Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Member/Alternates Only Meeting
Virtual meeting via ZOOM
Minutes
Present: Deborah Barmack, Peter Barmack, Carole Beswick, Chris Carrillo, Ken Coate, Sandra Cuellar, Kevin Dyerly, Louis Goodwin, Otis Greer, Fran Inman, Mark Kaenel, Doug Kleam, Pam Langford, Dan Little, P.T. McEwen, John Mirau, Dan Murphy, Bansree Parikh, Catherine Pritchett, Brian Reider, Michael Rivera, Dan Roberts, Dan Schenkel, Kristine Scott, Paul Shimoff, Sol Teh, Lupe Valdez, Pete Van Helden and Ray Wolfe.
Guests: Jeovana Sanchez and Katherine Van Horn.
Announcements: 1) Photos of members and alternates are requested for the Inland Action web site directory. 2) A memorial for Supervisor Dennis Hansberger will be held virtually on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. www.DennisHansbergermemorial.com 3) Members Mark Kaenel and Kristine Scott will participate in an IEGO meeting on Friday, June 5, 2020 and will report back to the membership.
M/S/P: Minutes from May 19, 2020
Louis Goodwin, Chair presiding.
Assemblyman James Ramos is a member of the Assembly Committee on the Budget and Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. He gave the group an update on legislation in Sacramento.
He is a member of a coalition of moderate Democrats termed “New Dems” who have come together during this uncertain time. The group has 27 members and are closely monitoring legislation. Businesses are struggling to survive and have many genuine needs resulting from the statewide closure. One of their priorities is reducing burdens on businesses.
The Assembly will negotiate with the Governor on his proposed budget. Aware that this will be a very difficult year, they are most concerned about the cuts in Cal Fire (10%) and reduction in programs that will affect seniors. Additionally, the significant cuts in healthcare will disproportionately effect San Bernardino County. An advocacy letter would be appreciated.
The Assemblyman introduced AB 3099 which is a measure to improve public safety on tribal lands by increasing collaboration among law enforcement agencies which would also help reduce the number of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in California. This legislation would create greater sharing of information and heightened cooperation between California’s Department of Justice (DOJ), tribal governments and local law enforcement, including tribal justice systems. The bill was unanimously approved by the Assembly Public Safety Committee.
His AB 2112 was introduced in early February and would establish the Office of Suicide Prevention within the State Department of Public Health. The Office would be responsible for, among other things, providing strategic guidance to statewide and regional partners regarding best practices on suicide prevention and reporting to the Legislature on progress to reduce rates of suicide. The bill would authorize the office to apply for and use federal grants. In 2017 California had more than 4,300 violent deaths caused by suicide and 34,371 emergency room visits linked to suicide attempts. With stress and economic fallout from the COVID-19 the state needs a focused, coordinated, forward looking approach to suicide prevention. The Assembly Health Committee approved the legislation on a unanimous bipartisan vote.
The Assembly is working on clarification of AB 1842, California Works and Recovery Act, to help businesses avoid frivolous lawsuits.
The California minimum wage increase scheduled for 2022 may be postponed given the severe economic impact that the pandemic has caused.
Assemblyman Ramos represents the 40th Assembly district which includes Highland, Loma Linda, Mentone, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, and San Bernardino.
A Q & A period followed.
Meeting adjourned at 9:05 a.m.