This is the first of a two-part article on the activities of Lake County's elected representatives in the state Legislature this year.

 

LAKE COUNTY – With assignments on 10 committees and more than two dozen bills authored during this legislative session, North Coast Assemblymember Patty Berg kept a quick pace during her third term in the Assembly. {sidebar id=34}

Berg (D-Eureka) authored a total of 26 bills in the 2007 legislative session. While several of her bills are still in the Legislature, to be carried over to next year, she reported that nine of her bills were signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by the October deadline.

During a special legislative session called by Schwarzenegger, Berg was appointed to a seven-member working group that consulted with Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez in his negotiations on health care with the governor and the Senate.

This year also saw her using the power of the Internet to discuss key issues with constituents.

In October Berg hosted a hearing on Sacramento on Lake County's proposal to create a two-tier pay system for In-Home Supportive Services providers, with those agreeing to drug tests and other stipulations receiving higher pay.

Holding the hearing garnered some annoyance from the Lake County Board of Supervisors, who didn't attend, citing short notice for the hearing which was held on a Tuesday, the board's normal meeting day.

Berg, who is due to be termed out in 2008, reported in summing up her year in the Assembly that there were both victories and disappointments, besides the usual budget delay during the summer.

Berg focuses on health care issues

With a background in social work, Berg continued to emphasize health care and advocate on behalf of special populations.

“As everyone knows, I am passionate about health care and about issues affecting senior citizens and people with disabilities,” Berg told Lake County News. “I believe my legislative package demonstrates those interests.

“My biggest success this year will help prevent the spread of AIDS, and that is preventative medicine at its best,” Berg said, referring to Assembly Bill 682, which makes HIV testing a routine part of a physical exam.

Berg promoted the measure as a way to both slow the spread of the deadly virus and get patients into early intervention. “I'm very pleased the governor signed this bill into law,” said Berg.

She added that she was pleased Schwarzenegger didn't veto a single one of her bills this year.

In addition to AB 682, Berg's bills and resolutions signed into law this year include:

– AB 106: Requires hospitals to offer flu and pneumonia vaccines to patients over age 65 before discharge. Berg said those illnesses prove particularly dangerous – even deadly – for the senior population.

– AB 315: Allows participating counties to continue the integration of health and human services, a measure meant to give counties the flexibility to provide service efficiently and effectively.

– AB 1123: Gives the City of Healdsburg greater control over its city center, by allowing it to sign a long-term lease for the state-owned National Guard Armory.

– AB 1568: Names a portion of Ma-le’l Dunes in Humboldt County as the Sen. Wesley Chesbro Coastal Trail.

– Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 5: Designated February as American Heart month and February 2 as Wear Red Day in California.

– ACR 30: Named the northern Eel River Bridge after Elizabeth Jane Rosewarne, a local pioneer woman.

– ACR 31: Dedicated a portion of Highway 101 in Del Norte County as the California Highway Patrol Officer Ernest R. Felio Highway.

– ACR 57: Designates a stretch of 101 in Humboldt County, from milepost 68.40 to milepost 71.10, as the Veteran’s Memorial Highway.

In summing up the year, Berg said, “Of course, it was also a very difficult year. For every success, there was a disappointment.”

One of the year's disappointments, she said, was the budget. “The budget crisis hung like a cloud over everything.”

Berg already is lining up bills for the 2008 legislative session, including AB 380, which stabilizes funding for the Multipurpose Senior Services Program, which helps older adults remain in their own homes as they age.

She said the bill will help the state get closer to complying with the Supreme Court's 1999 Olmstead Decision, which challenges states to develop more opportunities for adults with disabilities to avoid institutionalization and remain in their own communities.

She's also working on AB 64, which ensures that out-of-state doctors and in-state health care providers won't get tangled in the kind of red tape they experienced after Hurricane Katrina should they attempt to respond to a disaster situation in California.

Next year, Berg will take back to the Assembly the Compassionate Choices Act – AB 374 – which will give Californians the same end-of-life choices as those gives to Oregon residents in that state's Death With Dignity Act. A similar measure, AB 651, failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee in June 2006.

Berg said she's optimistic about the coming legislative year, even when contentious issues are on the horizon. “I've never been someone who shies away from a challenge. I've never been someone who backs away from a fight.”

This year also saw Berg take a new approach to communicating with constituents about her legislation.

Using what she called “Generation Next” techniques, Berg began broadcasting one-minute videos on her official Web site.

“Using this format not only makes legislation more accessible,” said Berg, “but since these videos are so short, it forces us to get to the heart of the matter quickly and explain it in simple terms.”

Berg, who is admittedly not a tech expert, is nonetheless using electronic outreach in other ways, including sending regular e-mail newsletters to several thousand of her North Coast constituents.

Earlier this year, when the Willits Bypass project was up consideration before the California Transportation Committee, Berg sent a mass e-mail encouraging North Coast residents to protest to the commission about the project's loss of funding.

Visit Berg's Web site at http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a01/.

Tomorrow, Sen. Patricia Wiggins gives her perspective on the 2007 legislative year in the State Senate.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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