Written by Imperial Valley News
Sacramento, California - As legislative session drew to a close late Tuesday evening, several more bills authored by Assemblymember V. Manuel Pérez (D-Coachella) passed the State Legislature and now make their way to the Governor’s desk.
California Manufacturing Competitiveness Act: AB 2437 implements the California Manufacturing Competitiveness Act, which establishes a loan and loan guarantee program that will enable the state to draw down federal dollars to support the retooling and expansion of manufacturing in California. The bill establishes the structure and process for the operation of the loan fund, intended to serve as a deal closer to attract, retain, and grow the state’s manufacturing sector.
“Manufacturing is the gold standard, offering excellent wages and benefits to its workers and stabilizing local communities through long-term capital investments, as well as creating a significant multiplier in our economy through its vibrant supply chain of small businesses,” said Pérez. “This bill ensures our state is prepared to make the most of federal dollars as they become available, so we can promote economic recovery and job creation in this critical sector of the economy.”
Manufacturing contributes over $179 billion to the state's overall gross domestic product, as well as supporting millions of small and mid-size supply chain companies. The sector, however, faces many challenges in remaining globally competitive, and since 2001, California has lost 596,000 manufacturing jobs.
New River Bond Funding Accountability: AB 2202 assures, contingent on the passage of the state water bond, the appropriate oversight and accountability of future bond funding for New River clean up. The bill also clarifies that the Secretary of CalEPA, as chair of the California Mexico Border Relations Council, is responsible for the oversight of bond appropriations for New River improvement.
“We have gained so much momentum in our effort to clean up the river,” said Pérez, “and it’s important to ensure that forward progress isn’t undermined. This bill ensures, if the water bond passes, that we are ready to hit the ground running and provides the guidance and accountability to make sure the funding is appropriated consistently with the New River Improvement strategic plan.”
Climate Change Community Benefits Fund: Should the state receive revenues pursuant to AB 32 implementation, AB 1405 (De León/Pérez) establishes a Community Benefits Fund that would direct a portion of these revenues to impacted communities to be used for green jobs, greenhouse gas emission reductions projects, and to mitigate direct health impacts of climate change.
“With AB 1405 we ensure that the state’s progress achieving our global warming reduction goals does not exclude or come at the expense of our most vulnerable populations,” said Pérez. “The Fund would support concrete activities, such as transit redesign, community greening, and energy efficiency retrofits. In other words, we’re talking about jobs -- jobs that offer the double benefit of an honest day’s work while cleaning up environmentally blighted areas.”
Federal Education Funding Guidance: Pérez also joined as a co-author on SB 847 (Steinberg) to ensure the swift and equitable delivery of $1.2 billion in federal education funds directly to local educational agencies. These funds are specifically intended to be used for compensation, benefits and other expenses, including support services, necessary to retain existing employees, to recall or rehire former employees, and to hire new employees that provide school-level and related services.
“Tens of thousands of school employees have been laid off or had their salaries reduced as we struggled to address state budget deficits,” said Pérez. “This injection of funds to our local jurisdictions will address some of those shortages and help to avoid further harm to our children’s educations.”
