Press Releases

Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) made the following statement today after the announcement that the investigation of the Tubbs Fire has been concluded:

Today Governor Newsom and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL-FIRE) announced the completion of the investigation of the October 2017 “Tubbs Fire.”

I’ve been briefed by CAL-FIRE that the cause of the Tubbs Fire was a “private electric facility.”  This “facility” consisted of private power lines connected to a home from PG&E main lines, legally and through agreement with the utility.  Maintenance for such facilities is the legal responsibility of the homeowner.  The fire resulted from a failure of the homeowner’s equipment, most likely caused by weather conditions at the time.

I remain most concerned about the victims of the Tubbs Fire, and the increasing number and seriousness of the wildfires over the past several years.  The effort to rebuild after these horrific events continues and we must be ever-mindful of each victim’s well-being and their irreplaceable loss of family members and homes that they’ve spent their lives assembling.

Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) has introduced Assembly Joint Resolution 4 with coauthors Senators Bill Dodd (D-Napa) and Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), and Assemblymembers Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa), Marc Levine (D-Marin), and Tim Grayson (D-Concord). This bill puts California’s Legislature on record demanding U.S. Congressional passage of, and a Presidential signature on House Resolution 8, the “Bipartisan Background Checks Act.

Introduced by Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), who also serves as the Gun Violence Task Force Chairman, H.R. 8 requires uniform and universal background checks on all gun purchases and transfers. The law would obligate unlicensed gun sellers to perform background checks on gun purchasers and transferees by requiring them to utilize licensed dealers to sell and transfer firearms. This would include a carefully formulated definition that details the exception of guns purchased in the context of gifts to family members, hunting, target shooting, and self-defense. 

SACRAMENTO, CA – Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) issued the following statement following the shooting of Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona in the line of duty in Davis, CA on the evening of January 10, 2019:

“My heart broke last night upon hearing the news. Natalie Corona, was widely recognized to be a rising star among her fellow police officers in the Davis community.  Her service was so much more than a job.  She committed herself completely to protecting the Davis Community as an officer, and also committed her personal time to working for us all.

We will, without a doubt, miss her dedication and passion for public safety.  Yet, I know that nothing we are feeling could possibly compare to the grief of her family at this time.  I am grieving with the Davis community and with Natalie’s family. Our community is shaken, and we will struggle for a long time to process what happened.

SACRAMENTO, CA – Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) was reappointed by Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) as Chair of the influential Assembly Local Government Committee.

Sacramento, CA – Today, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D – Winters) and several of her Assembly colleagues introduced ACA 1, a constitutional amendment which would give local governments improved options for funding critical infrastructure projects, including broadband expansion, local roads, and affordable housing projects. This bill is important, because it will empower local communities to address local priorities without needing to rely on state and federal funding initiatives.

ACA 1 would reduce the local vote threshold for approval of bond and special tax measures from a two-thirds vote to a 55 percent majority.  This is the same vote threshold that currently applies to all local school district measures. By making this change, ACA 1 puts housing and infrastructure projects on par with school proposals, so that cities, counties, and special districts have a practical financing tool to address community needs.

SACRAMENTO, CA – Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) passed, and Governor Brown signed, AB 2348, which creates the California Winter Rice Habitat Incentive Program. Supported by $5 million in the 2018-19 Budget, this program will offset the cost of flooding rice fields in the winter, a practice that improves soil health after the growing season and provides critical wetland habitat for birds and other wildlife along California’s Pacific Flyway.

“Researchers at UC Davis told me about the important environmental benefits winter-flooded rice provides,” said Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry. “Flooding rice fields in the winter helps decompose leftover rice straw and waste grain, which offsets open-burring, creates wetland habitat for birds, and can support nurseries for fish. Incentivizing winter-flooding is supported by environmentalists, hunters, and farmers alike.”

Sacramento, CA – Assembly Bill 2063, by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), was signed by Governor Brown.  The bill will require a consumer’s ability to pay for home improvements to be determined prior to the signing of a financing agreement to fund those improvements, and before any construction work can start. The bill also makes other consumer protection improvements to the “property assessed clean energy” (PACE) program to ensure that the program can continue without putting homeowners at risk.

SACRAMENTO, CA – Governor Brown signed Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry’s Assembly Bill 2576 into law over the weekend. This proposal, part of Aguiar-Curry’s package of wildfire recovery legislation, is critical to ensure that communities continue to receive timely access to health care when disaster strikes. After finding critical barriers to clinics’ and other health providers’ ability to provide health care and receive reimbursement for health services clinics during and after the devastating 2017 wildfires, Aguiar-Curry introduced AB 2576 to streamline the system.

The roughly 1,300 community health centers in California provide high-quality comprehensive care to 6.5 million people – that’s 1 in 6 Californians.  Community clinics provide the full spectrum of care, from primary care, to dental and behavioral care, and a variety of additional wraparound services to everyone, regardless of ability to pay, immigration status, or individual circumstances. However, when a clinic burns down or is damaged, the current rules restrict health providers from being able to deliver health services in the field.

SACRAMENTO, CA – AB 1772, AB 2380, and AB 2518, authored by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), were signed by Governor Brown today.  In October 2017, California experienced the most devastating wildfire in state history. 44 Californian lives were claimed, and more than 14,700 homes and 728 businesses were damaged or destroyed, totaling over $12 billion worth of damage.  Wildfires of this magnitude pollute the air and wipe out gains we make reducing California’s carbon footprint. These three bills came about in the aftermath of those devastating fires that destroyed so much of our state and affected many families and communities in Assembly District 4.

“Four of my counties – Lake, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma – were on fire last October. For many, it wasn’t the first time,” said Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry. “It breaks my heart to think about the magnitude of loss families across California are experiencing due to fires. These bills will ensure that California is better prepared to prevent future wildfires, combat them when they do occur, and recover in the aftermath.”

AB 2674, by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) was signed into law today by Governor Jerry Brown. The new law will require the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) to annually review complaints filed by providers who believe a health care service plan is engaging in an “unfair payment pattern.”