I provided testimony on Tuesday in support of Associate Joint Resolution 65 at the California Assembly's Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media hearing. Also speaking was Ron Muriera on behalf of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) and the Manilatown Heritage Foundation.
I am pleased to share that AJR 65 passed in committee with 7 "ayes" and no opposition. What this means is that it has been adopted by the appropriate committee and will now make its way to the next level of the legislative process. Today, Thursday, June 26, 2008, AJR 65 will be voted upon by the rest of the Assembly. Not only that, several members of the committee have asked to add their names as co-sponsors to the measure: Assembly Members Fiona Ma, Joe Coto, Sandre Swanson, Betty Karnette (Chair), Audra Strickland, and George Plescia. Each had very positive things to say about the contributions of Filipino Americans in their district and to California.
So what does his mean? It means that we can positively influence the vote by letting our representatives know that we want them to vote yes on AJR 65. One can find contact information on the Your Legislature Web page at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html.
I know a lot of people say they hate politics. They say that their vote does not count. However, it does. When our representatives are aware of our opinions, their decisions are more likely to reflect our priorities and values. When we do not vote, our representatives can continue to ignore us and our concerns.
No comments:
Post a Comment