The motion to reconsider passage of AB2497 was refused
today by the California State Assembly.
 
This is a real bummer for those of us living in CA, but it's
a slap in the face to even those of you outside our borders.
If you called the assemblypersons on Deborah's list, you
likely heard the same thing that I did: these offices received
hundreds of calls asking them to support this bill. They did
not. We have not been represented.
 
I spoke with Assemblyman Goldsmith's aid who told me that
the refusal seemed to be largely political (the NOs were
almost exclusively Democrats -- Jesus, I'm one of them).
He says this isn't the end of it, the next step is to find
another vehicle -- another bill. He says it will be tough.
 
Please pardon my tone, I'm positively livid. I spoke with
Grace Napolitano's office (Norwalk, CA), not because she
represents my district, but because her office seemed
very supportive when I called previously. A young woman
named Marisa did her best to explain to me what all this
meant, and reiterated that she'd received many, many
calls in support of the bill. After talking to Goldsmith's
office and finding out Napolitano voted NO today, I called
back and asked Marisa to ask Grace just who she thinks
she's representing. I told her that though I don't live in
Norwalk, I do live in California, and Grace just might want
to run for Governor someday -- tell her I'll remember.
 
Okay, onto the future. The first action I'm going to take
is to write to all the folks I called last night and tell them
how I'm feeling -- it ought to be damned theraputic.
Below is a list of those who voted no -- I hope you'll all
do the same. These people need to know that we didn't
call and write them just to exercise our digits -- we mean
business.
 
[Thanks Deborah, for the original list, which I plagiarized.
I don't have the list of abstainers -- I'll get it tomorrow.]
 
 NO
 
     Joe Baca           San Bernardino          909-885-2222
     Julie Bornstein    Palm Desert             619-568-0408
     Vivan Bronshvag    San Rafael              415-479-4920
     Cruz Bustamante    Fresno                  209-445-5532
     Sal Canella        Turlock                 209-669-6115
     Jim Costa          Fresno                  209-264-3078
     Martha Escutia     Huntington Park         213-582-7774
     Terry Friedman     Encino                  818-501-8991
     Mike Gotch         San Diego               619-294-7600
     Phillip Isenberg   Sacramento              916-324-4676
     Johan Klehs        San Leandro             510-352-2673
     Burt Margolinm     Los Angeles             213-655-9750
     Juanita McDonald   Carson                  310-518-3324
     Gwen Moore         Los Angeles             213-292-0605
     Willard Murray     Paramount               310-516-4144
     Richard Polanco    Los Angeles             213-255-7111
     Margaret Snyder    Modesto                 209-549-1041
     Hilda Solis        La Puenta               818-369-3551
     Willie Brown(speaker)      San Francisco   415-557-0784
     Archie-Hudson      Los Angeles             213-745-6636
     John Burton        San Francisco           415-557-2592
     Barbara Lee        Oakland                 510-286-0339
     Grace Napolitano   Norwalk                 310-406-7322
     John Vasconcellos  San Jose                408-288-7515
 
Bye now.
 
Marti
 
[Posted in FML issue 0793]