Sen. Pavley Celebrates the Season With Constituents

Calabasas' state Senate representative, Fran Pavley, held her holiday meet-and-greet with constituents Monday night at her district office in Santa Monica.

Although California is facing its biggest fiscal challenges in recent history, the first-term senator is approaching the New Year with the same equanimity and quiet determination that swept her into office two years ago.

"My top priority is the budget," Pavley said. "We will be reviewing all potential legislation that might come up, but keeping in mind fiscal realities."

Gov.-elect Jerry Brown and the Legislature face a sobering estimate by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office of a $25.4-billion shortfall in state revenues with which to run the eighth-largest economy in the world.

Nonetheless, Pavley has much to celebrate. Last week, the California Air Resources Board voted to approve the basic fundamentals of the "cap and trade" system that will implement Pavley's landmark 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32). This bill calls for California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming by 25 percent by 2020.

Pavley said that she was confident that board Chairwoman Mary Nichols, an appointee of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, will "transition smoothly" into the new administration.

"Of course, the challenge is to make sure that politics doesn't interfere with full implementation of the legislation," Pavley said. "But I think we have a friend in Jerry Brown. He was pushing for renewables [energies] back when he was governor in the '70s, and as attorney general he fought the oil companies in court."

Pavley said she was more concerned about federal interference with California's efforts to combat climate change, noting that the Environmental Protection Agency is taking very incremental steps toward emissions reduction and that the incoming Republican-led House of Representatives has signaled a desire to dismantle or seriously weaken the EPA.

"But the Supreme Court has ruled that we have the right to regulate our greenhouse gases," Pavley said. "So my further goals for California are to pass laws to make sure your appliances are more energy-efficient so that your bills are lower; to make our cars more energy-efficient so that we don't have to rely on foreign oil; and to clean up our air."

Pavley serves on a number of state Senate committees, including as chairwoman of Natural Resources and Water and the Senate Select Committee on Climate Change and A.B. 32 Implementation, Transportation and Housing, Health and Environmental Quality.

She also serves on the California Ocean Protection Council and was relieved to see the adoption of Marine Protected Areas, recently designated off Point Dume and elsewhere in Southern California.

"Sustainable fisheries are in our best interests," Pavley said. "That being said, the state's commercial fishermen had a lot of important things to say at the various public hearings this past year. Talk about robust hearings! Our budget debates in Sacramento have been less contentious."

Pavley and her staff welcomed constituents from the northern end of her district (Thousand Oaks) to the eastern end (Sherman Oaks) to the south (Santa Monica). She laughingly pointed out that "a pretty large percentage" of her district is water: three miles of ocean offshore.

Tom Freeman of Brentwood expressed his confidence in Pavley. "Fran is an internationally recognized innovator of environmental protection. She puts together great legislation," he said.

Wendy-Sue Rosen, president of the Brentwood Residents Coalition, said that she has been a staunch supporter of Pavley since her days of representing Brentwood in the California Assembly.

"Fran is not only a champion of the environment, she was big on women's issues, health, you name it," Rosen said. "We are so lucky to have her."

With such local support, Pavley isn't too worried about the impact of the state's new Citizens Redistricting Commission, a nonpartisan panel tasked with redrawing legislative districts to achieve population equality. With the passage of Proposition 20 last November, the panel is also adjusting the lines for congressional districts as well.

"Republicans only represent about 31 percent of California voters," said Pavley, a Democrat. "But I'm more concerned with how this might affect congressional boundaries. We don't want to lose any seats in Washington."

With that, the senator moved on to thank her constituents for coming to visit.