Written by Vera Kochan for Lamorinda Weekly
A packed house of attendees from the Lamorinda area came to hear what State Sen. Steve Glazer's and Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan's agendas were for California - and more specifically for Contra Costa County - at a Joint Legislative Town Hall hosted Feb. 28 by Campolindo High School in Moraga.
Glazer was a city council member and three-time mayor of Orinda. As senator for the 7th District, he serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, which include 20 cities.
The newly elected Bauer-Kahan serves the 16th Assembly District which includes Moraga, Orinda and Lafayette. She is a Bay Area native who currently lives in Orinda.
Both Glazer and Bauer-Kahan began the new year with impressive legislative packages. Glazer is hoping that some of his bills that didn't pass during Gov. Jerry Brown's administration may have a new chance under Gov. Gavin Newsome's leadership.
Glazer's legislative package of proposed bills includes: a state parks and beaches smoking ban with a $25 fine; a $4 billion higher education facilities bond act for construction and remodeling of existing facilities at UC and CSU campuses; renter's credit reform and expansion to provide financial relief to low- and middle-income families by increasing renter's tax credit; CalWORKS benefits for full-time students; a bill requiring transit operators to allow people to ride with their pets during emergency evacuations; a bill to prohibit landlords from requiring active-duty service members to pay last month's rent (in addition to the first and deposit) as part of the terms to rent; and restorative justice for the victim of a crime.
Bauer-Kahan wasted no time during her few months in office to come up with her own legislative package which includes: mental health diversion gun control prohibiting individuals from possessing firearms while under court-ordered treatment; removal of CalWORKS penalties for families whose children receive scholarships or rental assistance; a bill to protect college students by requiring out-of-state online (for-profit) colleges to abide by the same regulations that apply to in-state colleges; human trafficking victim confidentiality protections; Covered California application extensions; and increased illegal dumping penalties.
Audience members shared concerns about the condition of the BART system, specifically dirty trains, delays and increasing crime. Bauer-Kahan mentioned the addition of 100 new trains coming to the system with a larger rider capacity.
One audience member's comments elicited a smattering of applause from the rest of the crowd when he asked what was being done about all of the dead trees in the area creating a potential fire hazard. He was informed that any trees on privately owned land were the owner's responsibility, but if any trees are on federal land it's an uphill battle for cooperation.
For additional information, visit Glazer's website at https://sd07.senate.ca.gov or call his local district office at (925) 258-1176. Bauer-Kahan's website is https://a16.asmdc.org and her local district office number is (925) 328-1515.