Amador County Democrats

The Amador County Democratic Central Committee unanimously endorsed a resolution at its monthly meeting which will go before the State Democratic Party Convention in April. The resolution will declare the State Party’s support of the Employee Free Choice Act currently being debated in Congress.

The Employee Free Choice Act does three things to level the playing field for employees and employers:

• Strengthens penalties against companies that illegally coerce or intimidate employees in an effort to prevent them from forming a union;
• Brings in a neutral third party to settle a contract when a company and a newly certified union cannot agree on a contract after three months;
• Lets employees decide how to express their choice to organize, either by balloting or by majority sign-up, meaning that if a majority of the employees sign union-authorization cards, validated by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a company must recognize the union.

“In this time of financial upheaval for so many Americans, it just makes sense to take down the walls that prevent so many workers from being able to enjoy the benefits of union membership and make a decent living,” said Randy Bayne, Chair of the Amador Democratic Party. “This resolution says that we support a sensible approach to allowing workers to join a union by putting that choice in to the hands of workers, where it belongs. Card check, simply being able to state your desire to join a union by signing a card, is an approach that defuses the illegal intimidation tactics used by many employers. If I can join a political party by simply signing a card to declare my choice, I should be able to join a union by doing the same.”

The Employee Free Choice Act does not end elections for union representation, stresses Bayne. “Free Choice means exactly that. The employees are empowered to either form a union by majority sign-up, or, if just one-third wish to have an election, they can ask the National Labor Relations Board to conduct one.”

by Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi

My job and your government’s job are to protect your job today and tomorrow. California’s legislators are left little choice but to swallow hard and accept a very bad budget deal put together in secret without any public hearings and public input, all contrary to the open meeting laws of the state. The tragedy of this budget is that it robs our ability to advance our values and expand our economy by insuring a well-educated workforce. The budget does not allow us to provide adequate resources for the least among us. The budget does not allow transportation, water, and sanitation systems to keep up with population growth. Sadly this budget will force us to abandon robust research programs that will create tomorrow’s wealth.

The governor wants to be known as the green governor, the education governor, the reform governor, yet he has utterly failed to lead a budget process that in the remotest way advances any of these goals. There is no real reform of education, prisons, or the state funded healthcare programs in this budget. Yet it is in real reform that efficiencies and increased effectiveness is found and fair cuts can be made. A significant change is in labor contracts that are unilaterally altered, setting aside a long and honorable negotiation process between labor and management. Where is the effort in this budget to advance the green economy?

Unfortunately the budget that is to be voted on in the days ahead does nothing to position California for a quick return to a healthy and growing economy. In fact the budget hastens the starvation of our educational programs at every level, thereby directly and in many case irreversibly damaging millions of our children. The budget accelerates the financial decline of the University of California and the largest university in America, the California State University. California needs teachers, engineers, nurses, doctors, and every other job skill. This budget gets a D in meeting the educational needs of tomorrow’s workforce.

President Obama is in a desperate race to revive the American economy. The proposed budget is not coordinated with the federal stimulus package. In fact the budget is in direct conflict with much of the federal stimulus bill and will dampen and delay its effectiveness. Federal money intended to strengthen schools simply replaces money that this budget cuts from the very same schools. Federal money that is intended to provide health care for low income Californians replaces money that this budget removes. Federal money that will support public transportation replaces money that is cut from the California budget. And so on and so, program after program. Net Zero. The president’s effort to restart the California economy is not helped by this budget.

And what about tomorrow? This budget is the prime example of short term thinking. It will take years to get back to yesterday’s level of funding for education, healthcare, and public safety. The additional restrictions placed on future budgets by the spending cap (falsely called a rainy day fund) and the borrowing against the lottery and future income will make it impossible for future governors and legislators to have the revenue they need to restore the greatness of our education system and restore the public safety and transportation programs that our growing population requires.

Yes, our economy is in bad shape, but this budget will result in even more layoffs. Structural problems in the California budget can only be solved by a tax increase and reform coupled with cuts. So let us face that fact. Seek real reform that improves effectiveness and efficiency. Let’s select the correct mix of tax increases that do not stifle economic growth yet provide the revenue needed to maintain essential public services—no gimmicks, no accounting games, no more credit cards, no more structural deficit. Yet in this budget the proposed tax increases of $14 billion fall short of the need and do not spread the burden out across the economy and society. The volatility of the tax system is not reduced; it is made worse by relying on the narrow sales tax base and the income tax, and the revenues do not last even as the population grows and inflation continues.

To move this state forward we also have to address the necessary reforms to make California more governable, and that at least requires changing the two-thirds vote on taxes and the budget to 55 percent. Is there a better way? Of course there is. But we are where we are and the choices are hard and bad. There is no other budget before the legislature, so let’s take five days of public hearings to know exactly what this one is all about. As we learn the details, changes could be made and the necessary votes secured. We have come this far without going dark. There is time to do this right. California has always been a state that has relied on a strong innovative entrepreneurial private sector supported by an equally strong public sector, each in a symbiotic relationship that created the Golden State. This is our time, our moment to rekindle the fire in our economy.

The state government’s job is to strengthen the economy, now and in the future. We have to get it right this time.

By Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi

Note: Today at the University of California Regents meeting in San Francisco, UC President Mark Yudof directed his staff and UC Merced to immediately proceed with orchestrating Lt. Governor John Garamendi’s plan for an accelerated medical education program at UC Merced.

In early January I proposed an accelerated medical education program at the University of California Merced designed to prepare high quality doctors and nurses for the San Joaquin Valley. Today at the UC Regents’ meeting, President Yudof set in motion a process to create the medical education program at UC Merced.

The accelerated program is one major step that must be taken to address the serious health care problems of the San Joaquin Valley, where the state’s highest childhood asthma rates, premature births and serious shortage of medical services exist. The valley has 31 percent fewer primary care doctors, 51 percent fewer specialists, and nurses than California as a whole. An estimated $845 million dollars is lost annually in the region when Central Valley patients drive out of the area to get their medical care.

Unlike the other five UC medical schools where research competes with clinical practice, UC Merced’s priority should be educating and preparing new doctors and nurses to fill the needs of the valley. Entering freshman recruited from San Joaquin Valley high schools, and beyond would immediately begin their medical education. The program would run year round with no summer vacations. In the lower division the class work would be the same for students intending to become nurses or doctors. The upper division would divide the students into a nursing track and a MD track. The program would be fully integrated with the regional community colleges.

In just three years the nursing students and medical students could graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree. For students on the MD track all the course work necessary to enter clinical rotations in the surrounding hospitals and clinics would be completed. That would put them two to three years ahead of the traditional path. Following the clinical rotations students would be directed to the excellent hospitals and clinics in the area for their residency work.

UC Merced which already has many of the courses for the first two years of the program, could expand its program by tapping into the resources currently provided by community colleges in the region. The cost should be similar to the normal cost of education of undergraduates. The labs and facilities are already at UC Merced, at the UC San Francisco medical complex in Fresno, and in many of the surrounding community colleges.

There is a great need in the San Joaquin Valleyfor specialized research on community health, public health and diseases more often found in the Valley. This type of research is not expensive and can be the unique and valuable service of UC Merced. As the UCM campus grows and matures, the medical and nursing programs can follow the path of other UC medical schools and develop into world-class research institutions.

Let’s empower UC Merced to become a magnate school offering the most cost-effective high quality medical education in the nation, while at the same time offering homegrown solutions to the valley’s health care crisis. It’s time for the valley to heal itself.

Bob Laurent and Mirea Danielsen join ACDCC

At the first meeting of a new two year term, the ACDCC added two new members. Bob Laurent and Mirea Danielsen were sworn in by Chair Randy Bayne to represent Supervisorial Districts 3 and 5 respectively. They are the 16th and 17th members to join the 21 member committee.

"With the start of a new term there is always the possibility of some vacancies," said Randy, "but I'm confident we will have a full committee soon."