In the weekly radio address Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (D-Los Angeles) will continue working on a bipartisan basis to find legislative solutions to issues of the day, such as global warming and the minimum wage increase, so all Californians will prosper.
You may listen to the Democratic radio address in English or in Spanish.
The transcript is below:
This is Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez.
The California State Assembly will reconvene on Monday, meeting for the first time since we passed an on-time, balanced, and compassionate state budget in June.
Before we adjourned, we had another success: an historic $41 billon public works package. Knowing that our state’s economy depends on world-class schools, a modernized transportation system, repairs to our aging levees and affordable housing, Democrats and Republicans came together to work up a plan to invest in our future. The result is a bond package that you will have an opportunity to approve in November that represents the largest investment in infrastructure in a generation.
Now it’s time to build on these bipartisan successes.
In the next few weeks, we will have an historic opportunity to combat global warming by passing first-in-the-nation limits on greenhouse gases. California has a long tradition of leading the way in fighting pollution, and this innovative and pioneering legislation will again make our state a world leader in protecting our state’s air quality. By placing limits on carbon dioxide pollution, we will spur on a technological and economic revolution for our state and help solve the global warming crisis.
We are also working to lower your cable bill. The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 will create much-needed competition for video and television delivery services. That competition not only will usher in billions of dollars in savings, but also will allow you to choose from a dizzying array of new products that entertain and inform. This legislation also reinforces the commitment of Democrats to bridge the digital divide, ensuring that every neighborhood is offered the same opportunity to tap the technology revolution.
We will also champion a proposal to increase the minimum wage. Our legislation will boost the minimum wage by $1 over two years, and includes a cost-of-living increase, just like Social Security. Governor Schwarzenegger has vetoed two similar bills we put on his desk in the past. And as a result, minimum wage workers haven’t gotten a raise in four years. Meanwhile, the Bush Administration has lavished tax cuts after tax cuts on the super-rich.
As Democrats, we believe that all Californians should benefit from economic prosperity, particularly those at the bottom of the pay scale. So again, we will offer a proposal to boost the minimum wage.
The legislature also will wrestle with hundreds other proposals. Chief among them: a plan to improve LA’s schools, expanding the use of solar energy, and toughening the laws to punish sex offenders.
By the time we’re done, we will have made significant progress in improving the quality of life for your family, and ensuring California is the best place in the nation to live and do business. I look forward to continuing to working across the party lines to get things done in California.
Thank you for listening.
