RELEASE: Mike Gatto and Crime Victims United Issue Statement Regarding AB 84 Being Held by the Assembly Appropriations Committee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                    Justin Hager (818) 558-3043

May 28, 2015                                                                        Mobile (415) 889-9762

Assemblyman Mike Gatto and Crime Victims United Issue Statement Regarding AB 84 Being Held by the Assembly Appropriations Committee

SACRAMENTO - The following is a joint statement from Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) and Crime Victims United regarding the Assembly Appropriations Committee’s decision today to hold AB 84 in the suspense file:

“Last December, the California Court of Appeal quietly struck down all of California's DNA-testing laws, which are used to solve the most serious crimes.  An appeal is pending before the California Supreme Court.  If the high court does not overturn the intermediate court's decision (and that outcome is in doubt), hundreds of thousands of California families awaiting justice for a murdered loved one, and hundreds of thousands of rape victims, will see their chances of obtaining justice greatly diminished.

The legislative process is old-fashioned, technical, and slow, and the Legislature remains a place that rarely speaks with uniformity on any issue.  It is therefore highly doubtful that the Legislature could react to a bad Supreme Court decision with the necessary rapidity to ensure that millions of criminals do not go free without being tested to solve other crimes. 

Assembly Bill 84 was a rare example of the Legislature planning ahead to anticipate a less-than-ideal outcome, and had passed with bipartisan support and the support of crime-victims groups.  Today, the Assembly Appropriations Committee and Assembly leadership took a huge gamble on the outcome of a lengthy and complicated case by holding AB 84, in effect killing it for this legislative session.  Sadly, they chose political gamesmanship over victims' families.  Words cannot express our disappointment at this outcome, and we will do everything it takes to ensure that there is no lag in DNA testing of our most heinous criminals."

Mike Gatto is the Chairman of the Consumer Protection and Privacy Committee, and the longest-serving current member of the State Assembly.  He represents California’s 43rd Assembly District, which includes Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Atwater Village, East Hollywood, Franklin Hills, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and Silver Lake. www.asm.ca.gov/gatto 

# # #

Mike Gatto gives Rose Bowl tickets to CVHS student

Crescenta Valley High School football player Bostin Lakin has had an incredible year. Sure, he's part of the CVHS championship team. But what sets him apart is what he had to do to get there.

http://abc7.com/%E2%80%A6/5-hour-brain-surgery-saves-la-cre%E2%80%A6/424211/ 

Today, it was a great joy to give him two tickets (my tickets) to the Rose Bowl game. Bostin, your perseverance has inspired us all.

Los Angeles and Bay Area News Groups Recognize Gatto for Never Missing a Vote

Excerpt from Rick Orlov's Tipoff in the LA Daily News / Contra Costa Times:

“Speaking of the Assembly, one local member has a voting record that was unmatched this past year.

It turns out Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) cast a yes or no vote in all 5,897 roll calls this year. He was the only member to not miss a vote.

And Gatto accomplished this all in the shadow of the investigation into his father’s murder in his Silver Lake home.

Kind of like being the kid with the perfect attendance record.”

See the article at http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_27136565/tipoff-assemblywoman-lopez-catching-up-and-feeling-at

STREETSBLOG LA: Brown Vetoes Road User Safety Laws Including Hit-and-Run, Vulnerable User

Jose Vasquez leaves a candle at the ghost bike memorial for
Andy Garcia, killed in a vicious hit-and-run last year.
Sahra Sulaiman/LA Streetsblog

In the last hours before the deadline for signing legislation from this year’s legislative session,
California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a batch of bills that could have improved safety for bicyclists, pedestrians, and other road users.

Included in the list of vetoes are three bills addressing the problem of hit-and-run crimes. Two of them would have increased penalties for convictions, and one would have made it easier to catch hit-and-run perpetrators. This brings to a total of four bills on the issue that passed both houses of the legislature with very few no votes—some unanimously—only to end up on the governor’s chopping block.

The governor’s general objection to creating new crime categories and increasing penalties was his excuse for declining these bills.

For similar reasons, Brown also vetoed Assemblymember Mark Levine’s “vulnerable user” bill that would have defined bicyclists and pedestrians, and a few other groups, as a special category of road users, and raised fines for conviction of violations that result in injury to them.

Another bill vetoed today was one that would have assessed a violation point against a driver’s record if convicted of using a cell phone or texting while driving. A second provision of the bill, requiring the Department of Motor Vehicles to include at least one question on the driver’s license exam addressing the dangers of distracted driving, may happen anyway. Brown, in his veto message [PDF], writes that he has directed the DMV to add such a question.

Here’s a list of bills [originated by Assemblymember Mike Gatto] that would have made the roads safer but were axed by the Governor:

• A.B. 1532, from Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles), which would have required an automatic six-month license suspension for anyone convicted of a hit-and-run collision in which a person was hit, whether that person was injured or not. Assemblymember Gatto’s intent was to enforce the notion that people must stop when they are involved in a crash, no matter what. The governor disagreed, citing his usual reluctance to create new categories of crime and stiffen penalties. “I don’t find sufficient justification for creating a new crime when no injury to person or property occurred. I think the current law is adequate,” says his veto message [PDF]. 

• A.B. 47, also from Gatto, which would have created a new “Yellow Alert” system, similar to the existing Amber Alert that broadcasts information about child abductions quickly throughout the state. The Yellow Alert would have broadcast descriptions of vehicles suspected of being involved in hit-and-run crimes using freeway changeable message signs and other outlets to help law enforcement apprehend criminals who leave the scene of a collision. Governor Brown refused to sign this bill because of another bill, which he did sign, that adds developmentally disabled people to the groups for which the Amber Alert system can be used. “This expansion should be tested before adding more categories of individuals that could overload the system,” he wrote [PDF]. It’s doubtful that the families and friends of hit-and-run victims would agree that this wait-and-see approach is sensible. 

You can read this complete article and more at Streetsblog LA by clicking HERE

Mike Gatto is the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the California State Assembly.  He represents Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Atwater Village, East Hollywood, Franklin Hills, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and Silver Lake.  www.asm.ca.gov/gatto

MASSIS POST: California Assemblymember Mike Gatto Awarded the Mkhitar Gosh Medal

GLENDALE — The Republic of Armenia has awarded Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) the Mkhitar Gosh Medal in recognition of his contributions to strengthening U.S.-Armenia relations and many years of dedicated service on behalf of the Armenian-American community. The President of Armenia, Serzh Sarkisian, announced the award, which is named in honor of the noted twelfth century Armenian clergyman, writer, and codifier of the Armenian civil and canon laws...

“...Pursuant to paragraph 16, article 55 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, and guided by the Law of the Republic of Armenia on State Awards, I hereby decree: To award Mike Gatto, California State Assemblymember, the Mkhitar Gosh Medal for his contribution in strengthening and developing the Armenia-U.S. friendly relations and many years of dedication to Armenian issues.” said President Sarkisian.

Assemblyman Gatto has been a tireless advocate for Armenian issues such as the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, which resulted in the death of more than 1,500,000 ethnic Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. He has authored or co-authored ten different bills recognizing the Armenian Genocide, requesting proper inclusion of the genocide in high school-history curriculum, and calling on the Congress and the President of the United States to do the same. Among them is AB 173 (2011), which allows the families of victims of the Armenian Genocide to file claims in California on insurance policies issued during the genocide, helping Armenian Americans achieve justice for their relatives.

This year, Gatto took bold action on behalf of the ethnically Armenian people of Artsakh, a region in the Southern Caucasus that was illegally severed from Armenia and placed under Soviet-Azerbaijani control in 1921. Seventy years later, the people of Artsakh held democratic elections and formally declared independence as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Assemblyman Mike Gatto authored AJR 32, which made California the most populous entity in the world to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and called upon the United States government to do the same. After successfully passing the State legislature, AJR 32 was transmitted to Congress and President Obama.

“It is a privilege to advocate on behalf of the U.S.-Armenia relationship and to work so closely with leaders in the Armenian-American community. I have always believed that all people have the right to safety and self-determination. These rights must be protected, and the legacy of those killed in the centuries-old oppression of Armenian peoples must not be forgotten.”

To read this article and explore other important Armenian issues and causes click HERE

Mike Gatto is the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the California State Assembly.  He represents Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Atwater Village, East Hollywood, Franklin Hills, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and Silver Lake.  www.asm.ca.gov/gatto

KTLA-5 Reports on my "Yellow Alert" system

Here's a report by KTLA's Kacey Montoya on AB 47, my bill to use extant infrastructure to catch hit & run perpetrators.

PRESS RELEASE: ASSEMBLYMAN GATTO HONORS BEACHWOOD CANYON RESIDENT MEG GILL, OWNER OF ATWATER VILLAGE’S GOLDEN ROAD BREWERY AS SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

Earlier this week, it was awesome to honor Meg Gill, of Golden Road Brewery, as our district's Small Business of the Year!

ASSEMBLYMAN GATTO HONORS BEACHWOOD CANYON RESIDENT MEG GILL, OWNER OF ATWATER VILLAGE’S GOLDEN ROAD BREWERY AS SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

Sacramento, CA – Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) honored local business owner Meg Gill and Atwater Village’s Golden Road Brewery on Monday, June 16, 2014 at the California Small Business Day Awards Ceremony in Sacramento.  The annual awards ceremony honors the contributions of small businesses to the State of California. 

“Meg Gill and Golden Road Brewery are an inspiration to us all,” said Assemblyman Gatto.  “Her entrepreneurship creates jobs and helps other young women to believe that with hard work and perseverance, anything is possible.”

Meg Gill, the co-founder of the Golden Road Brewery, was nominated by Assemblyman Gatto for her tireless dedication to building a successful small business that gives back to the community as much as it takes.  At 28-years-old, Gill is the youngest female brewery owner in the country, was recently named to Forbes magazine’s 30-under-30, and her brewery is the largest craft brewery in Los Angeles County.  But more importantly, in addition to building a vibrant small business, Gill and Golden Road co-founder Tony Yanow have also remained focused on building a vibrant Los Angeles.

"We're incredibly grateful for the support we've received from Assemblyman Gatto and the city of Los Angeles to help us, and fellow breweries, cultivate and drive demand for craft beer and its community-driven culture,” said Gill.  “In under three years, Golden Road has grown to more than 150 employees and brings 20,000+ visitors a week to our restaurant and pub.  Being recognized as the Small Business of the Year will help us continue to foster our commitment to local organizations such as Heal the Bay and the Greenway 2020 project.”

Founded in 2011, Golden Road Brewery produces and distributes its beers using environmentally sustainable production methods, and utilize their restaurant and brewery to create meaningful contributions to the community.  They have partnered with local nonprofit organizations, including Heal the Bay and the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation, to help support socially- and environmentally-minded projects such as producing a specific craft beer called the Greenway IPA to support the Los Angeles River Greenway 2020 project. 

“Local businesses and their owners are the backbone of a strong local and state economy,” said Gatto.  “It is important that we recognize these businesses for their innovative and positive contributions to our neighborhoods and economy.”

Mike Gatto is the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the California State Assembly.  He represents Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Atwater Village, East Hollywood, Franklin Hills, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and Silver Lake.  www.asm.ca.gov/gatto 

# # #