Allison Olson, CFRW Advocate
Capitol Update
Friday, December 11, 2009
California Federation of Republican Women
Kathleen Brugger, President
New Address!!
The CFRW Legislative Advocate’s office has moved! Our new address is:
1029 J St., Ste. 340
Sacramento, CA 95814
Be sure to update this and be sure your club’s newsletter chair has updated this as well.
New Speaker of the Assembly
The Speaker of the Assembly for the new session has been named this week after a tough confirmation battle. First-term Assemblyman John Perez (D-80) gained support over Assemblyman de Leon (D-45) in a private caucus meeting and was announced Speaker on Thursday. An official, public Assembly vote will take place in January.
New Lt. Governor?
Senator Abel Maldonado (R-15) is still waiting for confirmation for his nomination to Lieutenant Governor by Governor Schwarzenegger. If confirmed, Senator Maldonado would be the first Republican Lieutenant Governor since 1978. But the battle for the votes has not been easy. According to Capitol sources, the Democrats in the Legislature will not vote for a Republican, despite Senator Maldonado’s more liberal voting record. Your CFRW Advocate will be following this closely; be sure to check the Capitol Update next week for any new information.
Race to the Top
Governor Schwarzenegger has called on the Legislature to create legislation that would make California eligible for “Race to the Top” federal education funds. The fund has states competing for $4.3 billion and applications are due by January 11th. Both the Senate and the Assembly created versions of legislation for “Race to the Top.” The Assembly passed its version of the bill this week, but the Assembly Education Committee blocked the Senate’s version. The Governor prefers the Senate version and threatened to veto the Assembly bill. The Senate will be meeting to tackle the issue next week.
Follow Me On Twitter!
At our CFRW Biennial Convention, we announced that we’ve hopped on the Twitter bandwagon! With this new media technology, I am able to disseminate legislative updates and CFRW actions faster and more efficiently. Get online and receive my Twitter updates at www.twitter.com/CFRWadvocate. See you there!
Tracking Legislation
Although we are unable to give our members access to our web-based bill tracking service, there is a way you can find and monitor California legislation. You can access that information on the internet by going to the Legislature Home Page and completing the information on the right side by either indicating the bill number, the author, or key words. You can then subscribe to an email update and you will be notified when there is action on legislation of interest to you.
Disclaimer: The Capitol Update is an activity of the CFRW Advocate’s Office. The update is for information only. CFRW official positions on legislation are stated immediately preceding the stated legislation or immediately following the stated legislation in this report.
