California Speeds Ahead

Making Health Care a Right
House Republicans have voted 31 times this Congress to repeal health care reform and take away protections from our nation’s seniors, cost savings from America’s families, and tax credits from entrepreneurs and job creators. Under their plan, students could get kicked off of their parent’s policy and children with pre-existing conditions would fear losing their insurance policy if they get sick.

Today, I was pleased to host a panel and press conference at Saint Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco to discuss the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. This landmark legislation, in the same league as Social Security and Medicare, will ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care and significantly reduce long-term health care costs. My Democratic colleagues and I will continue to work to protect health care reform – and to make health care a right, not a privilege, for all Americans.

Congresswoman Pelosi delivers floor remarks in support of the Affordable Care Act

California Homeowner Bill of Rights
As one of the hardest-hit states, California has borne the brunt of our national foreclosure crisis. On Wednesday, Governor Jerry Brown, joined by Attorney General Kamala Harris, signed the California Homeowner Bill of Rights into law. The law makes mortgage servicers accountable and gives homeowners the right to sue in state court. No longer will homeowners face the threat from mortgage servicers of losing their homes as they try to negotiate a reasonable mortgage modification. With the single-point-of-contact requirement in the bill, no longer will mortgage servicers have the ability to give homeowners the run-around.

I applaud Governor Brown, Speaker Pérez, and Senator Steinberg for their bold leadership in ensuring victory for homeowners; and I congratulate Attorney General Harris, whose ceaseless efforts to protect Californians against abuses by some in the mortgage servicing industry was instrumental in achieving fair compensation for our state in the multi-state mortgage settlement.

Speeding toward the Future
Last Friday, the California Senate passed legislation to finance the start of construction of California High-Speed Rail. The vote is a victory for all Californians: clearing the way to create jobs now and building a world-class high-speed rail system. This victory could not have occurred without the hard work of Secretary LaHood, Governor Brown, Speaker Perez and Senator Steinberg, and I look forward to working with them hand-in-hand as we keep our state on course to create jobs, spur commerce and improve the environment.

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