State of California Archives: on Technology
Alex Padilla:
Bill created statewide Earthquake Early Warning System
In 2006, Alex was elected to the State Senate. As an engineer, he fought for the ethical advancement of science and technology.
He authored legislation protecting Californians from discrimination based on genetic information and wrote the bill creating a statewide Earthquake Early Warning System.
Source: 2022 California Senate campaign website Alex-Padilla.com
Dec 23, 2020
Alex Padilla:
Election security is ongoing effort, not once a generation
Padilla has led some of the most robust efforts in the nation to secure voting systems and combat disinformation. "I would advocate fiercely for ongoing appropriations and financial support for election modernization and security,"
Padilla said. "The work is ongoing," Padilla said, arguing that the handful of recent grant disbursements aren't enough. "Election security and integrity is not something you can invest in only once in a generation."
Source: Politico e-zine on 2022 California Senate race
Dec 7, 2020
Alex Padilla:
States run elections, Feds can standardize administration
States run elections, Padilla said, but "there's a strong role for the federal government to play" in improving the process, and "it's not as if Congress appropriating dollars and leveraging policy in the process is unprecedented." Padilla said he'd
embrace this approach, arguing, "A lot of the reforms we're talking about are no-brainers." "We're not talking about federalizing or centralizing elections nationally," he said. "We're talking about standardizing election administration."
Source: Politico e-zine on 2022 California Senate race
Dec 7, 2020
Gavin Newsom:
Scale back high-speed rail: Merced to Bakersfield only
Let's level about High-Speed Rail. The project, as currently planned, would cost too much and take too long. Right now, there simply isn't a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to LA. I wish there were.However, we
do have the capacity to complete a high-speed rail link between Merced and Bakersfield. We'll connect the revitalized Central Valley to other parts of the state and continue to push for more federal funding and private dollars.
But let's just get something done.
For those who want to walk away from this whole endeavor, I offer you this: Abandoning high-speed rail entirely means we will have wasted billions of dollars with nothing but broken promises and lawsuits to
show for it. And by the way, I am not interested in sending $3.5 billion in federal funding that was allocated to this project back to Donald Trump.
Source: 2019 State of the State address to California legislature
Feb 12, 2019
John Chiang:
More private money for high-speed rail project
[Six gubernatorial candidates from two parties participated in one debate]: There was a partisan split on Gov. Brown's high-speed rail project, with all four Democrats in favor and both Republicans opposed. State Treasurer John Chiang argued that
more private money is needed for the system, a stance echoed by the other three Democrats. Both Allen and Cox, however, promised to ax construction as soon as they were elected, calling the plan corrupt and a boondoggle.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle on 2018 California governor race
May 8, 2018
John Cox:
High-speed rail project is corrupt; ax it
[Six gubernatorial candidates from two parties participated in one debate]: There was a partisan split on Gov. Brown's high-speed rail project, with all four Democrats in favor and both Republicans opposed. State Treasurer John Chiang argued that
more private money is needed for the system, a stance echoed by the other three Democrats. Both Allen and Cox, however, promised to ax construction as soon as they were elected, calling the plan corrupt and a boondoggle.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle on 2018 California governor race
May 8, 2018
Travis Allen:
High-speed rail project is corrupt; ax it
[Six gubernatorial candidates from two parties participated in one debate]: There was a partisan split on Gov. Brown's high-speed rail project, with all four Democrats in favor and both Republicans opposed. State Treasurer John Chiang argued that
more private money is needed for the system, a stance echoed by the other three Democrats. Both Allen and Cox, however, promised to ax construction as soon as they were elected, calling the plan corrupt and a boondoggle.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle on 2018 California governor race
May 8, 2018
Jerry Brown:
California Waterfix: Modernized state water system
Finally, we have the California Waterfix, a long studied and carefully designed project to modernize our broken water system. I am convinced that it will conserve water, protect the fish and the habitat in the Delta and ensure the delivery of badly
needed water to the millions of people who depend on California's aqueducts. Local water districts--in both the North and South--are providing the leadership and the financing because they know it is vital for their communities, and for the whole state.
Source: 2018 California State of the State address
Jan 25, 2018
Kevin de Leon:
Preserve net neutrality in California, if Feds won't
Kevin de Leon released a video message today announcing he will join colleagues in introducing legislation to preserve net neutrality in California. This comes after the Federal Communications Commission's recent decision to repeal safeguards that keep
the internet open and free. Below is a transcript:"I'm fighting to preserve net neutrality because I believe a free and open internet is vital to our democracy and our way of life. Net neutrality is fundamentally an issue of free speech; it's about
who has access to which ideas; who gets to decide what information you see; and how fast your internet works.
"No company should have the power to slow down your connection; no company should be able to hold your ideas hostage or demand a ransom to
access your favorite streaming service or website. In today's digital world, the internet is critical to free expression, free speech, and democracy. If the Trump Administration won't protect consumers, the State of California will."
Source: Ad-Watch on 2018 California Gubernatorial race
Dec 28, 2017
Kevin de Leon:
Infrastructure investment overdue
He was instrumental in making an additional $5.4 billion a year investment in road, freeway, bridge and transit projects over the next decade. The result will be lower commute times, safer roads and job creation. Senator de Le˘n also this
year successfully passed SB 5, giving Californians the opportunity to make long-overdue investments in our parks and flood-control infrastructure with a $4 billion general obligation bond measure on the June 2018 ballot.
Source: 2018 California Senatorial website KevinDeLeon.com
Oct 15, 2017
Travis Allen:
Fix roads with existing funds, not new taxes
Travis introduced the Repeal the Gas Tax Initiative we can actually fix California's roads and expand our highways with the money our state already has. California has the revenues to fix traffic congestion.
Let's spend our existing tax revenue on desperately needed transportation infrastructure instead of California's bloated government bureaucracy and high speed rail.
Source: 2018 California Gubernatorial website JoinTravisAllen.com
Sep 1, 2017
Michael Eisen:
Patents are destroying the soul of academic science
The soul of academic science is being destroyed, one patent at a time. Nowhere is this more evident than in the acrimonious battle between the University of California and The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT over who owns the rights to commercialize
gene & genome editing systems based on the CRISPR immune system of bacteria. Both claim to have invented the technique first, for what has the potential to be billions of dollars in royalties down the road.The academic quest for patents is no longer
the side story. Where once technology licensing staff rushed to secure intellectual property before scientists blab about their work, patents now, in many quarters, dominate the game. Experiments are done to stake out claims, new discoveries are held in
secrecy and talks and publication are delayed. But the most worrying trend has been the willingness of some researchers & research institutions to distort history, demean their colleagues and misrepresent the scientific process to support these efforts.
Source: 2018 California Senate race website, MichaelEisen.org
Feb 20, 2017
Michael Eisen:
Government should be a partner, not just a funding source
Michael Eisen--an evolutionary biologist who studies flies at the University of California, Berkeley, a co-founder of the pioneering open-access journal Public Library of Science, and a prolific Tweeter with more than 20,000 followers--is running for
the USSenate. He announced he intends to compete for the California Senate seat that has been held for a quarter-century by Dianne Feinstein (D), who has yet to announce whether she will run for re-election in 2018.Eisen says that he's one of a
growing number of scientists who, in response to the election of President Donald Trump, have decided that their political activism has to rise above simply lobbying for more funding. "Too much of the scientific establishment looks at the government as
a bank--that the primary thing we should worry about is can we get the right amount of money out of Congress," he says. "Too few people focus on the fact that science needs to be a partnership with the public for it to thrive."
Source: Science Magazine on 2018 California Senate race
Jan 27, 2017
Ro Khanna:
$900M to extend BART to Silicon Valley
Improving our Infrastructure: I support President Obama's proposals to update our infrastructure through a combination of public and private investments. His plan includes offering tax breaks and loans to stimulate private investment, and opening
an infrastructure bank that would use $10 billion in public money to leverage private investment.Expand BART's reach. I strongly support the BART Silicon Valley project, a $900 million grant agreement with the Federal government that will extend
BART 16.1 miles from Fremont into Santa Clara County. Once completed, the project will reduce commuters' travel time and generate new jobs as housing is built around new stations in the South Bay. Estimates show that
throughout the duration of the project, 2,400 temporary jobs and 7,000 jobs will be created. I will advocate for infrastructure projects and negotiate grant agreements between federal and local governments to pay for them.
Source: 2016 California House campaign website RoKhanna.com
Nov 8, 2016
David Hadley:
Ban drone use for photography on private property
NCSL summary: California AB 856 prohibits entering the airspace of an individual in order to capture an image or recording of that individual engaging in a private, personal, or familial activity without permission. This legislation is a
response to the use of UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) by the paparazzi.Bill excerpt: A person is liable for physical invasion of privacy when the person knowingly enters onto the land or into the airspace above the land of another
person without permission or otherwise commits a trespass in order to capture any type of visual image, sound recording, or other physical impression of the plaintiff engaging in a private, personal, or familial activity and the invasion occurs in a
manner that is offensive to a reasonable person.
Legislative record: Passed Senate 40-0-0; passed House 78-0-2 Aug. 27; signed by Governor Oct. 6 (Rep. David Hadley voted AYE)
Source: NCSL UAS Report: 2015 California voting records
Aug 27, 2015
Jimmy Gomez:
Ban drone use for photography on private property
NCSL summary: California AB 856 prohibits entering the airspace of an individual in order to capture an image or recording of that individual engaging in a private, personal, or familial activity without permission. This legislation is a
response to the use of UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) by the paparazzi.Bill excerpt: A person is liable for physical invasion of privacy when the person knowingly enters onto the land or into the airspace above the land of another
person without permission or otherwise commits a trespass in order to capture any type of visual image, sound recording, or other physical impression of the plaintiff engaging in a private, personal, or familial activity and the invasion occurs in a
manner that is offensive to a reasonable person.
Legislative record: Passed Senate 40-0-0; passed House 78-0-2 Aug. 27; signed by Governor Oct. 6 (Rep. Jimmy Gomez voted AYE)
Source: NCSL UAS Report: 2015 California voting records
Aug 27, 2015
Ted Lieu:
Expand investment in R&D plus transportation infrastructure
Ted Lieu's economic, job creation and Middle Class priorities: - Extending to students the same low interest rates on their college loans that the federal government currently charges to big banks.
- Protecting Social Security and
Medicare and stopping plans to privatize them.
- Raising the federal minimum wage.
-
Overhauling the federal government's approach to workforce investment by focusing precious resources for job training in areas where there is a pathway to a good, high wage job.
-
Expanding investment in research and development to directly help job growth around Silicon Beach and UCLA.
- Expanding job creation by investing in infrastructure and improving our transportation system.
Source: 2014 California House campaign website, TedLieu.com
Oct 10, 2014
Neel Kashkari:
Day one, high-speed rail train is dead
Toward the end of the debate, one of the moderators--a local radio talk show host often aligned with conservative causes--asked the candidates, "If elected, will both of you guys promise to throw your body in front of the high-speed train?"Kashkari
replied instantly, eager to highlight his steadfast opposition to California's high-speed rail project in front of a conservative audience: "Absolutely. Day one, that train is dead."
One big question now is whether, despite spending billions already,
the project will ever be completed. Another is whether high-speed rail is the issue that can rejuvenate California's moribund Republican Party. For his part, Brown continues to embrace the undertaking, which has faced a series of legal, financial, and
practical hurdles that have driven up costs and delayed construction for years. Even news that some members of his own party have abandoned the project hasn't dimmed Brown's unyielding optimism.
Source: Real Clear Politics on 2014 California gubernatorial race
Jul 10, 2014
Jerry Brown:
32-year quest to build nation's first high-speed rail line
While California had recovered from an epic fiscal hole and now showed a healthy surplus, Brown insisted that now was not the time to return to what he considered profligate overspending. But there is one project Brown has decided not to save for the
future: building the nation's first high-speed rail line, one of the largest infrastructure projects in U.S. history, with an estimated price tag of $68 billion--if not higher. Shovels are poised to hit the ground this year on the first section of track,
the latest advance in Brown's 32-year quest (he signed the first bill authorizing a study of high-speed rail in 1982) to erect something he believes befits the image of California as a "land of dreams."
"We aren't all Twitter-holics that have to have
instant gratification after 140 characters," Brown said. "We can take a few years and build for the future, and that's my sense here, that I'm coming back to be governor after all these years. It's been on my list for a long time."
Source: Politico.com on 2014 California governor's race
Feb 8, 2014
Jerry Brown:
Pay for high-speed rail project with cap-and-trade revenue
Jerry Brown plans to propose spending millions of dollars in fees paid by carbon producers to aid the state's controversial high-speed rail project. The proposal--and the prospect of additional funding from the state's cap-and-trade program in future
years--could provide a significant lift to a $68 billion rail project.Though the state has acquired $3.4 billion in federal funding to start construction of the rail project in the Central Valley, legal challenges have left state bond funding in
question. Brown has made high-speed rail a priority, and he suggested two years ago that cap-and-trade revenue, which is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, would be a future source of funding for the project.
But the use of cap-and-trade
money for high-speed rail could be problematic. While the rail project could eventually help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, benefits would not be seen until after 2020, the year by which California is seeking to meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Source: Sacramento Bee on 2014 California gubernatorial race
Jan 5, 2014
Jerry Brown:
I signed high speed rail in 1982; finally done in 2013
In the years following World War II, California embarked on a vast program to build highway, bridges and roads. Most were constructed before we knew about climate change and the lethal effects of dirty air. We now expect more.Last year, you
authorized another big project: High Speed Rail. Electrified trains are part of the future. China already has 5000 miles of high speed rail and intends to double that. Spain has 1600 miles and is building more. More than a dozen other countries have
their own successful high speed rail systems.
The first phase constructs 30 miles of tunnels and bridges [in the] Tehachapi Mountains . Then we will build another 33 miles of tunnels and bridges before we get the train to its destination at
Union Station in the heart of Los Angeles.
It has taken great perseverance to get us this far. I signed the original high speed rail Authority in 1982--over 30 years ago. In 2013, we will finally break ground and start construction.
Source: 2013 State of the State address to California Legislature
Jan 24, 2013
Jerry Brown:
Supports high speed rail in CA to create jobs, ease traffic
California's high-speed rail project will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, linking California's population centers and avoiding the huge problems of massive airport and highway expansion.
The High-Speed Rail Authority's business plan is solid and lays the foundation for a 21st century transportation system.
Source: California 2011 gubernatorial press release #17298
Nov 1, 2011
Jerry Brown:
CA entrepreneurialism reaps benefit from Pacific Rim trade
When we get our budget in balance, California will be in a strong position to take advantage of its many assets and its strategic location on the Pacific Rim. As the countries of Asia and south of our border continue to thrive and expand their trade, our
state will play a leading role, as it always has, and reap unimagined benefits. We have the inventors, the dreamers, the entrepreneurs, the venture capitalists and a vast array of physical, intellectual and political assets. When I first came to
Sacramento, Apple had not yet invented their personal computer. There was no wind generated electricity, and we didn't have the nation's most advanced appliance efficiency standards. Of course, Yahoo, Google, Facebook and Twitter did not exist--not even
in someone's imagination. California's economy has grown from less than $200 billion dollars when first I came to this rostrum to now over $2 trillion expected this year. California has been on the move--a marvel, even a miracle and some kind of gift.
Source: 2011 California State of the State Address
Jan 31, 2011
Carly Fiorina:
Post federal budgets on Internet for public comment
Instead of further burdening our economy by adding new taxes, Carly believes our top priority should be finding out how our money is being spent and making sure that we're maximizing every taxpayer dollar. That means posting bills and
federal budgets on the Internet so that they're available for everyone to not only see, but also comment on before they become law. And it means eliminating the some $500 billion in well-documented fraud, waste and abuse in the system.
Source: 2010 Senate campaign website, carlyforcalifornia.com
Dec 25, 2009
Bill Jones:
Championed updating water supply systems
Jones knows that the decline of capital investments in critical public facilities helped lead to the electrical shortages under Gov. Davis, overcrowding on highways, and the pending water shortages faced by California’s growing population and economy.
Jones has championed updating 1950s-era water supply systems. He has fought to reduce the trial lawyer challenges and bureaucratic delays that have stalled the public investments.
Source: 2004 Senate campaign website JonesForCalifornia.com “Issues”
May 2, 2004
Page last updated: Jan 28, 2021