Today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 2060, by Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries (R-Lake Elsinore), recognizing tribal fire departments for the emergency services they provide to nearby communities. AB 2060 provides an exemption from vehicle license fees for tribal fire departments that enter into mutual aid agreements with local and state governments. By entering into these mutual aid agreements, and adding more tribal fire resources, California will be better positioned to respond to and fight wildfires throughout the state. This exemption will treat these tribal fire departments just as other career and volunteer fire vehicles are treated today.

“I am pleased that the Governor signed this bill that will help Californians respond more quickly to wildfires. As we are seeing now, there is an important need for coordinated response to fires throughout California,” Jeffries said. “It’s really important to have all of our career, volunteer and tribal firefighters working efficiently and cooperatively to protect California.”

Many tribal fire departments, including, but not limited to, Pala, Pechanga, Rumsey and Sycuan, are currently helping fight the wildland fires throughout California. AB 2060 is part of a larger, long-term initiative to provide incentives and clarity in the world of mutual aid agreements in California. “Tribal fire departments, like those from Pechanga and Pala in my district, are fighting fires on the front lines today, far from their reservations. These tribes recognize their role in helping protect those around them, and we need to recognize them for their efforts and encourage other tribal fire departments to formally enter into mutual aid agreements with their surrounding communities.”

Last week Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 2148, also by Assemblyman Jeffries, to help with the with the formation and operation of community based volunteer fire companies throughout California.

“Together, AB 2148 and AB 2060 will hopefully be the first of a series of bills that the Governor will sign to improve fire and emergency response in California.” Assemblyman Jeffries said. “I look forward to further addressing issues relating to fire in the next legislative session.”

Today, Assembly Concurrent Resolution 98 unanimously passed the State Assembly. Originally brought to Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries (R-Lake Elsinore) by Tom Casey with the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce, ACR 98 designates the old alignment of Highway 395 as Historic Highway 395, and recognizes both the former and currently existing portions of Highway 395 as Historic Highway 395. By designating Old Highway 395 as a historic highway, local communities and cities may place appropriate signage along the route to commemorate its history and to promote tourism.

“It is my hope that with this resolution, there will be new recognition of the historical importance of Highway 395 and to the towns and people it has served for many decades. During these tough economic times it’s nice to be able to look back to a simpler time in California and hopefully preserve a little bit of our motoring history” said Assemblyman Jeffries. The effort to promote and recognize Highway 395 started with the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce. “They came to my office with an idea to recognize part of their motoring history and it blossomed into a statewide recognition as other towns and cities got word of the effort” said Jeffries.

Historic Highway 395, which in many areas of California later become known as Interstate 15 and Interstate 215, ran through various communities such as Fallbrook, Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, Perris, Riverside and San Bernardino County in its journey from San Diego to the Oregon border as the state’s only North-South route east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. While Historic Highway 395 has largely been replaced in the more urban and suburban areas by current interstates, Historic Highway 395 remains completely intact in the High Desert and Northern California counties of Inyo, Mono, Sierra, Lassen and Modoc.

With the final passage of ACR 98, local governments and private entities along Old Highway 395 can now officially be designated with signs and other appropriate indicators as Historic Highway 395.

The Inland Empire. As significant population growth for California is occurring in the Inland Empire, we will be one of the hardest hit regions. The current drought conditions have already adversely impacted the ability of new businesses to expand into Riverside County (i.e. EMWD and the food company?).
Northern San Diego county. With large Ag operations, northern S.D. county Ag farmers have already been hit with drastic cut backs.

With the severe slump in the housing construction industry already causing significant job losses, a prolonged drought in California could have a devastating economic impact statewide.

Some quote along the lines of… “This past year I have seen good people come to the table in Sacramento, working to negotiate statewide solutions on behalf of everyone. Unfortunately a small number of powerful hardline environmentalists have derailed those negotiations, apparently preferring that we all move into grass huts or move out of the state”.

The first step in addressing the challenge is reasonable conservation efforts at the local level, followed with the prompt release of previously approved state water bond proceeds so that local water agencies can improve water treatment facilities and enhance ground water resources. Ironically, part of our state water problem is with the State Department of Water Resources. “I have heard an incredible amount of concerns indicating that DWR has been dragging its feet when it comes to approving bond funding for badly local water projects”. The 800 lb gorilla however remains the condition of the Delta and the need for new conveyance system around the Delta. Both projects need to get underway immediately if we are serious about our long term water supply.

Jeffries has been very vocal about the need to get started. He has repeatedly led the way on the Assembly floor in calling for the Legislature to stop attempting to micro-manage local water providers and start addressing the statewide needs.

Jeffries served nearly 16 years total on the Board of Directors of the Western MWD and Elsinore Valley MWD.

AB 1954 — The bill by Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, would let the Riverside County Transportation Commission build high-occupancy toll lanes on Interstate 15.

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Measure A transportation tax dollars will be used to build one mixed flow (free and open to all) lane in each direction along the I-15 corridor, as promised when voters approved the measure in 1988.
Meanwhile, RCTC will build 2 new High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes in each direction of the I-15 to relieve the traffic congestion generated by the growth of our region. RCTC would likely not have the financial capacity to build these lanes for another generation without the passage of AB 1954. .

The four HOT Lanes, which were not included in Measure A funding, will be paid for with future toll revenues, not taxes or another bond measure. Any extra money that comes from the toll fees must be spent on other transportation improvements solely within the I-15 corridor, which will continue to benefit the general public.

The HOT Lanes will benefit both toll lane users and non toll lane drivers alike. Each HOT Lane will offer an alternative to those drivers willing to pay the fee and will provide an incentive for carpooling by offering a free or a steeply discounted rate. Every paying customer and every carpool vehicle that rides on the HOT Lanes will remove a vehicle from the free lanes, easing congesting for everyone.

“I am pleased that the Assembly recognized the need for traffic congestion relief on I-15. This project won’t cost the state a penny. This is critical when California undergoes such a big budget deficit this year,” Jeffries said. “I also applaud the Riverside County Transportation Commission for their vision and dedication to improving traffic in the region, and their willingness to consider different approaches to increasing capacity on our roads, highways and freeways.”

AB 1954 now moves on to the Senate for further action.

On Thursday, Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries (R-Lake Elsinore) succeeded in having three out of four of his bills be moved off the “Suspense File” and pass out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The Appropriations Committee is charged with examining the potential fiscal impact of proposed legislation.

Recognizing that California faces a massive budget deficit, Assemblyman Jeffries chose to author bills that represented little to no cost to the state. “I could not in good conscience increase spending when we are asking so many in the state to cut back”, said Assemblyman Jeffries. “In fact, several of our bills are tailor-made for tough state budget times, allowing local agencies to take over or accelerate projects that the state is no longer capable of managing.”

The following bills will move on to the Assembly Floor:
AB 1954- Establishes the authority for Riverside County Transportation Commission to build four new High Occupancy Toll lanes along I-15, in addition to two planned mixed use or “free” lanes adjacent to the toll facilities.
AB 1915- Requested by the City of Lake Elsinore and the City of Perris, this bill would allow the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to transfer ownership of the portions of Route 74 located within their borders from the state to the cities, so they can more easily maintain and manage the highway.

AB 1995- Extends the sunset on aggravated arson penalties, preserving an important law enforcement tool and penal provision.

One of Jeffries’ bills was held in Assembly Appropriations Committee and will not proceed further. AB 2490 would have established the California Public Safety Agency, by combining various public safety agencies throughout the state into one umbrella organization. “Reorganizing our state’s scattered safety agencies into a unified Public Safety Agency would go a long ways towards improving coordination, communications and training all of our state’s emergency first responders. Perhaps next year our budget crisis won’t be quite as severe and the entire legislature can begin to focus on government’s first priority – Public Safety.”

This legislation was prompted by an incident that occurred a little over a year ago in the city of Lake Elsinore. Margaret Hamblin 73, and Cari Gardner, 39, both of Wildomar were charged with operating a $50 football pool at the Lake Elsinore Elks Lodge. Hamblin and Gardner both plead not guilty. “The state spent thousands of taxpayer dollars to prosecute these two over a $50 football pool?” Jeffries asks. “I am sure that there are more issues that law enforcement and our courts can be addressing.”

AB 1852 would lesson this charge to an infraction punishable by a fine that is not to exceed $500. Jeffries believes that making this an infraction instead of a misdemeanor crime places this activity in a more appropriate category. “While our goal is not to legalize this sort of activity outright, we believe that it is important for the punishment to fit the crime”, stated Jeffries.

AB 1852 now goes over to the State Senate, where it will join other bills sponsored by Assemblyman Jeffries that would assist volunteer and tribal fire departments, help charitable organizations, and aid a local water district. Several bills still await action in the Assembly Appropriations Committee or on the Assembly Floor, including bills to consolidate the state’s public safety agencies, to allow Riverside County Transportation Commission to construct new High Occupancy Toll Lanes on I-15, to turn portions of HWY 74 over to the Cities of Lake Elsinore and Perris, and to protect property owners from false land deed scams.

“I’m very proud of the well-rounded legislative package we have submitted this year, and I’m hopeful that most of these will make their way all the way through the process and into law,” commented Jeffries.

“I am pleased that the Transportation Committee recognized the need for traffic congestion relief on I-15. This project won’t cost the state a penny, and that’s important when we have such a big budget deficit this year,” Jeffries said. “I also applaud the Riverside County Transportation Commission for their vision and dedication to improving traffic in the region, and their willingness to consider different approaches to increasing capacity on our roads, highways and freeways.”

AB 1954 now moves on to the Assembly Appropriations committee for further action.

Sacramento— Today Democrats in the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security (PERS) Committee voted against legislation that would have stripped the publicly funded pensions of public employees convicted of serious felonies. AB 1858 would have revoked the publicly funded pensions of a public employee convicted of any felony involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes arising directly out of his or her official duties as a public employee.

“I shake my head in disappointment at the fact that some legislators and union representatives feel that we should be protecting convicted felons at the expense of taxpayers,” Mr. Jeffries said. “This bill is good policy that the general public strongly supports. It’s too bad that union politics got in the way of good policy.”

This bill was prompted by a series of incidents in which public employees stole and embezzled from the taxpayers and violated the public trust. Speakers from a variety of unions spoke against the bill arguing that felonious public employees should not be further punished for a “mistake”.

“In my own district we recently had a school employee accused of stealing as much as $300,000 from the school lunch money funds, but under the current system, this person could still be eligible for taxpayer-funded retirement benefits for her service while she was ripping off taxpayers and children,” Assemblyman Jeffries said. “That’s the real mistake.”

“Unfortunately, the political leadership of the unions has once again proven that they care more about coddling the criminals in their membership than they do about promoting the rights and protecting the reputations of the overwhelming majority of their membership that would never dream of stealing from the communities they serve,” Assemblyman Jeffries remarked.

Since AB 1858 was killed on a 2-5 party line vote (with Republicans voting ‘Yes’) the bill can not advance further. Mr. Jeffries plans to address the issue again next session.

In an effort to end the lunacy in which public employees who are convicted of felonies for stealing or embezzling taxpayer funds are then supported with taxpayer-funded pensions later in life, Assemblyman Jeffries will be presenting AB 1858 in Assembly Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security (PERSS) on Wednesday morning, April 9. This bill would revoke the publicly funded pension of a public employee convicted of any felony involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes arising directly out of his or her official duties as a public employee.

“While the overwhelming majority of public employees are honest, hard-working members of our community, there are those who betray the public trust and their fellow employees by using his or her position for their own personal benefit. This bill is intended to show that we won’t tolerate this type of taxpayer funded abuse,” Assemblyman Jeffries said. “In my own district we recently had a school employee accused of stealing as much as $300,000 from the school lunch money funds, but under the current system, this person could still be eligible for taxpayer-funded retirement benefits for her service while she was ripping off taxpayers and children.”

The Legislature has already applied these pension revocation provisions to judges and elected officials throughout the state. AB 1858 simply adds other public employees to the mix, in hopes of making would-be criminals think twice before defrauding the taxpayers and committing other abuses.

“AB 1858 will take a hard stand against government corruption. Public officials and employees have an ethical obligation to not abuse the authority granted to them,” said Jeffries. “By penalizing those who veer from public service to corruption, a powerful message will be sent to would-be abusers.”

Among those testifying before the PERSS Committee will be Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone, who first approached Assemblyman Jeffries about carrying legislation on this issue after a previous case of public embezzlement in Riverside County.

AB 1858 was rescheduled for hearing April 9th after late opposition from public employee unions forced a postponement from its original date.