Assembly Member Alyson Huber (D-El Dorado Hills) said in statements released Nov. 3 and 4 that she disagrees with both the California legislature’s decision to support the water package introduced by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, as well as their lack of support for her own water bill.
Huber’s bill would have required assembly approval before a canal could be built that would divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to areas south of the Delta. The bill was refused a hearing on the floor, even after Huber amended the bill to establish guidelines for building a canal. A package of water bills introduced by Senate President Pro Tem, and not including Huber’s bill, were passed today by legislature.
“I am disheartened by the choice made by many of my colleagues tonight to leave the path clear for the construction of a canal,” Huber said about her bill’s demise. ”My bill, AB 13 7x, which would have prohibited the construction of a peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta without a full fiscal analysis and a vote of the state legislature, was held hostage. Leadership killed the bill in order to keep the package of water proposals they negotiated behind closed doors, with So Cal water interests, from being broken apart.”
The water package passed by legislature would send an $11 billion bond to voters to fund water-related projects. The package will allow for a canal to be built to send Delta water to southern areas of California.
“I opposed the water package because it creates a new layer of bureaucrats who will make decisions on water that will impact the communities I represent, without allowing us to have a voice,” Huber said. “I opposed the bond, especially because of the billions in pork for LA. This dead-of-night pork giveaway is exactly why voters give us low marks. I offered up a simple bill – one to require a full analysis of the peripheral canal and require legislative approval – a common sense approach. Unfortunately, my bill was killed without a hearing. I’ll be resubmitting this bill so it will have a full debate.”
Steinberg, however, said he believes the water package is good progress in preserving the Delta. “Today the Senate took a major step toward solving the water woes of California,” he said. ”California cannot grow and prosper without a reliable water supply. At the same time, this comprehensive water package acknowledges that water in California is a scarce, but precious resource and every community has a stake in ensuring that there’s enough to go around for everybody.”
Comments on this entry are closed.