails that create common sense consumer protections' for the technology. — Tyler Katzenberger WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY — A member of the San Juan Capistrano City Council will run to represent the state's 74th Assembly in 2026. (Orange County Register) — California Republicans sent a letter to Trump in support of a probe into the state's high-speed rail project. (San Francisco Chronicle) — Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld announced that Fresno County will get rid of all DEI language in job descriptions. (San Joaquin Valley Sun) AROUND THE STATE — A group is suing the San Diego Board of Supervisors over the return of American Airlines to the McClellan-Palomar Airport, saying the board violated the California Environmental Quality Act. (San Diego Union-Tribune) — Four new resource centers opened in Los Angeles to assist people who lost income due to the fires. (Los Angeles Times) — compiled by Nicole Norman
