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Chesbro amends legislation to create comprehensive disaster aid fund; bill also would repeal SRA fee
Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D -North Coast) has amended AB 468 so that it would now establish a new Disaster Management, Preparedness and Assistance Fund to provide funding for multiple state emergency response agencies.
AB 468 would also repeal the SRA fire fee.
“This new fund would pay for disaster planning, response, training and equipment for three state agencies: Cal Fire, CalEMA and the Military Department,” Chesbro said. “The fund would also provide resources to local first response-agencies.”
AB 468 would establish a statewide 4.8 percent surcharge on all property insurance policies written in California. The revenue would be placed in the Disaster Management, Preparedness and Assistance Fund.
The SRA fire fee is charged only to residents living in state responsibility areas, which include primarily rural residents as well as residents of some suburban areas.
“The average residential surcharge would be about $48 per policy, which would generate an estimated $480 million per year for the Disaster Management Fund,” Chesbro said. “Florida has a similar disaster fund surcharge on property insurance and twenty-one other states have some type of disaster fund.”
The federal sequestration standoff has already cost CalEMA and the California National Guard millions in funding this year.
“The loss of these federal funds makes this legislation more urgent,” Chesbro said. “California needs to be more proactive in planning and funding responses to natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, tsunamis and floods,” Chesbro said. “A property insurance surcharge would ensure a stable source of funding for the sole purpose of planning and response to these disasters.”
AB 468 is coauthored by Assemblymembers Luis Alejo, Toni Atkins, Marc Levine and Mark Stone.
Also on Tuesday, SB 17, a bill to repeal the SRA fee died in the state Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water, according to Sen. Ted Gaines (R-Rocklin), who authored the bill.
“I am extremely disappointed that the committee failed to pass this bill. It was an opportunity to make things right with the 825,000 Californians stuck paying the illegal tax,” said Gaines in a written statement.
Gaines said two additional bills he’s authored – SB 125 and SB 147 – also would address aspects of what he called “the illegal fire tax.”
SB Bill 125 would exempt a property owner of a structure that is located both within a state responsibility area and within the boundaries of a local fire protection district from having to pay the $150 tax. SB 147 would exempt any property owner located within a state responsibility area who has an income of less than 200 percent of federal poverty level – as determined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines – from paying the $150 fire tax.
Gaines reported that the bills have not yet been set for committee hearings.
Donate Life California and the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday announced a new record: 10 million Californians have signed up as organ and tissue donors through the state’s Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, the largest in the country.
“We celebrate this amazing achievement, but we have more work to do in order to save lives. Currently, only one out of every three eligible adults checks ‘Yes’ at the DMV because too many people rule themselves out. We want everyone to say ‘Yes’ to donation,” said Lisa Stocks, Donate Life California board president.
The continuing influx of new signups on the registry is due primarily to donation education and the convenience of signing up at the DMV.
As of July 1, 2011, it became mandatory for all Californians to check one of two boxes on their driver license or I.D. card application or renewal to indicate their commitment to donation.
As a result of the Donate Life California and DMV partnership, 94 percent of the state’s 10 million registered donors have come through the DMV.
“We at the DMV are once again extremely proud to be part of this great effort to continue increasing the number of potential organ and tissue donors. Each milestone reached reminds us of the lifesaving importance of our partnership with Donate Life California,” said DMV Chief Deputy Director Jean Shiomoto.
Since the registry was introduced in April 2005, donors who had registered prior to death have saved or healed more than 120,000 lives through organ and tissue donation. In so doing, they give hope to the nearly 22,000 Californians who are waiting today for lifesaving organ transplants.
The shortage of organs is not due simply to a lack of giving, but rather to the rarity with which the opportunity to donate organs presents itself. Less than 1 percent of deaths qualify for organ donation.
Donate Life California also announced a new specialty license plate initiative with official sponsorship from the California Highway Patrol. Proceeds from the license plates will help fund Donate Life California’s mission to save more lives and increase awareness of organ and tissue donation.
“The CHP is proud to sponsor this lifesaving initiative to promote Donate Life California and encourage Californians to consider becoming an organ and tissue donor,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “One of our officers, Kenyon Youngstrom, recently had his last wishes fulfilled by donating his organs following his death in the line of duty. The CHP has seen firsthand the impact that a donor decision can have on so many lives.”
Monday afternoon, Donate Life California held a reception to honor Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his steadfast commitment to raising awareness for organ and tissue donation and for supporting legislation to advance the Donate Life mission.
Speaker Pérez welcomed the new CHP partnership and hailed the Registry’s 10 Million milestone as a huge step forward in saving the lives of thousands of Californians on the transplant waiting list.
“These special license plates are a wonderful way for Californians to take pride in being an organ donor, and to encourage others to do so,” said Speaker John A. Pérez. “This is another phenomenal way to remind Californians that every one of us has the potential to give our friends, family and neighbors a new lease on life with a donated organ, and I am very grateful for every single Californian who makes the choice to do so.”
Also on Monday, Speaker Pérez invited Donate Life California leadership to the Assembly floor to accept a resolution designating April as Donate Life Month in California. It is just one of many resolutions and key legislation the Speaker has authored in support of organ and tissue donation.
In 2012 with AB 1967, he helped Donate Life California accomplish one of its highest legislative priorities – providing a means for students to receive education on organ and tissue donation.
Specifically, the new law ensures that California’s health and science curricula provide students with age appropriate and accurate information on organ and tissue donation so they can make an informed decision about signing up to save lives on the Donate Life Registry.
Speaker Pérez also authored a bill extending Medi-Cal coverage for post-transplant medications from one year to two years.
Donate Life California invites the public to help celebrate National Donate Life Month by participating in National Blue and Green Day on Friday, April 19.
For more information visit http://donatelifecalifornia.org/ .
HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – A California Department of Fish and Wildlife warden received minor injuries on Tuesday as a result of a wreck on Highway 29 that officials said was caused by a second driver crossing over to the wrong side of the road.
Fish and Wildlife Warden Doug Wilson, 29, of Clearlake suffered minor injuries in the crash, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The second driver, 40-year-old Douglas Rupert of Clearlake, fled the scene on foot and later was arrested in Hidden Valley Lake by CHP officers, the agency said.
The CHP said the crash occurred at approximately 10:10 a.m. on Highway 29 south of Spruce Grove Road just outside of Hidden Valley Lake.
CHP Officer Kevin Hildebrand, an investigator at the crash scene, said Rupert – who was in a 2008 Dodge Scion XB – was driving southbound when the crash occurred.
Wilson, in his assigned 2007 Chevrolet patrol pickup, was traveling northbound toward Rupert’s location when, for reasons still under investigation, Rupert allowed the Scion to cross into the opposing lane and into Wilson’s path of travel, the CHP said in a late Tuesday afternoon report.
The CHP said Wilson attempted to veer away from Rupert’s vehicle, but Rupert continued crossing further into Wilson’s lane, with the left front section of the Scion hitting Wilson’s pickup.
Hildebrand said the collision caused Wilson’s pickup to overturn and settle onto its hood. At the scene he indicated where the truck had rolled and come to rest in the southbound lane.
Rupert’s Scion came to a stop on its wheels in the northbound traffic lane, far south of Wilson’s pickup, the CHP said.
Rupert and his three passengers, all of Clearlake – Cozette Kate Roper, 30; Elizabeth Thorn, 18; and Donald Scott Rupert, 18 – all fled the area, running into the hills toward the east after the crash, according to the CHP.
Hidden Valley Lake Security later found two of the passengers and detained them, and the CHP received a report that a subject matching Douglas Rupert’s description was near the Hardester’s Market in Hidden Valley Lake, the CHP said.
CHP Officer Mark Crutcher and Officer Rob Hearn responded to Hardester’s, finding Rupert when they arrived. The CHP said Rupert attempted to run from Crutcher but was soon taken into custody without further incident.
Hildebrand said that Wilson “showed no obvious signs of injury” and was able to walk away from his overturned truck. Wilson did, however, have a complaint of pain and was later taken to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake to be checked out.
Email John Lindblom at [email protected] .
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – A south Bay Area woman won a large jackpot at a local casino last week.
Twin Pine casino in Middletown identified the winner of the $176,714.62 jackpot at Athena M. The casino does not release winners' last names.
She won the jackpot on a statewide California Wheel of Fortune slot machine on Saturday, April 6, the casino reported.
Twin Pine reported that Athena recently graduated from college and has been working and paying off student loans. On her way to Twin Pine Casino and Hotel she was having car trouble and thought to herself how nice it would be to hit a jackpot and buy a new car.
She has reportedly been visiting Twin Pine Casino and Hotel for a little over one year.
Twin Pine Casino and Hotel is owned and operated by the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The conditions of a hillside where several homes in a north Lakeport subdivision are located have continued to rapidly worsen, with the ground level sinking several more feet since last week.
Since late March four structures have been red-tagged in the Lakeside Heights subdivision, which was created in the early 1980s and now has more than two dozen homes, according to county records.
On Monday, the hillside showed a worsening condition, with a section of ground running under the homes and through an empty lot appearing to have dropped several more feet.
The situation possibly was exacerbated by weekend rain, adding to the moisture in the already saturated hillside.
One of the subdivision’s Tudor-style homes looked like it was slipping into the hole, with the large crack up one side of the home’s exterior widening and its driveway cement buckling and separating from the house.
Another of the homes continued to pull further from its foundation, and the decks on both of those homes, which are perched on the hillside, were pulling off of the structures.
So far, the Community Development Department has not ordered abatement of the most severely damaged of the homes.
A temporary pumping station remains in place nearby, and the county put up temporary fencing around the sinking area.
Last week, Special Districts released a leak report conducted to try to locate the problem plaguing the hillside, as Lake County News has reported.
Specialized Utility Services Program, a subsidiary of California Rural Water Association, completed the leak testing. A copy of the leak report can be seen below.
The report suggests that the source of the leak is a 2-inch irrigation pipe belonging to the Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association. Special Districts reported that it disconnected the irrigation line pending further inspection and repair.
A more in-depth geotechnical investigation is being carried out by RGH Consultants, hired by the county late last month. Special Districts said it’s hoped that the geotechnical report will reveal the cause and how much the hillside can be expected to slip.
Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger is expected to update the board on the situation at its Tuesday meeting, according to Mireya Turner, the assistant clerk of the board.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Lake County Special Districts Leak Detection Support by LakeCoNews
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lakeport Fire Protection District has received a $5,000 grant that will be used to purchase software used when responding to emergencies.
Fireman’s Fund awarded the grant to the district, according to Chief Ken Wells.
He said the district discovered the Fireman's Fund grant while searching for funding resources in order to purchase emergency response hardware and software.
After extensive research Lakeport Fire District discovered Streetwise CAD Link, which instantaneously provides firefighters with information at the touch of a finger – far beyond any capabilities the district had before, Wells said.
The software can be utilized on tablet PCs, which Wells said are cost-efficient alternatives to laptop PCs and will allow the district to purchase multiple units, which will be placed within emergency response apparatus.
While researching the Fireman's Fund grant Wells said Lakeport Fire District was fortunate to acquire partnership and support with Tom Lincoln of Lincoln Levitt Insurance Group.
Wells credited Lakeport Fire’s receipt of the $5,000 grant to Lincoln's “endless support.”
Because of the funding received by Fireman's Fund Grant, Lakeport Fire was able to not only purchase three tablets and Streetwise CAD Link, but also rugged military grade tablet protective covers and mounting brackets for each vehicle, Wells said.
He said the tablets have been mounted within the district’s three front-line apparatus and are used on a daily basis when responding to emergency calls.
The new software offers time sensitive, critical information to fire personnel, including GPS incident location and mapping, turn-by-turn direction to emergency incidents, live emergency apparatus locations, fire hydrant locations and data, and building preplan information, he said.
Wells said the software also allows instant photo sharing to other units; live instant messaging between units; instant notification of hazards, staging locations and tactical objectives; and status time stamping logs.
Thanks to the grant Lakeport Fire now is able to provide a significantly increased level of service to the community by utilizing the technology, Wells said.
A formal grant check presentation ceremony is scheduled for later this month.