Daily Post: After a 20-month battle, the Palo Alto Police Department is unencrypting its radios to once again allow the public to listen in to police communications, acting Chief Andrew Binder announced yesterday. The long fight for radio transparency spurred state legislation [by Senator Becker] and united the publishers of the city’s two competing newspapers.
In the News
Terner Center: The constraints on housing supply are a significant contributor to the current housing crisis. The median price for a home in California sits at $800,000, the highest in the country, and in the last decade, the state has failed to produce enough homes to keep up with job and population...developers of affordable housing projects in California must often contend with state requirements to set aside a large reserve of funding to address the unlikely scenario that a project’s federal rental assistance contract is not renewed. These project-level reserves, which can range from a few hundred thousand to more than three million dollars, invariably sit idle in bank accounts and add significantly to the overall cost of development. Senate Bill 948 (Becker, 2022) would eliminate project-level transition reserves altogether in favor of a more cost-effective statewide “Pooled Transition Reserve Fund” that can be accessed by projects on a case-by-case basis in the event federal assistance is not renewed.”
Almanac News: The fate of a state bill that would require police departments throughout California to remove encryption from their radio communications remained uncertain Wednesday after the Assembly Appropriations Committee deferred a decision on the contentious proposal. Senate Bill 1000, authored by state Sen. Josh Becker, was one of dozens of legislative proposals that the powerful committee placed in its "suspense file," a list of bills that are projected to have a financial impact and that will be evaluated later in the legislative process.
PCE: Peninsula Clean Energy has been recognized for its fifth anniversary of providing clean, affordable electricity to all of San Mateo County and its sixth year since its 2016 inception. A California state legislature resolution honoring Peninsula Clean Energy’s fifth anniversary was signed by four members of the San Mateo County state delegation: Senator Josh Becker (D-Peninsula), Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Kevin Mullin (D-San Mateo), Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) and Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco).
Ed 100: Senator Josh Becker represents the area of California best known as the Silicon Valley. He is a new member of the Senate, now in the second year of his first term. Prior to his service in the legislature he was a tech entrepreneur. We invited Senator Becker to speak to California students at this summer’s Ed100 Academy for Student Leaders. Many of the students at the conference are ambitious young people with an interest in leadership.
Citizen Blog: As law enforcement begins to remove their radio channels from public access and encrypt them, we believe that SB1000 authored by Senator Josh Becker provides a model that will establish California as a first in the nation leader on how to protect our first responders and tactical information while ensuring responsible transparency in order to keep Californians informed and safe. We strongly urge the California legislature to join us in supporting passage of SB1000.
Mercury News: With gas prices hitting record highs, the effects of climate change ever more present, Russia making almost $1 billion a day from gas and oil while invading its neighbor, and air pollution killing 10 million people a year worldwide, including nearly 9,000 Californians, the need to transition from fossil fuels has never been greater. I believe we are at a unique point in time to make a clean energy transformation. Let’s make sure we harness our collective will to take full advantage of this unique opportunity.
Half Moon Bay Review: [Senator] Becker began with a synopsis of the issues he is trying to tackle with legislation in Sacramento. The daunting list includes climate change and reaching net zero greenhouse emissions by 2035, universal early childhood education, homelessness and mental health infrastructure, providing health care and other support for the farmworker community, and building broadband infrastructure that will serve areas like the Coastside. Those in attendance asked the senator questions on topics ranging from bike path infrastructure to public-private partnerships and breaking up PG&E.