Home » Action > Letters and Public Statements

Letters and Public Statements

California State Government

Support for Volumetric Wastewater Pricing – Letter to the State Water Resources Control Board supporting a statewide requirement that wastewater agencies use volumetric billing for residential customers. (May 14, 2012)
Metropolitan Water District (MWD) Financial Support of California Urban Water Conservation Council (CUWCC) – Letter urging the MWD to sustain its previous level of financial support to ensure the continued broad involvement of southern California water agencies in the Council. (May 11, 2012)
Opposition to H.R. 1837, San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act – Letter to Senator Barbara Boxer urging the defeat of H.R. 1837 because it would preempt California’s ability to regulate and protect its water resources, override environmental protections, and undermine consensus efforts to find solutions to California’s water problems. (Identical letter sent to Senator Dianne Feinstein.) (March 9, 2012)
League Response to Criticism over Voting Rights Lawsuit - Letter to North County Times in San Diego County in response to their criticism of the League's participation in a lawsuit against the Secretary of State to clarify the voting rights of those convicted of low-level felonies. (March 24, 2012)
SB 654 Support Protection of Existing Housing Funds of Dissolving Redevelopment Agencies – Letter to Senator Steinberg supports funding for affordable housing for all Californians. Redevelopment set-aside funds for low and moderate income housing are the largest source of funding to address affordable housing needs. (January 21, 2012)
Recommendations for Statutory Change to Improve the Redistricting Process – Joint letter to the Citizens Redistricting Commission suggesting improvements to the redistricting process, focusing on those which would require statutory changes. (January 17, 2012)
SB 810 California Universal Healthcare Act – Letter to the Committee on Appropriations supporting giving every Californian access to quality care in a system that controls health care costs. (January 11, 2012)
AB 1148 Support Campaign Disclosure – Letter to Paul Fong (Chair, Committee on Elections and Redistricting) in support of AB 1148, which would require the largest major funders of political advertisements for candidates and ballot measures in California to be clearly and unambiguously identified. It will also require campaign committees to maintain a Web site where the largest major funders are listed so voters can easily access this important information. (January 4, 2012)
Concerns About The Bay Delta Conservation Plan – Letter to Kenneth Salazar (Secretary, Department of the Interior) and John Laird (Secretary, California Natural Resources Agency) raising concerns about the first amendment to the Memorandum of Agreement regarding collaboration on the planning, preliminary design and environmental compliance for the Delta Habitat Conservation and Conveyance Program in connection with the development of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. (November 15, 2011)
Oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline Project – Letter to Senator Barbara Boxer requesting that she oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline project, as part of a nation-wide League campaign. (October 28, 2011)
AB 420 Support Counting Incarcerated Persons as Residing at Last Residence – Letter to Governor Brown requesting he sign this bill, requesting the Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) count an incarcerated person as residing at his or her last known place of residence, rather than at the institution of his or her incarceration, in drawing new district lines following the 2020 census. (September 13, 2011)
AB 293 Support Vote-by-Mail Verification – Letter to Governor Brown requesting he sign this bill, requiring each county elections office to establish a free access system by which a vote by mail (VBM) voter can find out whether his or her ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why it was not. (Septemer 2, 2011)
AB 155 Support Use Tax Collection Obligation – Letter to Assembly Members Calderon and Skinner, in support of their bill that repeals and reenacts, with slight modification, budget trailer bill ABX1 28 (Blumenfield). AB 155 maintains (with an increase in the small business exemption) the definition of “retailer engaged in business in this state” that imposes a use tax collection obligation on out-of-state retailers that use in-state sister companies to help develop or sell their goods. . (August 31, 2011)
SB 641 Support Same Day Voter Registration (as proposed to be amended)– Letter to Speaker Perez urging the bill be sent from the Appropriations Committee to the Assembly floor for debate and vote. As Senator Calderon proposes to amend it, this bill would allow eligible citizens to register and vote at official locations on election day or during the 14-day period leading up to election day. (August 26, 2011)
AB 591 Support (Wieckowski as amended July 7)– Letter to Senator Kehoe, Chair of the Committee on Appropriations about a community right-to-know bill that would require operators of oil and natural gas wells to provide information on hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) to the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, for publication on the division’s Web site where it is available to the public as well as to DOGGR and other agencies. (August 24, 2011)
Deferred Voters and Number of Districts – Letter to the Citizens Redistricting Commission about minimizing the number of deferred voters and the undersirability of the "continuity" method of assigning individual district numbers. (July 22, 2011)
SB 14 Support – Letter to Senators Wolk, DeSulnier and Huff in support of their bill that would require a performance review of all state programs at least every ten years beginning in 2015 and the inclusion of performance-based budgeting informaiton in the Governor's proposed budget beginning with the 2014-15 fiscal year. (July 14, 2011)
Mapping Criteria in the Voters FIRST Act – Letter to the Citizens Redistricting Commission about the prioritized criteria for drawing district lines, including the weight given to communities of interest. (May 24, 2011)
Commission Goal: Honoring the Spirit of the Voters FIRST Act – Letter to the Citizens Redistricting Commission encouraging legislative districts that fairly group voters and give them a good opportunity to elect representatives of their choice. (May 3, 2011)
League Files Amicus Brief in Proposition 8 Case – Announces this amicus brief filed with the California Supreme Court in the case of Perry v. Brown. (May 2, 2011)
Tax Day April 15: Taxes Matter – Statement encouraging us all think about what our tax dollars do. (April 15, 2011)
Convert Death Penalty to Life Without Parole – Letter to the Governor requesting he convert the sentence of all prisoners who are awaiting execution in California from death to life without the possibility of parole. (April 5, 2011)
Proposition 27 Is Defeated – Statement hailing voters' confirmation of redistricting reform. (November 3, 2010)
Universal Health Care – Letter to Assembly Health Committe Chair William Monning supporting SB 810 (Leno). (June 18, 2010)
White Paper on Attendance Data and Early Warning Systems – Letter to the Governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Secretary of Education, recommending that California’s application for Race to the Top federal funds include the use of chronic absence data to improve student performance. (January 12, 2010)
Proposal for Two Workgroups – Letter to the California State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care that the Council form workgroups on cultural/linguistic inclusion and expanding access to under-served populations (November 24, 2009)
Suggestions for Reform of the Initiative Process – Statement to the Senate and Assembly Select Committees on Improving State Government. (November 12, 2009)
Further Comments on the Citizens Redistricting Commission Draft Regulations – Follow up to our September 14, 2009 statement (October 13, 2009)
Voter Pre-Registration for 17-Year-Olds – Statement urging the Governor to sign AB 30 (Price). (October 1, 2009)
Comments on the Citizens Redistricting Commission Draft Regulations and Appendix – Letter to the California State Auditor expressing concerns and suggested revisions. (September 14, 2009)
Suggestions for Reforming California's Governance – Statement to the Joint Informational Hearing on Constitutional and Budget Reform of the Senate Committee on Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments and Senate Select Committee on Constitutional Reform. (August 18, 2009)
Taxation Should Be Sufficient, Flexible, Equitable, and Fair – to the Commission on the 21st Century Economy urging they broaden their inquiry. (July 15, 2009)
LWVC Urges Realistic, Balanced Approach to Budget – to the legislative leaders and the Governor rejecting the idea of a “cuts-only” budget, especially one that decimates crucial programs. (June 12, 2009)
Spending Limit Proposals - Oppose – to the four legislative leaders and the Governor strongly opposing a “hard” spending cap as part of a budget deal. (February 10, 2009)
Sustainable communities strategies in regional transportation plans (SB 375) – to Governor Schwarzenegger, requesting his signature (September 24, 2008)
Policy for addressing the budget gap – to Senator Perata, Senate leaders, and the Governor. (August 21, 2008)
Environmental and public health laws – to Governor and legislative leaders (May 6, 2008)
Proposed Recycled Water Policy – to Tam M. Doduc, Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board (March 10, 2008)
Administration of the Death Penalty in California - to John Van De Kamp, Chair, California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (January 10, 2008)
Universal Health Care - to Assembly Speaker Núñez opposing ABX1 1. See related Call to Action. (November 19, 2007)
State Budget Deficit - to Committee Chair John Laird, Conference Committee on the Budget. Similar letters were sent to the Governor, the legislataive leaders of both parties, and the other members of the Conference Committee. See related press release.
Redistricting (SCA 3) - to Assembly Speaker Núñez and Minority Leader Plescia (August 29, 2006). See related press release.
College Opportunity Act of 2006 (SB 1709) - to Senator Scott (April 18, 2006)
CalVoter database and the inappropriate rejection of a large number of voter registrations - to Secretary of State Bruce McPherson (March 28, 2006)
Infrastructure Bond Proposals - to Senator Kevin Murray, Chair, Conference Committee on Infrastructure Bonds (March 2006)
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) - to Governor (June 24, 2005)
Redistricting (ACAX1 3) (Mar. 29, 2005)
Redistricting Reform - to Governor (January 2005)
Regular Review of Tax Expenditures (AB 2106) (August 26, 2004)
Regular Review of Tax Expenditures (AB 2106) (June 17, 2004)

United States Federal Government

Concern about the USA PATRIOT Act (to Sen. Feinstein) May 22, 2005