SACRAMENTO -

Can our medical system keep up with the five million additional Californians eligible and required to buy health insurance next year?  California State Senator Ed Hernandez says it won’t and is proposing nurse practitioners, optometrists and pharmacists should be able to diagnose, treat and manage some illnesses for the growing number of people eligible for health insurance through Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

In a Google+ hangout with FOX40, Hernandez said that with, “the current workforce we have now, we are barely meeting the demand for primary care physicians.” To add to the problem, he says one third of physicians in this state are over 65.

He said his critics believe his proposals will create a two-tier system, but Hernandez said  we already have one. He said, “We have a distribution problem where few of them [doctors] go to rural or more importantly intercity or communitites of color.”

A majority (5 vs. 1 with one undecided vote) of Google+ hangout viewers supported his proposals. Anthony White was one who opposed it, and  questioned who would oversee those with expanded medical roles. Hernandez said, “There will and always needs to be accountability,” and said each group would be held liable by their respective boards.

Opposing groups argue the groups simply aren’t trained enough. Viewer Kempton Lam was supportive of the senator’s proposal but also questioned if there was a risk of the medical personal not being qualified. Hernandez says this is not the case and says non-medical doctors like optometrists, pediatrist dentists, pharmacists, nurse practitioners all have four years of an undergrad degree in some type of science, four years of postgraduate work and independent boards that oversee them to ensure that public safety is a priority.

He added, “what we’re going to allow them to do is within their training.”

To view the full hangout with State Senator Ed Hernandez, watch the video on FOX40′s YouTube page.

SACRAMENTO -

The California lawmaker who has enflamed the state’s right wing and suffered death threats in recent weeks over his controversial assault weapons bill explained the flaws in the legislative process when it comes to creating gun laws.

State Senator Leland Yee (D), San Francisco, has proposed to close a loophole he says exists in California’s assault weapons ban in which the bullet button makes it possible to switch magazines on rifles in seconds.

In a FOX40 Google+ hangout, participant DeAno Jackson expressed confusion over Yee’s bill and said several guns function nearly identically but are significantly different in appearance – and yet some are banned and some are legal. Google+ viewer Kevin Gasser similarly asked, “Why do visual characteristics even play a role in safety? You are banning something that looks scary.”

Yee clarified the question about aesthetics over function and said it was difficult to create bills banning assault weapons. He says, “What has evolved over the years is ‘Let’s look at certain kinds of characteristics.’ Now are we able to get all the characteristics? Absolutely not. Are there better laws out there? Sure. The way to pass any law is to figure out how to bring all the sides together and come up with a compromise.”

Though a majority (7 vs. 1) of people inside the Google+ hangout supported Yee’s proposal, some viewing the YouTube conversation from outside the hangout questioned Yee’s desire for compromise. Oleg Budanov said, “Wow… Unbelievable… Ban Constitution all together… why even bother…” Gary Beltrami asked if Lee’s proposal was the first step in a complete weapons ban.

This is the second time Yee is introducing his proposal to the legislature. The fist time the bill was introduced last year, it died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. He reintroduced the bill soon after the Sandy Hook massacre in Connecticut. He says, “As a father, as a grandfather, I can’t imagine how in this country, we could allow that to happen.”

If the bill passes, Yee says people will not lose the weapons they already own, but they would have to register the ones with bullet buttons and he says sales of those devices would be banned in California.

Google+ participant Kim Beasley asked the senator what strategy he had in place if the bill didn’t pass. Yee says he will continue to raise awareness of the harm he says the weapons cause. He says he doesn’t focus too much on the politics and whether the bill passes though.

“I didn’t come to Sacramento to put my finger in the political wind and see where it was blowing,” he says.

To view the full hangout with State Senator Leland Yee, watch the video on FOX40′s YouTube page. 

SACRAMENTO -

Teachers are known to instruct and nurture. Now one lawmaker wants them to know how to aim and shoot.

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, (R) San Bernardino, is proposing using education funds to train school staff to use guns to protect schools in case of a dangerous threat.

Several bills from Californian lawmakers have followed last year’s Sandy Hook school shooting including one that proposes a permit to buy ammunition, one that attempts to close a loophole in California’s assault weapons ban, and one that proposes to put a five cent tax on bullets.

In a Google+ hangout with FOX40, Donnelly said he feels frustrated with many of the proposed bills and says, “Instead of talking about protecting the children, most of the politicians in Sacramento are talking about taking away the right of self-defense for every Californian.”

Most of the participants on the Google+ hangout (5 vs. 1) expressed disapproval of the proposal. Viewer Michael Tucker said presenting guns in schools would virtually create a war zone. Donnelly said teachers being trained on using guns would be completely voluntary and said, “We’re not trying to turn it into the wild west…it would be concealed carry. The whole purpose would be that the gun is only drawn in the event that someone is standing in front of the teacher armed.”

Viewer Shannon Johnson expressed concern that if her son found a gun at school, he may unintentionally hurt someone. Donnelly said the guns would be on the teachers at all times and feels it’s important to teach children firearm safety. He said, that way when a kid sees a gun, they would know what to do.

A majority of the dozens of comments left on FOX40 Facebook’s page sided with Donnelly. But follower Alexander Reza Ghezavat took an opposing stance and said, “It’s not like every teacher and school staff is a good person. We need to come up with a more reasonable solution.”

Asked if teachers were the right people to carry guns, Donnelly said, “I think that brings up a question that’s a lot deeper, which is do we trust each other? Does the government trust the people? I’m saying I trust the teachers.”

SACRAMENTO -

“The Wild West” is how State Senator Kevin De Leon, (D) Los Angeles, describes California with its current gun and ammunition laws. California has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, but several legislative democrats feel it’s not enough and have proposed tightening them.

De Leon says ammunition fuels violence and has proposed Senate Bill 53, which would require buyers to first pass a background check and buy a permit.  In a Google+ hangout with FOX40 Thursday, he said, “Anyone can buy large quantities of ammunition and what usually takes place is people are buying it overtly, not covertly.”

Sparky Donald wrote on FOX40′s Facebook page, “Why do California legislators keep up with this insanity of punishing law abiding citizens? Do they really think that criminals obey laws? [sic]”  But De Leon says the problem is people who legally buy ammunition and then sell it illegally. He says the current system makes this easy. “You can literally rent a U-Haul truck, pull up into the parking lot and fill that whole U-Haul truck, no questions asked,” he said. He thinks creating a system where ammunition buyers are tracked will curb illegal sales.

A majority of FOX40 Facebook followers expressed disapproval of the bill. Branden Mund felt the proposal is “unconstitutional.” Terry L. Bowman called it, “a war on all our freedoms,” and Steve Victor said it was, “communism at its finest.” De Leon argued there’s not a significant downside to his bill and said, “The beauty of this measure is that it’s not anti-gun, it’s not second amendment, it’s not anti-law abiding citizen who adheres to the laws of this state.”

Despite the negative viewer responses to the proposal, there were some who approved of De Leon’s bill. Google+ hangout attendee DeAno Jackson supported it and asked him how we could solve the gun debate in the current polemic environment. De Leon said, “We have to have regular folk involve themselves in this equation. They have to be a part of this larger debate.” He said the Newtown school and Aurora theater shootings were “watershed moments that impacted negatively the psyche of everyday Americans to renew this debate,” and hopes we can continue having rational discussions to find a solution that works.

De Leon said “In California if you want to hunt, you have to secure a license, if you want to fish, you have to secure a license, and if you want to cut down a tree for Christmas, you have to actually secure a permit.”

If the bill passes, the background checks would be conducted by the Department of Justice.

Watch the entire Google+ interview with De Leon here.

SACRAMENTO -

Thousands of miles of California roads are lined with meters — an enormous source of revenue for cities. And until recently, all Californians could park at the broken ones and not worry about being fined.

In December, the Los Angeles City Council voted to change that policy and fine Angelinos for parking at broken meters. Assemblymember Mike Gatto, (D) Silverlake, has proposed AB 61, which would override the council’s recent decision.

He told FOX40 during a Google+ hangout that he thinks the council’s decision is wrong since taxpayers pay for maintaining streets, parking spots and meters. He said, “if a local government is slow to fix a meter, they shouldn’t be punished again with an exorbitant fine or by having to drive around the block to find a spot.”

Gatto also doesn’t agree with the Los Angeles City Council’s rational to charge for parking at broken meters, which they said would prevent meter vandalism. Gatto said parking meters have been around since 1935 and until recently, people could park there for free.

“The idea that we’re all of a sudden going to have a spate of broken meters just doesn’t make sense to me. For last 80 odd years that’s been the practice,” he said. Gatto doesn’t think there is an issue with people carrying “sledge hammers in their car just in case they encounter a meter they wanted to break,” and says the issue comes down to the city wanting to charge people more money.

Gatto feels the issue is greater than dollars and cents. “If you’re a business owner in one of these streets in Los Angeles, you want to get people parted for their money as soon as possible and the way you do that is you want to get people out of their vehicles and into their stores.”

Even though Gatto is pushing for his bill to pass, he told Sacramento viewer Shannon Johnson there may not be a need to talk about meters one day. Gatto noted that kiosks have been slowly replacing meters, “obviat[ing] any kind of discussion on whether a meter will be broken.” But he says if a kiosk were to go down because of the internet, he still believes parking should be free rather than prohibiting parking entirely on that street.

Kiosks seem far ,pre advanced than meters, but viewer Kempton Lam pointed out how antiquated they are. He said in his city, Calgary, Canada, their phones are linked to their license plates. They pay for parking through their phone and can be tagged electronically for tickets. He said “talking about broken meters is from the last century.” Gatto said that in California, we often believe we’re always cutting edge but “the reality is other nations have rather advanced things.”

Gatto also touched on how important meters were to California’s car oriented culture after Viewer Michael Tucker from Australia asked about the value of meters and the revenue they brings in. Gatto said meters can charge as much as $10 an hour, and the revenue a city makes from fining cars is even greater.

Gatto says it’s a “revenue source that doesn’t require much maintenance, it’s huge for cities.”

Watch the entire Google+ interview with Gatto here.

SACRAMENTO -

Some college tuition rates are as costly as a housing down payment.

But former Cal State Stanislaus administrator and current Assemblymember Kristin Olsen, (R) Modesto, says entering a contract to purchase a house is very different from paying for college. She says many schools don’t currently provide students with a “predictable and reliable, reasonable tuition rate.” With housing payments, she says people know ahead of time what the investment will cost and what monthly payments will be.

Olsen says unexpected tuition hikes attribute to students dropping out. She’s proposed AB 138, a long term approach to tackle surprise tuition increases. If passed, the bill will guarantee freshman entering college with a four-year fixed tuition rate, and transfers with a two-year fixed rate.

The bill will only apply to the 23 Cal State schools, because the legislature only has oversight over public universities. Olsen says she will encourage UC schools to adopt the bill if it passes, but the state constitution does not allow passing mandates to UC campuses.

Olsen realizes her bill passing is not the only thing that will keep students in school. She stresses staying in college is a three way partnership. She says the state needs to fund schools, the schools need to provide a predictable tuition rate and students need to maintain a good academic standing and full time load.

For current students concerned about rising costs, another bill,  AB 67 proposes to freeze tuition rates for them. Olsen is a also co-author on that bill.

SACRAMENTO-

“This is correcting a loophole that is bigger than the Grand Canyon.” That’s how Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian described AB 65 to FOX40 and viewers during a Google+ hangout. AB65 is his proposal which would update an arcane California law from 1872 about rape impersonation.

The law as it stands only protects women who are married against rape fraud, and has recently gained a lot of attention. A 2009 Los Angeles rape case was overturned in the last month because the victim was not married.

Achadjian attempted to update the law in 2011 after a case in his district, (Santa Barbara) in which a man was not convicted of rape because the old law does not include protection of unmarried women.

Achadjian said that because of a policy called ROCA (Receivership Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation), his bill did not go through the first time it was proposed and was not even heard in California’s Senate Public Safety Committee. He said ROCA’s goal was to stop creating laws or updates on existing laws that would increase the prison population.

He said passing the bill, “was a no-brainer. We’re in the 21st century. It’s like applying the laws of horse driven carts on our freeways, it just wouldn’t make sense.”

With the passage of Prop 36, which changes the “three strikes” law Achadjian felt there would be a renewed chance his bill may pass, so he reintroduced it.

He says the publicity the recent rape case in Los Angeles has given even more attention to his bill, and feels confident it will pass this time around.

SACRAMENTO -

College costs cripple thousands of students every year.

Assemblyman Dan Logue told FOX40 during a Google+ hangout that “the cost of college is skyrocketing and we need to think outside the box.”

He proposes students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math should pay less than $10,000 and spend 18 months in school. He says we’re losing jobs in science and math fields to students coming in from other countries.

Logue also says the program would give certain groups a chance to advance. He said, “I would say only one percent of the Hispanics are even encouraged to get into the field of science and math and technology so this would open the door for them to be able to afford the opportunities to be in a field that I think will be well paying.”

The qualifying factors for the students accepted into the proposed program will be very high. Logue says, “You have to have a B average, you have to be full time. This is not for students who are not serious.”

If his bill passes the pilot program will take place at Cal State Long Beach, Chico and Stanislaus.