Annual Legislative Report Card Released
Countdown to the 2020 Virtual Summit
Upcoming Action Opportunity to Stop the Tunnel
Sierra Club California’s 2020 Legislative Report Card has been released, officially ending this year’s very odd legislative session.
You can find this year’s report card here. You can see past report cards on our website as well.
This year the legislature underperformed when it came to the environment. Just 25 bills advancing environmental protection made it to the governor’s desk, about a quarter of the usual number. Of those, only two warranted inclusion on the report card.
With a few exceptions, bills that would have made significant changes in environmental policy were stopped in the legislature, including some contained within the hundreds of bills that were held to accommodate the compressed legislative year required by the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Only eight assembly members and zero senators earned 100-percent scores. Twenty-one legislators, all Republicans, received a score of zero.
The assembly members who earned perfect scores on the report card are: Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (Assembly District 16), David Chiu (AD 17), Jesse Gabriel (AD 45), Todd Gloria (AD 78), Sydney Kamlager (AD 54), Al Muratsuchi (AD 66), Phil Ting (AD 19), and Buffy Wicks (AD 15).
The report card also provides an overview of the Newsom administration’s second year in office. Generally, the governor continues to demonstrate a mixed commitment to the environment.
One bill in particular was responsible for dragging down many legislators’ scores. Senate Bill 559 by Sen. Melissa Hurtado, would have required the state’s taxpayers to foot the bill to repair a federally funded canal serving big agricultural corporations.The canal needs repairs largely because of groundwater overdraft by agriculture.
Sierra Club California opposed the bill and the governor vetoed it.
Sierra Club California staff began preparing the report card the first workday after the legislative session. We reviewed the bills on which the Club had taken positions this year and selected nine bills to score in the senate and nine bills to score in the assembly.
The bills represent a cross-section of environmental and environmental justice issues, provided vote counts that distinguish the most environmentally consistent legislators, and were among the legislation that Sierra Club’s staff and volunteers were most actively engaged in this year.
How each legislator voted on each bill was noted and a score was calculated by dividing the number of times the legislator voted with Sierra Club’s position by the total number of bills for which the legislator was present to cast a vote.
Join us on Saturday, November 7 for an inspiring day of environmental activism as we delve into the election results and prepare for a new legislative session in California.
We’re excited to announce that our Keynote Speaker will be Betty Yee, Controller for the State of California.
Leading activists and policy experts will participate in panel discussions on what comes next and our opportunities for advancing environmental protection in California.
Sierra Club’s Bob Bingaman will share his personal journey on incorporating equity, justice and anti-racism into his environmental activism.
The Summit will also include an interactive breakout session to discuss big ideas related to Energy and Climate, Water, or Wildlands and Parklands.
Click here for the full agenda.
Click here to register for the Summit today.
Due to COVID-19, the summit will take place virtually on Zoom. To register, there are several suggested donation options between $5 - $100. But, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please contact me at katherine.garcia@sierraclub.org if you want to request a scholarship to cover the registration cost.
We hope to see you virtually on Saturday, November 7.
The board of the Southern California water wholesaler that has historically backed the Delta tunnel will take an important vote in December that could help determine whether that boondoggle progresses.
The board of the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) will consider whether to spend up to an additional $237 million to help plan the tunnel.
MWD has already spent $175 million to buy islands in the Delta area for the project, and in April pledged $50 million over the next two years for planning.
Sierra Club California opposes the tunnel, which will harm the environment in Northern California rivers and the Delta and will burden Southern California ratepayers. We need your help at the December 7 and 8 MWD board meetings to demand the board not approve new funding. If you want to attend the meeting or have any questions, please contact contact Caty Wagner, Sierra Club California’s Southern California Water Organizer, at caty.wagner@sierraclub.org.
If you have not heard of the Delta Tunnel project, you can catch up on our website, where you’ll find fact sheets, reports and webinars about the tunnel, its harms and alternatives. You can also watch a recording of the first presentation in our new panel series: Stop the Delta Tunnel Project.
Future panel discussions will include concerns from Delta residents, wildlife experts, and representatives from affected indigenous communities, and will end with a wrap up and call to action. Watch our website for updates about this webinar series over the coming weeks.
Join our new Facebook group and stay up-to-date on ways to get involved and tell MWD not to fund the tunnel project.
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