California State Assemblyman
Democratic Assemblyman representing the 55th District (Carson, West and North Long Beach, Wilmington) and Chair of the Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee; candidate for Los Angeles City Council and long-time resident of Harbor Gateway, which is part of the 15th District
Can a New Member Shake Up the LA City Council? The LA City Council has been described as "ideologically homogenous," where members who disagree don't vote "no" but call in sick to protect the image of tranquility. In 2009, the members voted unanimously 99.3 percent of the time. Last year it was 97.5 percent. Janice Hahn left the 15th Council District when she was elected to Congress and the runoff to replace her will be held next Tuesday. The district includes Watts, South Los Angeles and a four-block wide, eight-mile long strip of neighborhoods called Harbor Gateway stretching south to San Pedro, Wilmington and Harbor City. The runoff candidates are LA Policeman Joe Buscaino , a San Pedro native who's never run for elected office, and Warren Furutani , who was born in San Pedro but lives in Harbor Gateway. He was an elected LA School Board member for eight years and is currently a Democratic state Assemblyman. Council offices are technically nonpartisan.
The State Budget and Public Pension Reform Governor Brown has declared a stalemate on closing the $25 billion gap between state spending and revenue. He wants roughly half made up by spending cuts and the other half to be an extension of tax increases approved by the voters. Republicans won't give him the two-thirds vote required to put that on the ballot, but there might be a deal on public pension reform. The state's bipartisan Little Hoover Commission has concluded that underfunded pensions threaten both state and local governments. The Legislative Analyst , also bipartisan, agrees.
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.