Mark Leno Talks to Bloggers

This morning, Assemblymember Mark Leno California was the guest of the premiere episode of the Politics Chat Show with Brian Leubitz of Calitics and Frank Russo of the California Progress Report.

You can listen to the show here.

Final Day of Food Stamp Challenge

Today marks my completion of the Food Stamp Challenge. It was at least as difficult as I had imagined and has only served to reaffirm my resolve to focus on the issues of hunger and nutrition. It is morally wrong that in this wealthiest state of the wealthiest nation there are millions of children, adults and seniors living daily at risk of hunger without sufficient government assistance. The hurdles California still has in place discouraging eligible residents from participating in the food stamp program must be removed. Our federal government must revisit many of the program’s requirements and benefit levels. It makes absolutely no sense that an individual who must drive to his or her minimum wage job is deemed ineligible if his/her car is worth more than $1500.

Given that I ran out of cereal on my sixth day, I visited my friends at All Saints Episcopal Church in the Haight Ashbury on Saturday. For eight years, I had volunteered in their Saturday meal program setting up tables, serving and even preparing my one signature dish, pasta casserole for 200. Many of those with whom I had worked were still there to greet me. I told them of my situation and they of course graciously welcomed me and offered me a place in line. The food was hot and nutritious, and hit the spot. It was a pleasure to dine with many of those I had served on Saturday morning many years ago.

It also seemed appropriate to contribute that which I would have spent on food this past week to the efforts of All Saints weekly meal program.

I learned any number of important lessons and facts during the challenge. Friends and supporters sent emails making suggestions as to how to stretch limited resources as nutritiously as possible. Co-workers in the Capitol offered encouragement and thanks for bringing attention to the hunger all around us, sharing stories of their own experience with food stamps earlier in their lives. Certainly, the federal food stamp program desperately needs updating. With Congresswoman Barbara Lee engaged and leading the way, I am confident that we will have an articulate and powerful voice fighting for us in Washington.

We know that we can do better in providing for those who struggle daily with the basics of life. With sufficient and focused political will, we must do better.

Food Stamp Challenge Diary – Day 3

The time is now 11:15pm and I am just completing my third day of the challenge. I am beginning to think that I could have been wiser if not more thoughtful about what I purchased with my $20 for a week’s worth of food. An additional element to my challenge is that it coincided with one of the most work intensive weeks of our legislative calendar. With the knowledge that I would be at my office from 8:30am-11:00pm each day this week, I never intended to cook. As a result I have limited myself to a more severe food restriction than if I had access to a kitchen.

In any case, my morning and evening bowls of cereal in addition to a midday bowl of canned soup has led me to a place called Hunger in record time. Yes, Hunger is a place – a place with its own unique environment. It is a place with its own sensations, its own perspective and its own emotions.

By the middle of my third day, I began to have difficulty focusing on my work. Not only was I not feeling quite in my body, I was beginning to feel lethargic. My speech was not as fluid, my thoughts were a bit confused and my spirit was noticeably dampened. As I stopped at my office on my way from the Assembly floor to the Budget Conference Committee briefing, my staff became concerned. I at first resisted and then devoured a peanut butter sandwich which within five minutes revived me not unlike an intoxicant.

Now eight hours later, I am blogging prior to heading home for the evening’s bowl of cereal. The euphoric benefit of the sandwich has diminished and I find myself floating back to that unfamiliar place of Hunger. Imagining what it might be like to actually have permanent residence here is not a pretty thought. Hopelessness, apathy and weakness best describe It. I don’t want to think about what it must be like for a child to attend school in this state or what it is like for a mother to leave home for a long day’s work in this chronic condition.

It’s best that I sign off, get home for my third meal and get some sleep. I am sure that I will feel better in the morning.

Food Stamp Challenge Diary – Day 2

It is now 10:15pm and we have just completed over 12 hours of legislative work on the floor of the Assembly, having dealt with approximately 140 bills today.

We were successful in moving all six of our bills to the Senate for consideration. Our food stamp bill which would delete the requirement that applicants be fingerprinted before being accepted into the program passed, though, sadly, on a party line vote. In spite of the fact that we are leaving 2 billion federal dollars on the table by not enrolling 2 million eligible California residents, in spite of the fact that 1 in 3 of our seniors are at daily risk of hunger and that 1 in 4 of our child are also at risk, not a single Republican would join us.

Enough policy/politics – my energy is drained, I am seriously hungry and feeling a bit ornery (yes, major low blood sugar). When I get home I will enjoy my allotted bowl of cereal. This experience of hunger is much different from that experienced each year when I fast for 24 hours on Yom Kippur. That is almost as much of a mental exercise as it is physical. In that case, I make the decision and muscle through it. I can look forward to breaking the fast and celebrating the New Year with friends and a sumptuous meal.

With this challenge, the hunger is never more than dulled by the little I can afford to eat and greets me each day when I arise. It is a small opportunity to actually experience a chronic state of hunger. It is definitely not fun and there is the sense that hunger itself is just mean.

I do know that my commitment to the issues of access to nutritious fresh food and economic justice is only more confirmed. We need to talk about it, write about it and further raise its visibility. The San Francisco Food Bank, St. Anthony’s, Glide, Project Open Hand and all of the many amazing non-profits that deal with this on a daily basis need volunteers and financial assistance from the private sector. There is no shortage of work to be done.

I cannot fail to mention that we made history again today by passing the only marriage equality bill in the country off the Assembly floor. We will have to celebrate tomorrow.

Food Stamp Challenge Diary

I truly appreciate the support and encouragement I have received from colleagues and friends as I started this week to learn for myself if food stamp benefits are enough to eat adequately and nutritiously, while balancing a busy life. I can already tell you that the experience has truly lived up to its name— it really is a challenge.

Yesterday I began the day with a bowl of cereal, which isn’t a huge departure from what I usually eat. But as the day wore on, I began to notice the many food choices that were available to me before the challenge, but are no longer. A generous staff member happened to bring in four dozen hand-dipped chocolate strawberries. An array of cheeses and fresh fruits tempted me in the Assembly member’s lounge. All of it was off limits.

At lunchtime I prepared a bowl of chicken noodle soup. The afternoon didn’t get much easier as directly following session I made a quick stop at an event overflowing with delicacies that a person on food stamps certainly couldn’t afford.

Having not eaten since my lunch soup, I headed back to work for a 7 p.m. continuation of our Budget Conference Committee. A glass of water carried me through to it’s conclusion at 9:30 p.m.

When I arrived home at 10:30 p.m., the evening’s bowl of cereal could wait no longer. The temptation to have a second bowl was tempered by the knowledge that the two boxes of cereal I bought on Sunday need to get me through the entire week.

As hungry as I am, this challenge has gripped me. My intent is to continue it through the week.

Food Stamp Challenge Diary- Day 1

Today I began the Food Stamp Challenge, living off the national average food stamp budget–$21 a week. That breaks down to $3 a day, or $1 per meal.

It’s very hard to imagine how so many eat on so little money. This is exactly why I decided to take on the challenge. Two million people in California are on food stamps, two-thirds of which are children who need nutritious foods to fuel their growing bodies. It’s my hope that this effort makes just a few people think about the difficult choices that so many in our country and our state deal with every day when trying to stretch their food stamp dollar to feed their families.

When I went to the grocery store and bought food for the upcoming week, I have to admit, I got a little nervous about how little I saw in my basket. But I’m eager to raise awareness about hunger in California and gain a better understanding of what so many in the State experience everyday.

Today is a busy day as I’m running back and forth between the Budget Conference Committee where I’m working with my colleagues on the State Budget, and the Assembly Floor where I’m working to win Assembly approval of my own bills by the deadline at the end of the week.

I’m off and running today with the challenge and started my day with a bowl of cereal.

Check back with me a little later and I’ll update you on my progress.

Mark Leno on Education, Children & Foster Youth

Education, Children & Foster Youth

Here is a sample of some of the education bills I am currently working on in the state Assembly. I’ve also listed past legislation from previous years. For a complete review of my state legislative record, please visit http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.

2007

AB 1382: Improving Access to Food Stamps

Current law requires all applicants to the Food Stamp program to submit electronic fingerprints and photographs in order to obtain Food Stamps for themselves and their families. AB 1382 seeks to remove the fingerprinting requirement, eliminating what is widely regarded as an expensive, unnecessary barrier to low income families putting healthy food on their tables.

AB 1472: California Healthy Places Act of 2007

This bill would require state agencies to work together to address how urban development impacts the health of our communities, with special focus on children. Attention will be given to new policies that support childhood development, prevent injury, illness and chronic disease, and ensure environmental health as our communities grow.

AB 1482: Supplemental Instruction Funding

This bill would enable public and charter schools to assist at-risk and low-achieving students with the state’s High School Exit Exam and graduation requirements by providing more flexibility in the use supplement instruction (SI) funding. By removing the restriction on the use SI funding to only non-school hours and eliminating other administrative burdens, this bill will help schools deliver more effective instructional services students need to overcome academic hurdles.

AB 1578: Foster Youth Higher Education Preparation and Support Act of 2007

This is a comprehensive bill to ensure that California foster youth receive the academic preparation, financial assistance and the campus-based support services they need to access and succeed in higher education.

2006

AB 2781: Fair Child Support Collection Practices

AB 2781 would prohibit a private child support collector from engaging in any debt collection practices that are prohibited by the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It would also provide consumers with the option to opt out of a contract under specified circumstances.

AB 2488: Re-establishing Foster Youth Sibling Connections

AB 2488 establishes a process for reconnecting siblings that have been separated by adoption. By using a court-appointed confidential intermediary, the bill would eliminate the need for both siblings to independently file confidentiality waivers in order to reconnect with one another, and reduces the age when they may do so from 21 to 18.

AB 2489: Higher Education for Foster Youth

This is a comprehensive bill to ensure that California foster youth receive the academic preparation, financial assistance and the campus-based support services they need to access and succeed in higher education.

2005

AB 519: Reinstating Parental Rights for Legal Orphans

In cases of child abuse or neglect, existing law sets timeframes in which parents must make substantial progress in meeting the requirements of their family reunification plan or face termination of parental rights, thereby freeing the child for adoption. This bill allows the court to reinstate parental rights upon petition by the child or the child’s attorney only if, after three years past the termination of parental rights, the child still has not been adopted, and reinstatement of parental rights is found to be in the best interests of the child.

AB 1261: Improving Foster Youth Educational Outcomes

This bill clarifies legislative intent and makes technical corrections to a landmark 2003 legislation that promotes better educational outcomes for foster youth.

2004

AB 2674: Adoption Relinquishment Time Line

This measure would ensure that the filing of relinquishment papers is binding two business days after certified receipt by the Department of Social Services (DSS). Currently, the process often takes more than 30 days, forcing parents and their prospective adoptive children to wait unnecessarily.

2003

AB 942: Emergency Services for Children’s Diabetes

This bill would require that if a school nurse is not present, designated school personnel may help administer emergency assistance to a diabetic student. The bill would also allow students to monitor their blood glucose level or self-administer insulin in the school or any area of the school grounds.

-Mark

Mark Leno on Education, Children & Foster Youth

Education, Children & Foster Youth

Here is a sample of some of the education bills I am currently working on in the state Assembly. I’ve also listed past legislation from previous years. For a complete review of my state legislative record, please visit http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.

2007

AB 1382: Improving Access to Food Stamps

Current law requires all applicants to the Food Stamp program to submit electronic fingerprints and photographs in order to obtain Food Stamps for themselves and their families. AB 1382 seeks to remove the fingerprinting requirement, eliminating what is widely regarded as an expensive, unnecessary barrier to low income families putting healthy food on their tables.

AB 1472: California Healthy Places Act of 2007

This bill would require state agencies to work together to address how urban development impacts the health of our communities, with special focus on children. Attention will be given to new policies that support childhood development, prevent injury, illness and chronic disease, and ensure environmental health as our communities grow.

AB 1482: Supplemental Instruction Funding

This bill would enable public and charter schools to assist at-risk and low-achieving students with the state’s High School Exit Exam and graduation requirements by providing more flexibility in the use supplement instruction (SI) funding. By removing the restriction on the use SI funding to only non-school hours and eliminating other administrative burdens, this bill will help schools deliver more effective instructional services students need to overcome academic hurdles.

AB 1578: Foster Youth Higher Education Preparation and Support Act of 2007

This is a comprehensive bill to ensure that California foster youth receive the academic preparation, financial assistance and the campus-based support services they need to access and succeed in higher education.

2006

AB 2781: Fair Child Support Collection Practices

AB 2781 would prohibit a private child support collector from engaging in any debt collection practices that are prohibited by the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It would also provide consumers with the option to opt out of a contract under specified circumstances.

AB 2488: Re-establishing Foster Youth Sibling Connections

AB 2488 establishes a process for reconnecting siblings that have been separated by adoption. By using a court-appointed confidential intermediary, the bill would eliminate the need for both siblings to independently file confidentiality waivers in order to reconnect with one another, and reduces the age when they may do so from 21 to 18.

AB 2489: Higher Education for Foster Youth

This is a comprehensive bill to ensure that California foster youth receive the academic preparation, financial assistance and the campus-based support services they need to access and succeed in higher education.

2005

AB 519: Reinstating Parental Rights for Legal Orphans

In cases of child abuse or neglect, existing law sets timeframes in which parents must make substantial progress in meeting the requirements of their family reunification plan or face termination of parental rights, thereby freeing the child for adoption. This bill allows the court to reinstate parental rights upon petition by the child or the child’s attorney only if, after three years past the termination of parental rights, the child still has not been adopted, and reinstatement of parental rights is found to be in the best interests of the child.

AB 1261: Improving Foster Youth Educational Outcomes

This bill clarifies legislative intent and makes technical corrections to a landmark 2003 legislation that promotes better educational outcomes for foster youth.

2004

AB 2674: Adoption Relinquishment Time Line

This measure would ensure that the filing of relinquishment papers is binding two business days after certified receipt by the Department of Social Services (DSS). Currently, the process often takes more than 30 days, forcing parents and their prospective adoptive children to wait unnecessarily.

2003

AB 942: Emergency Services for Children’s Diabetes

This bill would require that if a school nurse is not present, designated school personnel may help administer emergency assistance to a diabetic student. The bill would also allow students to monitor their blood glucose level or self-administer insulin in the school or any area of the school grounds.

-Mark

Mark Leno on Education, Children & Foster Youth

Education, Children & Foster Youth

Here is a sample of some of the education bills I am currently working on in the state Assembly. I’ve also listed past legislation from previous years. For a complete review of my state legislative record, please visit http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.

2007

AB 1382: Improving Access to Food Stamps

Current law requires all applicants to the Food Stamp program to submit electronic fingerprints and photographs in order to obtain Food Stamps for themselves and their families. AB 1382 seeks to remove the fingerprinting requirement, eliminating what is widely regarded as an expensive, unnecessary barrier to low income families putting healthy food on their tables.

AB 1472: California Healthy Places Act of 2007

This bill would require state agencies to work together to address how urban development impacts the health of our communities, with special focus on children. Attention will be given to new policies that support childhood development, prevent injury, illness and chronic disease, and ensure environmental health as our communities grow.

AB 1482: Supplemental Instruction Funding

This bill would enable public and charter schools to assist at-risk and low-achieving students with the state’s High School Exit Exam and graduation requirements by providing more flexibility in the use supplement instruction (SI) funding. By removing the restriction on the use SI funding to only non-school hours and eliminating other administrative burdens, this bill will help schools deliver more effective instructional services students need to overcome academic hurdles.

AB 1578: Foster Youth Higher Education Preparation and Support Act of 2007

This is a comprehensive bill to ensure that California foster youth receive the academic preparation, financial assistance and the campus-based support services they need to access and succeed in higher education.

2006

AB 2781: Fair Child Support Collection Practices

AB 2781 would prohibit a private child support collector from engaging in any debt collection practices that are prohibited by the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It would also provide consumers with the option to opt out of a contract under specified circumstances.

AB 2488: Re-establishing Foster Youth Sibling Connections

AB 2488 establishes a process for reconnecting siblings that have been separated by adoption. By using a court-appointed confidential intermediary, the bill would eliminate the need for both siblings to independently file confidentiality waivers in order to reconnect with one another, and reduces the age when they may do so from 21 to 18.

AB 2489: Higher Education for Foster Youth

This is a comprehensive bill to ensure that California foster youth receive the academic preparation, financial assistance and the campus-based support services they need to access and succeed in higher education.

2005

AB 519: Reinstating Parental Rights for Legal Orphans

In cases of child abuse or neglect, existing law sets timeframes in which parents must make substantial progress in meeting the requirements of their family reunification plan or face termination of parental rights, thereby freeing the child for adoption. This bill allows the court to reinstate parental rights upon petition by the child or the child’s attorney only if, after three years past the termination of parental rights, the child still has not been adopted, and reinstatement of parental rights is found to be in the best interests of the child.

AB 1261: Improving Foster Youth Educational Outcomes

This bill clarifies legislative intent and makes technical corrections to a landmark 2003 legislation that promotes better educational outcomes for foster youth.

2004

AB 2674: Adoption Relinquishment Time Line

This measure would ensure that the filing of relinquishment papers is binding two business days after certified receipt by the Department of Social Services (DSS). Currently, the process often takes more than 30 days, forcing parents and their prospective adoptive children to wait unnecessarily.

2003

AB 942: Emergency Services for Children’s Diabetes

This bill would require that if a school nurse is not present, designated school personnel may help administer emergency assistance to a diabetic student. The bill would also allow students to monitor their blood glucose level or self-administer insulin in the school or any area of the school grounds.

-Mark

Mark Leno on Health Care and AIDS

Health Care/AIDS

Here is a sample of some of the health care related bills I am currently working on in the state Assembly. I’ve also listed past legislation from previous years. For a complete review of my state legislative record, please visit http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.

2007

AB 1669: SF Trauma Recovery Center

This bill would ensure funding for the San Francisco Trauma Recovery Center which provides critical services to crime victims suffering from severe economic, psychological and other trauma-related symptoms.

AB 1201: Collective Bargaining for Direct Care Nurses

This bill would ensure that California’s direct care nurses preserve their collective bargaining rights, thereby preserving their rights under their existing contracts to challenge hospital staffing and effectively advocate for quality health care for their patients.

2006

AB 50: Trauma Recovery Center
AB 50 provides $1.3 million for fiscal year 2006-07 from the $100 million surplus in the Restitution Fund of the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board for the continued funding of the Trauma Recovery Center at San Francisco General Hospital.

AB 2280: Improved HIV Test Counseling

This bill directs the Department of Health Services to establish a new HIV counseling model that allows clinics to increase the number of people getting HIV tests and appropriately reimburses clinics for the services provided.

AB 2384: Healthy Food Purchase Pilot Program

AB 2384 requires the California Department of Health Services to develop and implement a Healthy Food Purchase Pilot Program that will improve access and affordability of fresh fruits and vegetables for food stamp recipients in low-income communities.

AB 2968: Assisted Living Waiver
This bill creates a designated Medi-Cal reimbursement rate structure for community living support services in San Francisco that assist beneficiaries who would otherwise be homeless, living in shelters or institutionalized. In this way, it expands community-based options for beneficiaries who would otherwise require or be at high-risk of requiring more costly institutional care.

2005

AB 631: Mobile Methadone Treatment MediCal Reimbursement

San Francisco’s mobile methadone maintenance treatment program is the first of its kind in California, operating since March 2003 in close cooperation with the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. The program is highly effective in treating the City’s estimated 15,000 to 17,000 heroin addicts by taking the services directly to where they reside in neighborhoods throughout the City. As a pilot, the program is not formally licensed, and thus not eligible for MediCal reimbursement. This bill would create a category of licensure for mobile methadone maintenance treatment programs to facilitate MediCal reimbursement for services, thereby encouraging its financial viability.

2004

AB 1796: Food Stamps Eligibility

Federal law currently prohibits individuals with a prior drug conviction from receiving federally funded food stamps. States have the ability to opt-out of this prohibition and 31 states have chosen to do so. This measure would opt-out California, making state eligible to receive this type of federal food stamp funding.

Denying public assistance is a significant barrier to successful re-entry into society to formerly incarcerated persons. Food assistance helps individuals attempting to reintegrate into society to better use their scarce economic resources.

AB 2660: Pharmacists

This measure would require pharmacists to register with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, who would recognize these pharmacists as “Mid-level Practitioners”. These pharmacists will then be able to provide regular and timely pain management care to those in need of end-of-life care.

2003

AJR 13: Medical Cannabis Resolution

Based on a letter signed by 50 state legislators, this resolution urges Congress to pass legislation that secures a state’s right to regulate medical cannabis and allows individual patients to possess and consume medical cannabis, and allows individuals deputized by states and localities to cultivate and distribute medical cannabis appropriately.

AB 685: HIV Rapid Test

This bill would exempt certain HIV counselors from the training requirements that currently prohibit them from administering a new HIV rapid test. The test offers same-day results and would reduce the number of people who do not return to pick up their results or learn their HIV status.

-Mark