San Mateo Daily Journal: State officials representing the Peninsula are pursuing legislation that would help San Mateo County Community College District officials provide additional support for students with attendance costs. “Increasing access to higher education is life-changing. It is one of the most important things we can do for our residents to ensure economic mobility for our entire community,” state Sen. Josh Becker said.
In the News
Los Altos Town Crier: Three speakers reviewed the history of reproductive freedom in the U.S. and the latest threats to abortion access. State Sen. Josh Becker, who represents Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View, acknowledged the role that both NARAL and the AAUW have played in promoting reproductive rights over the past half-century, and quoted Coretta Scott King: “Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.”
KCET: Senator Josh Becker last year passed the first law to require reductions in carbon from the entire cement industry. Specifically, the California Air Resources Board will have until July 2023 to develop a strategy to reduce all emissions from cement in the state to 40 percent below 2019 levels by 2035. This year he hopes to take the next step. "What I’m working on for this year is to have the California state government buy low carbon concrete and cement," said Becker.
San Francisco Chronicle: Rita Saenz, 72, a government veteran who came out of retirement to become director in late 2020, is stepping down… “I appreciate that Director Saenz was very responsive and candid regarding my queries about EDD’s progress, but the department’s problems have not been corrected,” Senator Becker said. “I’m very disappointed that more progress was not made at EDD.
GovReport: California public school districts officially have another shot at equal access to professional development for teachers and technical assistance that will help schools effectively use their technology — and schools could cost-effectively plan for and implement current and emerging educational technology. Educational technology is essential for teaching and learning in the Digital Age,” Sen. Josh Becker, D-Peninsula, told The GovReport. “And California educators must have equitable access to the professional development and technical assistance that make effective use of this technology possible.”
Los Altos Town Crier: “Code Red for Humanity: What Municipalities Can Do,” focused on strategies cities can adopt to eliminate carbon emissions by 2030, an objective far loftier than most cities have committed to. State Sen. Josh Becker, detailing California’s current approach to mitigating climate change, emphasized the role of small and medium-size cities in effecting widespread change, noting that local jurisdictions allow new policies to be tried out on a small scale before being replicated by other cities or enacted at the state level. “Understand that your policies can become the law of California and then the law of the land,” Becker said.
High Times: Cigarette smokers and vapers beware—a new California law could upend the state’s tobacco industry as we know it, and other states are following suit. Blaming cigarette butts piling up, the law focuses on cigarette and vape waste, rather than focusing on nicotine. Assemblymember Luz Rivas introduced Assembly Bill 1690, or the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act, along with Assemblymembers Cottie Petrie-Norris and Mark Stone. Principal co-authors including Assemblymembers Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Boerner Horvath, Friedman, Lee, Nazarian, Quirk and Wicks also joined, as well as Senators Allen, Becker, Limón, Newman, Portantino and Wiener.
San Mateo Daily Journal: Given various exceptions, lawmakers can opt to spend the excess funding in select ways, among them infrastructure projects, education or rebates given back to taxpayers. State Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, said a surplus should be used to address “pressing needs for pandemic recovery,” along with advancing “efforts to achieve greater resilience of our state through strong climate action."