| dbpprop:abstract
|
- Kevin de León is a member of the California State Assembly, elected to serve the 45th Assembly District in November 2006. The district includes East Hollywood, Echo Park, Elysian Valley, Mt. Washington, Lincoln Heights, and portions of Los Angeles. De León has worked as a community organizer, and as an English as a Second Language and U.S. Citizenship teacher. During his five years at the California Teachers Association, de León worked to procure more funding for “high-priority schools” in low-income neighborhoods, more school construction, and health insurance for children. He also worked as the Senior Associate for the National Education Association in Washington, D.C. Growing up in the San Diego barrio of Logan Heights, he was the first in his family to graduate from high school. Mr. de León attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and received his degree from Pitzer College at the Claremont Colleges with Honors. He lives in Los Angeles and has one daughter. Shortly after completing his freshman term in the Legislature, De León was appointed Chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee making him the first Latino Chair of this fiscal committee in the last one hundred years. The Appropriations Committee is responsible for reviewing all bills with a fiscal impact. As a result, virtually every bill goes to the Appropriations Committee making it the single most powerful committee in the Assembly. In addition to his leadership responsibilities, Assemblymember De León serves on several important policy committees including Health, Natural Resources, Governmental Organization and the Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media committee. De León also serves on the Joint Committee for Emergency Services and Homeland Security and several select committees including the Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Growth Management, International Trade, and the Preservation of California’s Entertainment Industry select committee. Currently, De León is a member of the State Allocation Board (SAB) which distributes state school construction bond funds approved by the voters. Since De León joined the Board in 2007 the SAB has allocated nearly $1.4 billion in voter approved bond funds for new school construction, modernization, career technical education, and joint-use school projects across the state. Those funds are vital to ensuring that our schools are safe and are wired for modern technologies. In addition to his focus on improving public schools, De León is committed to improving the air quality in his district, which is criss-crossed by six freeways and has some of the country’s worst air quality, as well as expanding park space in critically underserved communities. De León authored legislation that was later inserted into an omnibus measure signed into law creating hundreds of millions of dollars available for alternative fuel research and development. To improve access to park space to underserved communities, De León authored legislation signed into law in October by Governor Schwarzenegger establishing a needs-based competitive grants program for the distribution of $400 million in Proposition 84 funds for local park assistance and development. That measure will allocate the single largest investment in local park space creation in the nation’s history and will insure that those funds are targeted to areas with the highest needs. De León is also a member of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Board, where he is putting his vision for creating green space in heavily-urbanized and park-starved communities to work. De León has also authored innovative legislation to assist families without access to employer-based retirement plans save for retirement by putting one of the nation’s most respected institutional investors, CalPERS, to work for average working Californians. That measure would authorize CalPERS to offer Californians that do not have retirement plans available at work individual retirement accounts (IRA’s) to create a financial nest egg when they retire. The Forty-Fifth Assembly District has been tragically plagued by gang violence. While walking neighborhoods during his first campaign De León stumbled across bullet casing on side walks just feet where children were playing and has ever since been determined to the get handgun ammunition that fuels this violence out of the hands of criminals and gang-bangers. Along with Sheriff Baca and LAPD Police Chief Bratton, De León has championed legislation to require handgun ammunition purchasers to acquire a permit showing they’ve passed a background check. The proposed legislation is just a weak attempt to placate his liberal consitutuency in West Hollywood. The bill adds red tape and restrictions regarding ammunition purchases at retail stores. Criminals, felons, and gang members can easily purchase ammunition out of state, or have a friend/family member purchase ammunition on their behalf. The bill costs tax payers over 2 million dollars a year, and lacks a means to fund itself. The proposed legislation states that commencing July 1, 2010, unless specifically excluded, no person shall sell or transfer more than 50 rounds of handgun ammunition in any month unless he or she is registered as a handgun ammunition vendor, as defined. There are no exceptions for relatives. This bill would also legislate that no retail seller of ammunition shall sell, offer for sale, or display for sale, any handgun ammunition in a manner that allows that ammunition to be accessible to a buyer without the assistance of the retailer or employee thereof. All ammunition would have to be locked out of sight of potential customers. The bill would further provide that handgun ammunition may only be purchased in a face-to-face transaction and only if certain conditions exist, which most likely means the elimination of mail order and internet sales. The California Department of Finance recommends against passing this bill, as the costs are grossly underestimated. http://www. dof. ca. gov/legislative_analyses/LIS_PDF/09/AB-962-20090504035415PM-AB00962. pdf Since most criminal acts involving guns involve less than 50 rounds of ammunition, the effectiveness of this bill is very much in question. De León receives an F rating from the National Rifle Association.
|
| rdfs:comment
|
- Kevin de León is a member of the California State Assembly, elected to serve the 45th Assembly District in November 2006. The district includes East Hollywood, Echo Park, Elysian Valley, Mt. Washington, Lincoln Heights, and portions of Los Angeles. De León has worked as a community organizer, and as an English as a Second Language and U.S. Citizenship teacher.
|
![[RDF Data]](/statics/sw-cube.png)
