Sacramento, CA – Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), chair of the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce, made the following statement after today’s Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce oversight hearing of the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC):

Sacramento, CA – In response to the agreement to close the Exide Technologies plant in Vernon, Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) issued the following statement:

The agreement to shutdown Exide Technologies’s plant in Vernon is a long-fought victory for residents of the Southeast.

Sacramento, CA – In response to Prime Healthcare opting out of its purchase of the Daughters of Charity Health System, Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) issued the following statement:

State Auditor Will Investigate Agency’s Operations and Spending

Sacramento, CA – Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) and the Joint Legislative Audit Committee today directed the State Auditor to investigate the Central Basin Municipal Water District’s operations and use of public funds.

“Government must work for all residents,” Rendon said. “This audit ensures Central Basin is operating and spending public funds in a manner that fulfills its mission of serving Southeast L.A. County residents with quality drinking water.”

Update to L.A. River Master Plan focuses more attention and resources on Lower River

Sacramento, CA – Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) today introduced Assembly Bill 530 to spur much-needed revitalization of the lower portion of the L.A. River. The bill will establish a local working group tasked with updating the Los Angeles River Master Plan.

“The L.A. River should represent more than just a filming location for television shows and movies,” Rendon said. “Communities should have the opportunity to reconnect with the river that flows through their neighborhoods and engage with the natural environment around them.”

Sacramento, CA – In response to Attorney General Kamala Harris approving the sale of the Daughters of Charity Health System to Prime Healthcare, Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) issued the following statement:

I am exceptionally disappointed in the Attorney General’s decision to approve the sale of the Daughters of Charity Health System (DCHS) to Prime Healthcare.

Community groups like those in the southeast Los Angeles County district I represent have organized for over a year to ensure a result that maintains the quality healthcare facilities they rely on. Today, the Attorney General dismissed those voices.

I remain gravely concerned about Prime’s ability to carry out DCHS’s mission of serving the poor and working on behalf of the community given the company’s history of cutting services, eliminating patients’ insurance contracts, raising prices, and laying off workers at hospitals it acquires.

Just yesterday, a San Bernardino Superior Court Judge found Prime Healthcare-owned Chino Valley Medical Center in contempt of court on 14 counts of needlessly admitting emergency room patients into the hospital in violation of the court's order to notify the patients' personal physicians.

Nonetheless, I will work – up to and including pursuing legislation – to ensure that Prime Healthcare lives up to the conditions placed on the sale, including keeping the hospitals open and key services available for 10 years, investing $150 million in capital improvement expenditures at the facilities over the next three years, and assuming payment of current and former employees’ retirement plans.

Sacramento, CA – After Assembly Speaker Toni G. Atkins announced his appointment as chair of the Utilities and Commerce Committee, Assemblymember Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) expressed his appreciation and called for greater transparency as California transitions to a renewable future.

“Speaker Atkins’ appointment is a great honor for me, and I look forward to working closely with my committee members and all those who care about California’s energy future,” commented Rendon.  “Transparency in deciding how California’s businesses and families invest in energy will play a critical role in assuring our state’s vibrant, smart and safe renewable energy future.”  Rendon expects the Committee will exercise careful oversight of the California Public Utilities Commission in the years ahead.