New Mexico State Senator Dede Feldman's Blog

Special Election Message: PRC Constitutional Reform

Blogger's Note: Everyone's been asking about the constitutional amendments and how to vote.  I'm voting for all of them, myself, but feel particularly strongly about the three relating to the Public Regulation Commission.  Here's a comment by outgoing PRC Commissioner Jason Marks on the three PRC amenmdments.

It’s no secret that the PRC has had more than its fair share of scandals in its short history, and that many want to see things changed and improved.   I share this view, and after two terms on PRC, I have a pretty good idea about what works well about the agency and what doesn’t.    I’ve opposed proposals to “start over from scratch” because of the risk that industry could influence the rewrite in order to weaken the Commission’s powers to regulate.   Instead, I collaborated throughout 2011 with the non-partisan civic group Think New Mexico on a small package of targeted reforms.   The proposals were further refined and vetted through the 2012 Legislature and now go to the voter in this November’s General Election.

 The proposed changes are:

 Constitutional Amendment No. 2 :  “Allowing the Legislature to establish increased qualifications and continuing education for commissioners on the Public Regulation Commission.”  

 If adopted by voters, Commissioners would continue to be elected, but would be subject to educational, professional, or other qualifications established in statute.   Commissioners would also be required to obtain professional education after election, such as training in rate cases or in judicial and administrative legal procedures.

 The Commission deals with extremely complex legal, financial, and engineering matters on a routine basis, and does so through a formalized, quasi-judicial process.   This Constitutional Amendment seeks to preserve the elected commissioner model, while making it more likely that those elected have the skills and ability to successfully perform the job.  Today, a candidate for PRC does not even need to have a high school diploma.   Although professional qualifications are no guarantee of ethical conduct, minimum qualifications would likely have barred the recent commissioner who criminally misused state gasoline credit cards from ever being a candidate.

 Concerns have been raised that C.A. 2 does not specify what the educational or professional qualifications for PRC commissioners will be.   This is intentional (as they say in the computer world, “it’s a feature, not a bug”).   Putting detailed language identifying the specific degrees,  occupational qualifications, or combinations thereof into the Constitution would not only be awkward, it would lock-in whatever was done this year for a very long time.   By providing the authority in the Constitution, but leaving the details for the Legislature, the door is open for errors and omissions to be fixed and, more importantly, for the minimum qualifications to increase over time or change as the jurisdiction of the PRC evolves.

 Constitutional Amendment No. 3:  Removing the duties to charter and regulate corporations from the Public Regulation Commission

 The PRC’s Corporations Bureau issues registrations for new corporations and limited liability companies, but does not regulate their conduct.  Secretaries of State perform this function in 41 other states and our Secretary of State already registers limited liability partnerships.  This Constitutional Amendment transfers the PRC’s corporate functions to the Secretary of State, creating “one stop shopping” for business filings.    Although Commissioners have no direct role in the corporations function (there are no votes or hearings), managing the operations of the bureau can consume time and attention.  The transfer will enable Commissioners to devote more time and attention to core utility, telecom, motor carrier, and public safety issues.

 Constitutional Amendment No. 4:  Removing the duty to regulate insurance companies and others engaged in risk assumption from the Public Regulation Commission.

 If passed by voters, the Division of Insurance would become an independent agency in July 2013.  The Insurance Superintendent would be selected for a four-year term by members of  an independent selection committee, with the make-up of this committee to be worked out in the 2013 legislative session.   The use of the selection committee is expected to insulate the appointment of the Superintendent from the political influence of industry campaign contributions to governors and legislators.

 Today, the PRC only indirectly regulates insurance through its power to appoint and discharge the Superintendent of Insurance; the Superintendent has the sole authority to issue rules and regulatory orders.   The relationship between the PRC and the Insurance Division has been strained throughout the history of the agency, with the Insurance Division and its leadership continually seeking greater autonomy, and the Commissioners lacking sufficient time and focus to adequately manage the doings of the Division.  Virtually no other state combines utility and insurance regulation into the same regulatory body.    Making insurance regulation into an independent agency will enable Commissioners to devote more time and focus to their core utility, telecom, motor carrier, and public safety responsibilities.

 For more information, and an independent analysis of these Constitutional Amendments, see the League of Women Voters’ website athttp://www.lwvnm.org/VGuide2012/amendments.html

 

 

 

Roundabout on Rio Grande Likely To Increase Safety

 Blogger's Note:  Here's an article about the proposed roundabout for Rio Grande Blvd. and Candelaria by Doyle Kimbrough, the treasurer of the Rio Grande Blvd Neighorhood Association, a group that I have been associated with for many years.   A public meeting on the planned project will be held Sept. 27, 2012 at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center at 5 p.m.  

             The proposed roundabout at the intersection of Rio Grande Boulevard and Candelaria Road NW is necessary. I have become very familiar with the facts related to the roundabout through serving as a current member and past president of the Board of the Rio Grande Boulevard Neighborhood Association and as chair of the Steering Committee working on the Update to the Rio Grande Boulevard Corridor Plan.

The rationale for increasing safety, economics and beauty are as follows:

Safety will be increased by substantially reducing speeding and the rate of accidents. A 2010 traffic survey found that 61 percent of vehicles exceeded the posted speed limit north of the intersection – between Elfego Road and San Lorenzo – and 70 percent exceeded the speed limit south of the intersection – between Artesanos Court and Oro Vista.

Two studies found the intersection has a very high accident rate. A 2011 Mid-Region Council of Governments Safety Report stated the intersection has a rate of pedestrian-involved accidents triple the average rate of the rest of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Planning Area. The rate is the same as the intersection of San Mateo and Montgomery.

For 2004-2006, a 2008 engineering study by PB Americas reported the Crash Severity Index at the intersection is 1.6 times the city average. That study also identified 29 formally reported accidents during the period – more than two per month.

Installation of the roundabout will reduce vehicle speed through the intersection to 15-20 miles per hour. Studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have shown replacing a traffic signal with roundabout reduces the probability of a severe injury by 75 percent.

The average travel time through the intersection will be the same, if not less. Traffic will not have to stop at a traffic light at Rio Grande and Candelaria. Queues will still occur during the morning and afternoon rush hours but will be the same whether the intersection has a traffic light or roundabout. During the remaining hours traffic will simply need to slow down versus stopping for up to 70 seconds on Candelaria or 30 seconds on Rio Grande.

The roundabout is designed to accommodate large vehicles and vehicles pulling long trailers. Most of these vehicles will be able to pass through the roundabout by following the established paved pathway.

Larger vehicles may need to place their tires on the raised interior circle that will have a rolled curb.

The Rio Grande/Candelaria intersection is the gateway to the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park, located at the western end of Candelaria Road.

As part of the funding, the roundabout will be landscaped to become an attractive entryway for the Nature Center and Rio Grande Bosque.

The cost of building the roundabout will be $1.5 million. Of that amount, $1 million will be new money into Albuquerque’s economy from a federal safety grant.

The roundabout is a form of severe injury insurance. The volume of traffic going through the intersection – north and south only – over a 20-year period will be about 102.2 million trips. The cost per trip of a 75 percent reduction in the probability of a serious injury is $1.5 million/102.2 million or 1.47 cents per exposure. That, in my opinion, is very inexpensive severe injury insurance, especially since it doesn’t even include the east/west traffic.

If anyone has other concerns or would like more information in the form of Internet links, pictures, or other documentation, he or she may send an email to me at [email protected].
— 

Gun Control in New Mexico Has Been Lost Cause: NRA Ascendant Since 2003

    Even before last week’s tragic shooting in Aurora, and the rush of commentary it has aroused, I’d been thinking about the legislature’s total abdication to everything  NRA.  There’s a chapter on this very thing in the book I am now writing about the New Mexico Senate. Now it’s déjà vu all over again in Colorado and you’ve got to wonder whether New Mexico is next. New Mexico’s gun laws are so liberal.  You can carry any kind of loaded gun as long as it is not concealed if you are not a felon or are over 19 years old.  No permits, licenses, training, registration or fingerprinting are required for the possession or purchasing of rifles, shotguns or handguns.  And if you have a gun—you can take it almost everywhere except federal buildings, courthouses, buses, bars and pre schools.     And we’re not even talking concealed weapons here. State law now enables 24,000 licensees (at least they’re trained) to carry concealed weapons into movie theatres, banks, child care centers, churches, liquor stores, restaurants and-- as of 2010-- bars which serve food.

            As far as I’m concerned, New Mexico lost its way on guns back in the early 2000s.  In the wake of the Columbine shooting, New Mexicans, like the rest of the nation, were much more interested in gun control, particularly given our high rates of youth suicide and homicide). In 2001, in the name of child safety, Rep. Gail Chasey and I were successful in passing a “trigger lock” bill to prevent accidents resulting from unsafe storage of weapons, especially handguns.  But Gov. Gary Johnson vetoed it and the legislature instead passed a concealed carry law, which, after initially being ruled unconstitutional  (the NM Constitution states  “Nothing her in shall be construed to permit the carrying of concealed weapons), went into effect in 2003.  The NRA has spent tons since that time to weaken training requirements, and lower the qualifying age.  And they have been successful.  They’ve also been trying, with the help of their allies in ALEC, to get the legislature to adopt a “stand your ground” bill like the one so famous in Florida’s Trayvon Martin case.  We already have these rights embedded in the NM constitution, but for the NRA, no matter. It would be another notch in the belt.

            The Democrats lost their huevos on this one long ago, on the federal level, and when pro-gun Richardson became Governor, the funding for all the advocacy efforts dried up. Moms on a Mission, the mothers of three boys killed in the East Mountains who came to help us lobby for safety,have disbanded.  The families of other victims are now just support groups--- not rabble rousers asking why anyone should be guaranteed the right to carry a 100-round a minute assault rifle like the ones used in the Virginia Tech shooting, and now Aurora.

Meanwhile, on the Republican side of the aisle our Governor tweets about her perfect aim and great performance on the Concealed Carry test.  And the Republican stronghold of Catron County has had a law on the books since 1994 requiring heads of households to maintain a firearm and the ammunition to use it.

For the past decade there have only been about eight or nine of us on the floor of the Senate resisting the flood of guns everywhere-- or even complaining about the fact that citizens are now carrying guns in the Roundhouse.  Not even the shooting of Gabby Gifford, or Albuquerque’s Emcore tragedy provokes a rational discussion here in the Wild West. 

What a surprise!  It’s the policy of the NRA, with approximately 30,000 members in New Mexico, not to discuss shootings like the one in Aurora.  After all, people are crazy and it would happen anyway. What you gonna do? Wait until we’ve solved everyone’s unresolved psychological issues, I guees.  Meanwhile,  it could happen to your kids. 

 

 

 

 

 

ObamaCare Upheld by Supreme Court: State Must Now Get Busy

 

 Here are the remarks I made Thursday on the steps of the Federal Courthouse, celebrating with other supporters.

To read the whole decision go to http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf

 June 28 was a great day for the nation, and New Mexico in particular.  The Supreme Court decision was a clear victory for the Affordable Care Act.  Both the mandate and the Medicaid expansion were upheld, and there can be no doubt that ObamaCare is the law of the land.  Also upheld is the principle that yes, Congress CAN act when there is a national crisis—like the one we have with health care cost, lack of access and affordable insurance.

 

            It is a victory for people who are sick, with cancer, MS, heart disease, asthma and other chronic conditions.  They can rest easier knowing that insurance companies cannot turn them down, jack up their rates due to an illness that are unlucky enough to have.

            It is a victory for consumers now subject to abusive insurance practices that limit lifetime and annual benefits or rescind their policies altogether when they dare to get sick… and for consumers who were overcharged by their insurance companies now due for a refund of the profits that were previously going to CEO salaries or administrative expenses.

            It is a victory for prevention, for primary care, for reforming the delivery of medical care to increase quality and bend the cost curve.

            It is a victory for students, like the 24,000 in New Mexico who have already signed up to stay on their parent’s insurance policies, because it is cheaper.

            It is a victory for women who will no longer be charged more for the same service that men receive, or not covered at all when it comes to “female problems.”

            It is a victory for seniors who will continue to save an average of $600 a year on their prescriptions, and enjoy fewer co-pays and get free preventive screenings.

              But we don’t have time to rest on this victory.  It is now time for New Mexico—the legislature and the Governor to work together to implement the law.  With the second largest percentage of uninsured people in the country, we have so much to gain. Foremost is better health for New Mexicans, and a reduction of the disparities between those who have insurance and those who don’t, who just happen to be a higher proportion of Hispanics, Native Americans and African Americans.   A Medicaid expansion, handsomely financed by the federal government, could cover 150,000 more New Mexicans as early as 2014.  The increased services could create as many as 40,000 new jobs and $888,000 millions in tax revenue to stimulate our state economy, according to one state economist.

            Rather than re-fighting old political battles, I’m encouraged that the Martinez administration is finally moving forward with the Health Insurance Exchange, and restructuring the Medicaid program.  The revamped program will fit in nicely with an expansion, which, although financed 90% by the federal government, will necessitate some state funds.  Just how much it will cost is a matter of dispute.  At a recent Health and Human Services Committee hearing the administration alleged that it would cost $500 million.  An independent study, however, conducted by the Hilltop Institute, says it will cost $40 million when savings from other programs are accounted for.

            Is it worth it?  During the time I’ve served in the legislature, one of the only things about health care that there seemed to be consensus on was this:  the state must maximize its Medicaid match to provide for its citizens.  I am confident this consensus exists in the medical community, among insurers, providers and advocates.  Do we really contemplate thumbing our nose at the federal funds when the people of New Mexico are in such great need?  I hope not.              

 

Keeping Hope Alive Amidst Political Paralysis: Seven Tips

    Here's the graduation address I gave to UNM Political Science graduates on May 11, 2012.... Hope you like it...

            Dr. (Bill) Stanley, Political Science Department faculty members, graduates, family members, friends, thank you very much for the opportunity to share a few  thoughts with you on this very special day which comes for me as much at a cross roads as it is for you, and our country.  Because, after 16 years, this year I am ending my political career in the New Mexico Senate.  16 years. That’s an even longer sentence than many of you, who today begin a new phase of your life, have served at UNM.

            First of all, congratulations to each and every one of you—not only graduates, but families faculty, friends and the constellation of people in the community who support you.  Today is a day when I hope you will see just how many people there are out here in the community who are pulling for you, who are proud of you and who believe in you.  And although I know only a few of you, I count myself as one of those.   And I know that my friend and mentor, Gilbert St. Clair, whom some of you may have known as the advisor to your department’s legislative intern program, is one of those too, even though he is not here today. 

             Almost 44 years ago, in another time of political turbulence—called the 1960s, I was in your exact seat.  I had earned a degree in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.  And I had no earthly idea what I was going to do. I just knew that I was interested in Political Science—or at least it seemed so much more compelling than anything else.  Politics seemed fast moving, dramatic, uncertain, and above all, important in determining almost everything about our lives from war and peace to death and taxes. I was curious, I was fascinated, obsessed.  I was a news junkie, a groupie for my heroes in the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement and the print media.  I read all about it.

            But I had no earthly idea how I would earn a living with my degree.  And in fact, I couldn’t get a job even with a Master’s degree in Poly Sci.   I veered off into journalism, into high school teaching, into a small public relations company-- whatever it took to earn a few hundred dollars for work I enjoyed. I was thrilled when my first article appeared in the paper.  It was about sludge.  I was thrilled when the first political candidate I worked for won, even though it was only for the school board.   And then-- almost 30 years later-- I found myself running for office, walking door-to-door, loosing, winning, then serving 16 years in the NM Senate.   I just was just following my interest, with no end in sight, no burning ambition. And things happened, just like they will happen to you.

            Now, I don’t know if political science is your passion, or even your interest.  But it’s not a bad place to start, growing into a world of rapid change.  You’ve seen a little of this rapid change already as the events of 9/11 shocked our world, and later when the political optimism brought on by the election of the nation’s first black president  descended into partisan bloodletting and political gridlock.   Meanwhile, the truly big economic and environmental problems your generation will face—wait in the wings while we try to overcome our political differences and develop the will to move forward together.

            You will be crucial in that endeavor. I am counting on you.  You know how it’s supposed to work—at least in theory.  As we go into this year’s election season—which promises to be more divisive, more expensive than ever, due to Citizens’ United and the huge amount of undisclosed cash it has unleashed--- you have had a little training. You know how to check the facts, detect the lies, spot the spin and, for those of you who participated in the 2008 election, or the Occupy movement, or even the Tea Party,--how to join together in social networks, on street corners, at Starbucks, or outside the state capitol in Santa Fe. These things may seem small but they are what make a difference.

            But that doesn’t mean you will do it. You may be turned off by a system where nothing important gets done and money talks with a forked tongue. And it’s no wonder that most people throw up their hands and that our country is suffering from a spiral of cynicism-- where every institution, every leader (except, of course, John Stewart and Steven Colbert) inspire suspicion, --not trust.

             But I am here to help you keep hope alive. And link your future to our country’s revival.   Now, at this moment in history when jobs for college graduates are hard to come by, and the prospect of the economic prosperity that our parents knew remote.

            Here are my top seven tips on how to be all you can be while getting our community, our state and our country off the dime and back on track.

            Number 1: Put it in perspective, dude. You might think that 2012 is a pretty tough year to graduate from college.  But what about 1861, 1933 or even 1942 when graduates faced the draft, the war, the depression?  All things change and change quickly. The war in Iraq is over, for us.   Osama bin Laden is dead. Technology and information are the keys to prosperity, not manufacturing. China is on the rise. Today’s recession will be a memory in a decade.  Stay loose, stay flexible, keep your powder dry.

             Number 2: Have strange bedfellows.  Now that may sound a little tacky, but it is the key to getting things done in the community and the political arena. And it will add more than zest to your friendships, to your projects and your work. Not all of your friends have to agree with you. The degree to which we retreat to our comfort zone is the degree to which we, as a nation, will not arrive at a budget compromise, we will not address forest fires, water shortages, or bring down health insurance premiums.  But if we all get out of our economic or partisan silos, we have a chance to discover our common values. My own experience in the NM Senate, passing campaign finance reform, graduated drivers’ licenses, tobacco taxes and other public health measures, convinces me that these common values are still there-- if we are willing to talk, to compromise and to lay down our arms once the election is over.   This is something I learned from former Sen. Billy McKibben, Sen. Alan Hurt, Rod Adair, Stuart Ingle and others-- all diehard conservatives who have been my allies on important bills—in spite of what their Governor, their party, and sometimes even their constituents, threatened.

             Number 3:  Don’t be afraid to have heroes. I know it sounds corny.  And  look for them in unexpected places… outside the movie theater or the sports field.  I found one, unexpectedly at my doorstep two years ago.  Her name is Jennifer Weiss, and she brought a group of parents to visit with me about the alarming epidemic of heroin overdoses among our high school students, and the abuse of prescription drugs like oxycodone and other opiods.   Jennifer’s own son, Cameron was then in the throes of the addiction, and Jennifer had organized other parents to cope, to break through the stigma, to lobby for treatment programs and prevent future addicts.  Jennifer lost her son to an overdose last fall—but she has not stopped fighting, not stopped appearing on TV and radio, alerting others to danger, pointing the way to a solution. I’ve found other heroes, too, on my travels on the internet, young people who created hugely important tools that help us determine what is really going on in our political life with websites like FollowtheMoney.org, or Fact Check.org which helps us check on the truth of campaign rhetoric. Now another old hero of mine, Kathleen Hall Jamison, a professor of Political Science at my alma mater has teamed up with them to create Flackcheck.org which exposes the psychological manipulation behind TV ads.     It is because of people like Jennifer and web innovators like these that I have hope for the future.

             Number 4: Follow your bliss.  Steve Jobs dropped out of college, took a course on the only thing that fascinated him—calligraphy. He fooled around with computers, he got fired, he figured out that calligraphy was related to design, to fonts, to keyboarding.  He succeeded.  I was writing articles on sludge and loosing a city council election by 9 votes.  Tavis Smiley was in prison.  We all failed, but, as Tavis Smiley says in his new book  we failed UP.  Our failures, our diversions contributed to our successes. And we all followed our bliss.

             Number 5: Remember that this is New Mexico. We have always pieced things together here with a pragmatic, can-do spirit that stretches resources and comes up with truly creative solutions. We are different. We build our homes out of the earth, we cooperate to irrigate our fields, we speak different languages, we have the landscape and the mountains, from whence cometh our strength. Look around every once and a while and remember where you are.

             Number 6: Don’t forget that you  have the decoder ring.  Education. And that is power, power from the knowledge you have worked hard to accumulate, from your continued curiosity and energy. As the life of Jennifer Weiss bears out, courage and character count, one person can make a huge difference and even small gestures of kindness have impact beyond imagination.  Don’t be afraid to exercise your power by participating in public life, expressing your ideas, doing a lot, or just a little.  Because the world is made up of the little things, and no one makes a greater mistake than those who do nothing because they can only do a little.

              Finally, Number 7:  I hope you will develop what William Sloan Coffin called a Passion for the Possible knowing that the ideal may be just beyond your grasp but the good is near at hand and there are many opportunities out there to fulfill your dreams if you know how to roll with the punches.  And there will be punches, there be losses. There will be roadblocks and gridlock.  But things change, the road opens up, history does not run in a straight line.  There is no longer a straight and narrow path to one job, with one skill set and one set of lifelong expectations.

               I think you know that, many of you are returning or non-traditional students and that is precisely why I have faith that you will be there when the road does open up and you will find a way to contribute and succeed in today’s challenging atmosphere.

            Congratulations again on your tremendous achievement and thank you so much for letting me share this great day with you.

Sen. Feldman to Not Seek Re-Election but Will Write about Politics Here & Elsewhere

February 24, 2012  Dear Friends, Neighbors and Constituents,     Sixteen years ago I ran for the New Mexico Senate using a theme, “A Passion for the Possible.” I have worked hard to keep that passion alive and push the envelope when it comes to affordable health care, good government, consumer and environmental protection.  I’ve had my share of victories and defeats.  I count my successes by the scores—a Do-Not-Call bill, a Fund for People with Brain Injuries, a Nurse Advice Line, lower prescription drug prices, controls on health insurance companies, a statewide water plan, and several laws to control campaign spending and provide open government.      Now it is time for me to move on into new fields, and clear the way for someone new to carry the torch for Senate District 13 in Santa Fe. I have been honored and humbled to serve the people of the North Valley—and beyond.  Some of my most satisfying moments have come in partnership with my constituents, working on common problems and giving you an opportunity to participate in important decisions that should be decided by citizens, not just office holders.  In a democracy, after all, citizens are the highest office holders.  And so, I am not stepping down as much as branching out into the real world outside of the Roundhouse.      But don’t expect me to keep quiet or vanish from the scene.  Much has yet to be done.      I believe that every person has a project whether they are conscious of it or not.  It’s the thing that drives you, that defines you and gives your life meaning.  My project has been to give ordinary people a voice in what goes on in this country, to leave things a little better than I found them and to give back, to make available to others some of the economic opportunities, some of the educational benefits that this country has offered to me.         I have focused on what I considered to be the greatest injustice: Health Care.  Martin Luther King said it best: “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”      I will continue this focus in writing and journalism projects, a renewal of my communications company, and support for the causes I hold dear. I will still be walking the streets and talking the talk for candidates I believe in, and who knows, someday I may become one again. But now I must move on.   I will be on the job throughout the remainder of my term, which ends in Jan. 2013.  You will hear from me regularly with updates about state and local issues, campaigns and opportunities for action.  I will step up myblog and continue my e-mail newsletter. And stay tuned.  I am working ona book, hopefully out next year, on how the New Mexico legislature reallyworks.                           After the Dust Has Settled Wrap-Up     It wasn’t just me who thought things were a bit slow.  Only 77 bills passed the legislature this time—the fewest for a short session since 1976.      Among the good ones were several Memorials that don’t require the Gov.’s signature. One to recommend that the US Constitution be amended to overturn Citizens’ United, another for a study of a basic health care plan for low-income folks.      Three constitutional amendments will be on the ballot to clean up the PRC by removing the insurance division and the corporations’ registry, and requiring commissioners to meet basic educational standards.      Two good bills are now on the Governor’s desk—call 505-476-2200 to urge her to sign them.      1) SB 9 closes tax loopholes enjoyed by out-of-state “big-box” stores and levels the playing field for small businesses. It also actually lowers the corporate income tax rate slightly.      2) HB 74 stops the Conservancy District from requiring absentee ballots to be notarized to be valid in their elections. The practice has discouraged voters and depressed turnout in elections that fly below the radar screen.       Good bills that died: Sen. Jennings’ compromise on Drivers’ Licenses; Sen. Wirth’s measure to require transparency for “Super Pac” contributions; my bill to ban fireworks in time of extreme fire danger; Sen. Bernadette Sanchez’ bill to stem the rising tide of heroin and prescription drug overdoses; a bill banning legislators from immediately becoming lobbyists; Sen. Michael Sanchez’ bill to make home foreclosures fairer, and Rep. Brian Egoff’s tax credit for energy efficient home purchases and green renovations of foreclosed properties.      Thank you once again for the opportunity to serve you.  It has been a high point of my life.      With a heavy heart—but confidence in our community,        Sen. Dede Feldman