That Afroed bitch is lying through her teeth. I can't wait for her spanking in November.

Now, Now that isn't nice. I don't think anybody needs to make fun of anybody's hair. Unless they are running for president of Vidal Sassoon, I don't think it's really relevant.

And, um, the primary is next June, so you'll be waiting for a while yet for any election.

Jeez, MBStewart. How 'bout a little class?

Good post, with verifiable facts and questions that need answers. Keep the politicians honest and maybe we'll get better candidates and legislation.

Mark Leno kills important diabetes legislation meant to help minority communities.

Efforts to address growing diabetes concerns among African-Americans,
Latinos, and Native Americans suffered a major setback most recently in
California when Assemblymember and Appropriations Committee Chair Mark
Leno killed a diabetes bill that hoped to help alleviate this growing
public health crisis. The bill was an expressed priority of the California
Democrat Legislative Black Caucus. After listening to extensive
information on the increasing diabetes epidemic and the disproportionate
suffering from diabetes it in minority communities Leno, with the
authority as Chair of the Appropriations Committee, still moved to kill
the bill by placing the bill in suspense file.
In the late 1990s California experienced a 60% increase in diabetes
among the adult population. In tandem with national trends, it is
California’s minority populations who suffer in the highest numbers from
this diabetes epidemic and obesity. The bill, which was brought forth by
Mervyn M Dymally Legislative Black Caucus Chair and Assemblymember from
Compton, presented to Leno and the committee the disproportionate
statistics and immediate health concerns of diabetes effecting minority
communities. Dymally explained that 10.3% of African American, 9.3% of
Native Americans, and 6.0% of Latinos suffer from diabetes and obesity
compared with 5.6% of whites and 4.7% of Asian Pacific Islander
communities. For those diagnosed with diabetes health related problems
can be very serious including high blood pressure, blindness, heart
disease, and even fatalities. Moreover, minority communities suffer the
highest number of diabetes related deaths compared with the general
population of those diagnosed with diabetes.
The bill, that Leno effectively made sure would never be enacted,
proposed to study the factors and causes contributing to high rates of
diabetes and obesity in Latinos, African-Americans, and Native Americans
in this country, starting with California. The bill would further have
called for a task force to prepare a report containing recommendations on
how to reduce instances of diabetes and such debilitating conditions
among these ethnic groups. Dymally as Chair of the Legislative Black
Caucus expressed his deep concern and dismay over Leno’s actions in the
Appropriations Committee in killing the bill.

As Majority Leader of the California State Assembly and Vice Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, I am writing to dispel the assertions made by Juliana above calling Assemblyman Mark Leno’s commitment to the fight against diabetes into question. Her assertions are not only inaccurate; they could not be further from the truth. Assemblyman Leno has a long and proud history of addressing issues related to diabetes.

When he was first elected to the State Assembly, he was appointed chair of the Select Committee on Childhood Obesity and Diabetes and convened a meeting in San Francisco specifically to gather input on this growing epidemic. He then authored AB 942, which was signed into law in 2003. It requires that if a school nurse is not present, designated school personnel may help administer emergency assistance to a diabetic student. The bill also allows students to monitor their blood glucose level or self-administer insulin in the school or any area of the school grounds.

Maintaining a proper diet that includes fresh fruits and vegetables is crucial in controlling obesity and diabetes. To ensure that people had access to healthy foods, in 2006 Leno also authored AB 2384, which requires the California Department of Health Services to develop and implement a Healthy Food Purchase Pilot Program that will improve access and affordability of fresh fruits and vegetables for food stamp recipients in low-income communities.

This year, he has authored two bills aimed at the growing diabetes crisis, AB 1382 and AB 1472. AB 1382 seeks to remove current law requirements that require all applicants to the Food Stamp program to submit electronic fingerprints and photographs in order to obtain Food Stamps for themselves and their families. By removing this fingerprinting requirement, we eliminate unnecessary barriers to low income families and put healthy food on their tables. AB 1472, the California Healthy Places Act, would require state agencies to work together to address how urban development impacts the health of our communities, with special focus on children. Attention will be given to new policies that support childhood development, prevent injury, illness and chronic disease, and ensure environmental health as our communities grow.

Unfortunately, because the State of California continues to operate at a structural deficit to the tune of billions of dollars each year, not every worthy project -- like the one in Dymally’s AB 74 for an Institute for the Study of the Phenomenon of Obesity and Diabetes Experimental Research (PODER) at the University of California, Irvine -- can be funded in any given year. Dymally is to be commended for continued advocacy, and both Assemblymember Leno and I share his commitment to finding ways we can research and stem the tide of this terrible disease, especially in the communities impacted the most by it.

Several important bills dealing with issues related to diabetes did make it off of the suspense file this year. AB 1503 (Fuller) revises the requirements for schools to offer free and reduced-price meals, including not selling or serving any food item that is fried and initiating the process of eliminating foods containing manufactured trans fat. AB 97 (Mendoza) prohibits restaurants from storing, distributing, using, preparing or serving food containing artificial trans fat. AB 8 (Nunez) expands health coverage to 3.4 million formerly uninsured individuals and provides uniform health benefit plans that include preventative health and incentives for healthy living, including diabetes prevention and chronic disease management.

Assemblyman Leno’s commitment to diabetes is clear, and Juliana’s characterizations do a great disservice to his groundbreaking work to eradicate this deadly disease from all of our communities.

Sincerely,
Assembly Majority Leader Karen Bass
Vice Chair of Legislative Black Caucus