The Assembly Session is now over and a special session for health care and water issues has been convened. The Senate is expected to conclude its session soon as well, but not before hashing out a few more obstacles. Hundreds of bills are headed to the Governor's desk (the Assembly sent 234 before it adjourned in the wee hours). But, it turns out that money does buy you love if you start astroturf organizations, but not so much for the real grassroots. So, the mothers of MOMS rising and other organizations that have been fighting toxic chemicals that are in our everyday environment will have to keep on fighting.
UPDATE: From the commnts, AB 706 is now officially dead. The vote count was 19 Ayes, 20 Noes, 1 Abstain. Dems who voted the wrong way: Correa (Orange County), Ducheny (San Diego), Florez (Bakersfield & Fresno), Machado (Stockton), and Vincent (LA…WTF?). Gloria Negrete McCleod abstained. Sen. Yee flipped his vote late last night. Thank you, Senator.
See the flip for lots more.
Science is ever-changing, but that doesn't mean we should be ignoring its lessons. What we once thought was “better living” we now know is killing us. Yet we dawdle. And succumb to a few million bucks spent on mailers with deceptive images of firefighters. So, the scorecard on toxic chemicals this session, well, it is a mixed bag. Fiona Ma's bill to ban thalates in children's toys has passed both houses. You can learn more in this video. But whether it will be signed is seriously in doubt. If I were a cynic, I would say that the idea of a veto is precisely why it was allowed to be passed.
But, there are more failures than successes. And it seems the Senate has a profound interest in killing anti-toxics bills. You might say that the Senate is Toxic. (Oh man, I am funny!) So, you've heard a lot about AB 706 (here and here, video here), Mark Leno's Bill banning the use of certain fire retardants for furniture sold in the state. The bill passed the Assembly, and the LA Times named it one of its 6 must pass bills. Yet, the Democrats in the Senate (no Republicans are needed) have broken ranks. You see, apparently the millions of dollars the “Californians for Fire Safety” has spent opposing the bill, and protecting their toxic chemical business. A number of Senators changed their votes from earlier votes in Committee, Most noticeable are two Senators: Senators Florez (D-Bakersfield/Fresno) and Senator Leland Yee(D-SF/San Mateo).
Look, this isn't an issue of left/right. People in red counties respect their firefighters and want to keep them safe too, so the fact that Sen. Florez's district isn't the bluest is not relevant. If citizens are calling their legislators upset about AB 706, perhaps it is because “Californians for Fire Safety” has mislead the public into thinking that firefighters oppose the bill, when in fact, they support the bill.
Another bill, AB 558 by Asm. Mike Feuer(D-LA), would require the state to build a catalog of toxics, rather than proceeding through regulation one by one. Again, the bill was endoresed by the LA Times, who said that the program is worthy of support because of its purpost “to shift the focus from controlling pollution — that is, regulating how chemicals are disposed of or emitted — to preventing it by reducing the use of hazardous materials.” Yet, once again, Senators Florez and Yee killed the bill. This time in the Appropriations Committee. This bill wasn't even granted the courtesey of a floor vote by the two Senators.
Both of these Senators owe their constituents an explanation for their strong defense of the chemical industry over California's families. This is especially true of Senator Yee, my senator, who took over from one of the most consistently good votes in the Senate, Jackie Speier. (If there ever were an argument against term limits, it is Jackie Speier.) But, in the wake of her departure, we fail to protect Californians from toxic chemicals. And the manufacturers are allowed to buy another year to poison our children and imperil our firefighters. The dollar, I fear, proved once again that it is the strongest voice in Sacramento. Of course, as always, if I'm wrong I take criticism in the comments.