Leading and Legislating on behalf of the 54th District

South L.A. lawmaker Holly Mitchell wants rate raised above 50% of federal poverty level

Sacramento – The Legislature has voted to increase basic CalWORKs grants by 5%, reversing a trend of annual cuts in aid to California’s neediest families since 2007 which Assemblymember Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), primary advocate for the increase, had argued was pushing too many children into deep poverty with irreversible impacts.

“This is a measured first step in our effort to reduce poverty in California, and it comes at the expense of no other program,” said Assemblywoman Mitchell, whose district includes low-income areas in south Los Angeles. “If you care at all about freeing children from the strangling yoke of poverty, this vote was the opportunity to join the freedom march.”

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AB 271 would lift cap on aid for CalWORKs families which have more children

Sacramento - Assemblymember Holly J. Mitchell's bill to repeal the Maximum Family Grant (MFG) rule in the CalWORKs program, AB 271, has been passed on a bipartisan vote of the Assembly. CalWORKs benefits are normally based, in part, on the number of family members in a household – except when a child is born into a family that is already receiving those benefits.

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Holly Mitchell measure would let some inmates “learn-to-earn” shorter sentences

Sacramento -- Assemblymember Holly J. Mitchell’s bill, AB 624, to allow counties to give their sheriffs authority to award inmates time credits toward reduced sentences for classes taken to improve employability, literacy or social skills will be brought up for a full vote on the Senate floor next week.

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Sacramento -- Assemblymember Holly J. Mitchell’s bill to provide California with the opportunity to access 90% federal matching funds for “Health Home Services” for Medi-Cal beneficiaries, AB 361, has been passed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. AB 361 would allow the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to participate in the “Health Home for Enrollees with Chronic Conditions” option under the federal Affordable Care Act and provide funding for comprehensive care management and care coordination.

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Sacramento - Two bills introduced by Assemblymember Holly J. Mitchell (D-Culver City) to facilitate testing for HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, have won key committee votes on the path to becoming state law.

AB 446 facilitates HIV testing among hard-to-reach subjects by allowing personnel authorized to administer HIV tests to obtain simple written or verbal patient consents and to arrange for patients to confidentially obtain test results via a secure website. Additionally, AB 446 requires clinical facilities that draw blood from patients to screen it for HIV upon obtaining simple patient consent.

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In the first test of recent efforts to address safety and environmental concerns about fracking, a bill by Assemblymember Holly J. Mitchell (D-Culver City) which would impose a moratorium on the practice in California, has passed out of the Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee.

AB 1323, which would halt hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” -- the infusion under high pressure of chemicals, sand and water underground to release oil or natural gas – until state-sponsored research determines whether it can be done safely and specifies conditions for its regulated use. On a party line vote the committee sent the bill to the Appropriations Committee. Despite growing concerns about fracking’s impacts on people and the environment, earlier legislative efforts to limit or ban the practice failed.

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Sacramento - In the first official ceremony of the legislative year, members of California’s Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), led by their newly elected Chair Assemblymember Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), rose one-by-one in the Assembly on January 18th to pay tribute to the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Assemblymember Mitchell introduced an Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR 2) to commemorate the civil rights leader and the national holiday named in his honor. “2013 is a landmark year in the history of the Civil Rights movement,” said Assemblymember Mitchell. “In 2013 there could not be a more appropriate way to honor that history than by commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington.” Here’s more in this Assembly Access video.

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On December 14, 2012, Assemblymember Mitchell participated in a Community Forum on Hydraulic Fracturing (“fracking”), held at the Culver City Veterans Memorial Complex, along with member s of the Culver City City Council Committee on Oil Drilling. To watch the forum online, please click here.

To read the just released draft regulations on hydraulic fracturing from the Department of Conservation/Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR), please click here.

Assemblywoman Mitchell bill signed into law by Governor

SACRAMENTO -- AB 1899, introduced by Assemblymember Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) to close a gap in eligibility for higher education benefits for lawful U.S. residents who are victims of human trafficking or other serious crimes, has been signed by the Governor.

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