Assembly Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) issued the following statement today regarding the passing of Senator Jenny Oropeza:

"At today's rally with the President there was a notable absence--Senator Jenny Oropeza, who should have been there sharing her typical passion, energy and good humor. Jenny was a friend and...

May is National Foster Care Month and for California's 65,000 foster children and those who advocate on their behalf, it's a month to raise awareness of both some progress made and the ongoing need for more improvement in the services we provide our foster youth as they start their adult...

Today marks the eighteenth anniversary of one of the most deadly displays of civil unrest in American history. Los Angeles imploded when reacting to the jury verdicts in the case of the four LAPD officers charged with the senseless beating of Rodney King. Recently deceased LAPD Chief Daryl Gates found...

One of the principles of being a good neighbor is to adopt a live and let live attitude toward the people next door. But looking at what California's next door neighbor Arizona has done with its draconian new anti-immigrant law, silence in this instance wouldn't do anyone any good.

...

As we celebrate our rich history of environmental action on Earth Day this week, Californians are also seeing some clear signs of progress on green issues that are critical to our future.

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a $1.5 million "brownfield" grant for Southern California....

There are some emerging, if still fragile, signs that the worst of the Great Recession is behind us: the closing of the Dow above 11,000, revenues in California (so far) almost $2 billion above forecasts, some modest rises in home prices. Nevertheless, as our economy slowly continues to move toward...

The California Legislature Did Our Job on Race to the Top --Will Governor Schwarzenegger Cross the Finish Line?

By Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles)

In a relay race, timing and coordination are everything. If you don't have a baton that you can successfully pass to the next runner it...

Today Governor Schwarzenegger becomes only the second governor since the Depression to have IOUs issued on his watch. Today he has abdicated his fiscal responsibilities and effectively turns California's finances over to Treasurer Bill Lockyer and Controller John Chiang.

Small businesses, students, seniors, and taxpayers will all start receiving IOUS....

This week I mark the one-year anniversary of being sworn in as Speaker of the California State Assembly. And what a year it has been. Clearly, the overwhelming challenge in the past year has been to keep California going in the face of the brutal national and international economic recession.

California urgently needs health care reform, and I applaud President Obama for holding this important summit and for including health care reform in his budget proposal.

California has the highest number of uninsured in the nation -- 6.6 million people, more than 20% of our population. We have a 10.1%...

The California budget approved last week by the legislature and signed by the governor is tough medicine and hard to swallow. But with our state on the edge of a fiscal cliff, it had to be done.

Without this budget, hundreds of infrastructure projects would have been stopped, which...

As I wrote in an article appearing in the San Francisco Chronicle today, this week is a perfect embodiment of the African principle of Sankofa. Sankofa is the principle -- symbolized by a bird looking backward while it walks forward -- that says we have to reclaim our past in...