Our Stance On The Issues

Open and Honest Government

Open and Honest Government

Assemblymember Garcia’s political career was ignited when corruption gripped her hometown. She responded to the scandal by forming BASTA, the Bell Association to Stop the Abuse and successfully prevented the perpetrators from being reelected. Then, she was the first person to call on Senator Calderon to step down after his own massive corruption scandal broke.

Not content to merely oust offenders, Assemblymember Garcia ran for office herself and won with the support of her neighbors. In her first term as a member of the Assembly, Garcia authored an ethics package targeted at fostering an open and honest government. In 2014 Governor Jerry Brown signed five pieces of legislation written by Assemblymember Garcia. Included in these legislations were bills committed to increasing the penalty for taking bribes, preserving citizens’ vote by mail, and eliminating lobbyist peddling.

Since then, Assemblymember Garcia has worked tirelessly to implement additional measures to ensure transparency at every level of government. This year, she authored AB 779, a bill which would require government officials to release a detailed breakdown of all types of compensations they receive. This information would be made available to the public in their local agency’s website and would help them understand better the compensations their elected officials receive, ensuring complete transparency.

Not stopping there, Assemblymember Garcia introduced AB 1794, one of two major reforms to the Central Basin Municipal Water District signed into law by Governor Brown in September. The bill would add three new directors to the board to increase accountability and to rebuild the public’s trust.

Additionally, Cristina Garcia’s ethics package (2014) and her Central Basin reform bill (2016) also became law.

Assemblymember Garcia made her way into politics in pursuit of transparency and good governance from our elected officials and has no intention of giving up the good fight.

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