Imperial, California - With the Governor’s signing deadline ending yesterday, and in the midst of the baseball playoffs, local Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) went 16 for 16 this legislative season and had all of his bills and resolutions signed by Governor Brown.  Topping his bill list were measures that would not only bring environmental and economic relief to the areas of the Coachella and Imperial Valleys such as the Salton Sea and New River, but also workforce training and financial assistance to small businesses in the district.

“We made our case in Sacramento for the people of the 56th District--and by having Governor Brown sign all of my legislative proposals, we will now have the opportunity to begin and implement the environmental and economic improvements that our people so rightfully deserve,” said Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia. “I owe this victory to the hard working people of our Desert Valley area and I applaud and thank the Governor for recognizing the much needed relief to our region.”

Below are Assemblymember Garcia’s legislative proposals that were enacted and signed by Governor Brown:

• AB 2: Community Revitalization Investment Authorities: This bill will allow specified "disadvantaged" areas throughout the state to create their own Community Revitalization Investment Authorities (CRIA). Each CRIA would allow property tax investments of consenting local agencies to, among other things, improve neighborhood conditions, increase employment opportunities, and reduce crime rates. Since the dissolution of redevelopment agencies (RDA), cities across California had been looking for more economic development tools to utilize and AB 2 will now bring the needed relief to these areas resulting in the improvement of cities and neighborhoods.

• AB 1089: Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy: This bill would add the cities of Indio and Coachella to the CVMC board, and open the discussion to improving water quality efforts and give cities the ability to apply for Proposition 1 funds to combat chromium-6 levels, bring safer drinking water to our communities.

• AB 1095: Salton Sea Projects: With the ---This bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to report to the legislature by March 2016 a list of shovel-ready projects for the Salton Sea that will address the economic, environmental, and public health consequences of the receding sea.

• AB 965: The New River: This bill seeks to provide funding for the development of park space along one of the most polluted rivers in the Country, the Calexico New River-- with the end goal of increasing park access and mitigating water pollution. The bill also adds clarity to existing eligibility language for the water bond in order to prioritize projects like the Calexico New River.

• AB 1059:–Cal Enviroscreen 2.0, Border Environmental Data: The bill will improve public health for the communities along the California-Mexico border region and give the needed resources to combat and address the negative environmental and public health issues that impacts their neighborhoods by expanding the CalEnviroScreen, which will capture relevant environmental data and put air monitors on the border to access and generate data on the current air quality.

• AB 1071: Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPS): This bill will require a greater use of Supplemental Environmental Projects by requiring and ensuring that half of the money collected from fines due to violations of environmental regulations will stay in the region where it was collected in order to help with the relief of other environmental issues in the region.
• AB 1091: Streamlining Cal-Grants: This bill would streamline the Cal Grant process by eliminating duplicative certification processes. AB 1091 will also help eliminate administrative barriers for students and enhance access to the financial aid students need to attend college.

• AB 1537: Small Business Financial Assistance: This bill will make sure that there is equitable distribution of funds to ensure that small businesses throughout the state have access to programs offered through the Small Business Finance. The bill would also require each corporation to provide a list by city and county of the number and dollar value of all credit enhancements and debt instruments the corporation entered into during the report year and that are outstanding at the close of the fiscal year.

• AB 434: Water Filtration Systems: The bill would require the State Water Resources Control Board to adopt regulations allowing water filtration systems in the Eastern Coachella Valley communities to protect residents against unsafe levels of arsenic in their drinking water.

• AB 1093: Workforce Training for Re-Entry Population: This bill enhances the Supervised Population Workforce Training Grant and provides workforce training opportunities for men and women re-entering our communities after being released from a detention center to ensure that they can gain the training, education, and job readiness to contribute to California’s state and regional economies and lower recidivism rates.

• AB 1270: Alignment of Federal and State Workforce Training Systems: This bill comprehensively updates California's primary workforce development program to reflect the new requirements of the Federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014.

• AB 355: Safe Deposit Boxes: This bill would require the business and financial institutions  holding the contents of the safe deposit box to additionally include in its report to the Controller any name attached to a United States (U.S.) Savings Bond or military award inside the safe deposit box that is different from the name of the owner.  This bill assures that rightful owners receive their military awards and savings bonds.

• AB 1411: Dryer Fire Safety: This bill would direct the State Fire Marshall to work with the appliance industry in order to gather information regarding type 1 clothes dryer related fires and, if warranted based on findings and recommendations, to encourage the adoption of an appropriate safety standard that will reduce the amount of lint-related dryer fires. 

• AB 1533: Infrastructure Financing: This bill would revise the definition of economic  development facilities to include facilities that are used to provide goods movement and would define goods movement-related infrastructure.

• AJR-16: Blood Bank Ban: This bill would call upon the President of the United States to encourage the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services to adopt policies to repeal the current and upcoming discriminatory donor suitability policies of the FDA regarding blood donation by men who have had sex with another man and, instead, direct the FDA to develop science-based policies such as criterion based on risky sexual behavior in lieu of sexual orientation.
• HR-11: Cesar Chavez: This resolution honors the life, legacy, and contributions to society by the labor leader Cesar Chavez.