Allison Olson, CFRW Advocate
Capitol Update
Friday, December 19, 2009
California Federation of Republican Women
Kathleen Brugger, President
Race to the Top
The Senate will be hearing the Assembly’s version of the Race to the Top bill, but not until January 4th. But they did send a “compromise” bill to the Senate Education Committee on Thursday that the Assembly will likely hear after the New Year. Both houses adjourned with plans on reconvening in January. Governor Schwarzenegger threatened to veto the Assembly’s bill after the Assembly Education Committee killed the Senate’s version of the bill, which the Governor supported. The Senate’s new version, SBX5 4 (Steinberg, D-6), includes compromises between the Senate and the Assembly with regards to charter schools and parental choice. But one issue still remains: open enrollment. Open enrollment means the opportunity for parents to petition to transfer their children from failing schools. The Legislature is trying to pass a bill that would qualify the state for “Race to the Top” federal funding. This competition for the funding requires that certain issues are covered in a state’s legislation. Your CFRW Advocate will continue to monitor this bill as it carries through to next year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
The Capitol Update will take a two week hiatus and will return January 7th. I hope that everyone enjoys their holiday time with family and friends! See you next year!
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.
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.
