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<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cSo many issues in Sacramento are critical to our quality of life in our neighborhoods in San Diego,\u201d Gloria said. \u201cMarty has been a wonderful leader in Sacramento, advocating many quality-of-life issues on behalf of public education, health care and veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gloria called Block a \u201cgood listener,\u201d and said state legislators come to their districts to collect information from constituents, noting it is important for them to hear what residents have to say.<\/p>\n
The Senator revealed his \u201creport card\u201d for the 2013 legislative session, which ended the previous week. Gov. Jerry Brown signed six of Block\u2019s bills into law and five await his signature, while Brown vetoed one bill. Currently, 12 others penned by Block are pending further action in the legislature.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here to plan our legislative agenda for next year and tonight is the first step,\u201d Block said.<\/p>\n
Block told constituents the legislative session in Sacramento goes from January through September. He said the bill-making process has an intricate committee \u201cscreening system,\u201d set up to defeat bills, not pass them.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost bills have eight or nine opportunities to get killed [in committee],\u201d Block said. Proposed bills must pass with both the Assembly and Senate, including financial review for prospective costs, before making it to the Governor to be signed or vetoed. The idea is that those bills ultimately making it through the system are wise, needed and entirely vetted by legislators before they become law, he said.<\/p>\n
Constituents from the 39th Senate District had many ideas to offer Block about problems that need to be resolved by legislation. Attendees expressed concerns on a number of important issues, including the state minimum wage law being increased from $8 to $10 over the next couple of years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the consequences of that increase have been thought out enough,\u201d one constituent told Block, saying she feared it could cost some people jobs.<\/p>\n
Block responded he has been told many employers feel the minimum-wage increase will not be negative, but rather a stimulus for the economy, putting more disposable income in the pockets of wage earners who will spend more on local products and services.<\/p>\n
Several people remarked that more laws need to be created to protect the disabled, especially those injured on the job, by strengthening workers\u2019 compensation laws while closing existing loopholes.<\/p>\n
One military family told Block they have been fighting a school district to get adequate care for their special-needs child, pointing out the district would be better served spending money to accommodate disabled students rather than fighting their families in court.<\/p>\n
Several lawyers, including public defenders in the audience, asked Block to seek legislative action to soften the three-strikes rule that some claim frequently sends repeat criminals to prison for relatively minor offenses, thus overburdening an already overcrowded prison inmate population.<\/p>\n
Block said he has introduced legislation to bring San Diego lifeguard workers\u2019 compensation standards up to those elsewhere in the state, and has a bill going through committee to toughen laws against human trafficking by having it designated as a gang-related offense.<\/p>\n
He said he is also working on legislation that would make schools safer by allowing classrooms to be locked from the inside, and has also considering authoring legislation that would require anyone purchasing a \u201clong\u201d gun other than a handgun to be required to take a training course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find it hard for anybody to disagree that people buying a weapon ought to know how to use and store [it] properly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In closing, Block encouraged everyone to contact his office with concerns, saying he has staff whose \u201cmain job is to serve the constituents.\u201d His office is located at 701 B St.<\/p>\n