In the News
Congressman Jared Huffman’s 2023 Year in Review
by Lauren Schmitt
Listen to the interivew here: … Continue Reading
January 16, 2024
Natural Resources sets vote on energy, recreation bills
by Nidhi Prakash
The House Natural Resources Committee will vote on legislation Wednesday to require federal agencies to study any increase in home heating, electricity or gas prices before implementing energy policies. H.R. 5482, from Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), is part of House Republicans’ push to frame the Biden administration’s renewable energy and climate goals as detrimental to low-income and working-class families. “The Energy Poverty Prevention and Accountability Act will empower the People and … Continue Reading
January 12, 2024
More than 900 acres of ‘critical habitat’ added to Mendocino National Forest
by JUSTINE FREDERIKSEN
More than 900 acres of a sprawling ranch in Mendocino County featuring “rolling hills spotted with protected oak savannah and groves of madrone trees” has been added to the Mendocino National Forest, the Wilderness Land Trust announced this month. In a press release, the land trust reported that it had both completed the purchase of 917 acres of “formerly private land known as the Thomas Creek project,” and successfully transferred to property to the Mendocino National Forest. Aimee … Continue Reading
January 12, 2024
SMART receives federal funds to study eastward expansion through Sonoma Valley
by CHASE HUNTER
Schellville could eventually sport a transit station for “a state-of-the-art 21st century low-emissions” east-west rail system between Novato and Suisun City, according to Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit. On Dec. 18, Caltrans received $500,000 as part of the Federal Rail Administration’s Corridor Identification and Development program to conduct a study with rail operators, including Smart for a plan to connect North Bay communities along San Pablo Bay to rail lines in the East Bay and … Continue Reading
January 11, 2024
New Congressional Report Highlights Mike Johnson’s Christian Nationalist Views
by Chris Walker
Members of the Congressional Freethought Caucus (CFC), a collection of 20 lawmakers in Congress who seek to “protect the secular character of our government by adhering to the strict Constitutional principle of the separation of church and state,” released a white paper report on Wednesday showcasing Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s (R-Louisiana) disturbing Christian nationalist views. The report includes insights into how Johnson has tried to integrate his far right Christian views into … Continue Reading
January 11, 2024
Tiburon 8th-grader wins App Challenge
Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) announced the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge for California’s Second Congressional District: Jayden Patel, an 8th grader at Del Mar Middle School in Tiburon. Jayden’s winning submission, Allergy Card, allows the user to create their own personal allergy card that can be translated into 15+ languages. “We are lucky to have a district full of bright young minds, and it’s always inspiring to see the forward-looking apps they create in this … Continue Reading
January 10, 2024
Sysco responds to Huffman’s inquiry, vows to cease purchasing seafood from Chishan Group
by Cliff White
Houston, Texas, U.S.A.-based Sysco, the world’s largest broadline food distributor with more than 600,000 customers, has promised to end its purchasing of all seafood traced back to the Chishan Group, a Chinese processor accused of using Uyghur forced labor. In a 5 January 2024 letter responding to an inquiry from U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California), Sysco President and CEO Kevin Hourican said he was committed to rooting out illegal labor practices within his company’s supply chain. “Any … Continue Reading
January 09, 2024
House, Senate Democrats ask court to halt Willow project
by Niina Farah
More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers are backing conservation groups' calls for a federal appeals court to halt construction of a massive fossil fuel project in Alaska approved by the Biden administration almost a year ago. In a friend of the court brief, members of both chambers of Congress said the Interior Department should not have authorized ConocoPhillips' Willow project in a pristine area of Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve. "Due to national security and environmental … Continue Reading
January 06, 2024
North Bay lawmakers worry about 2024 on third anniversary of Jan. 6 riot at US Capitol
by Andrew Graham
Three years ago, Northern California residents clustered around television sets or craned over smartphone screens, their horror mounting alongside most Americans as supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in a violent effort to stop certification of the 2020 election. The riot appeared, briefly, to spark a rare moment of national unity — the majority of Americans were aghast at the ferocity of the attack, in which five people died and more than 100 police officers … Continue Reading
January 04, 2024
Womack, Westerman introduce new bipartisan legislation involving outdoor recreation facilities
by Spencer Bailey
Arkansas congressmen Steve Womack and Bruce Westerman have joined with California Democrat Jared Huffman to introduce H.R. 6906, otherwise known as the LAKES Act. LAKES, or Lake Access Keeping Economies Strong, will expand opportunities to improve and develop outdoor recreation facilities across the country at areas managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), according to a release from Womack's office. USACE currently manages almost 257,000 facilities across 43 states. Under … Continue Reading
December 22, 2023
Biden expands US ban on Russian seafood to include third-country processing
by Cliff White
U.S. President Joe Biden has signed an executive order expanding the U.S. ban on Russian seafood to include imports of Russia-originated seafood processed in third countries, including China. The unnumbered executive order, issued 22 December, expands U.S. Executive Order 14068 to prohibit the importation of seafood “harvested in Russian waters or by Russia-flagged vessels, even if these products are then transformed in a third country.” “The United States has been clear: those who are … Continue Reading
December 13, 2023
GOP: Biden pulling a fast one on Snake River dams' fate
by JENNIFER YACHNIN
Republican lawmakers accused the Biden administration Tuesday of seeking to circumvent Capitol Hill in its bid to breach a series of dams on the Lower Snake River, at the same time dismissing the White House’s nods to congressional authority as little more than a “red herring.” Oregon Republican Rep. Cliff Bentz leveled the allegations during a Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries hearing that focused on the future of four dams on the Snake River, which are at the … Continue Reading
December 13, 2023
Redwood forest trail would be renamed after Dianne Feinstein under new bill in Congress
by Shira Stein
WASHINGTON — Two California Democrats want to rename the main trail in Headwaters Forest Reserve after the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The Headwaters reserve in Humboldt County consists of 7,472 acres of redwood forests and has two public trails, one along the South Fork Elk River and one along Salmon Creek. The northernmost trail, now called the Elk River Trail, is what Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, and Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, told the Chronicle they want to rename as the Senator Dianne … Continue Reading
December 13, 2023
House Democrats unveil green transmission bill
by Emma Dumain, Kelsey Brugger
Two of the House’s biggest clean energy enthusiasts Wednesday dropped their long-anticipated pitch on transmission in a bid to coalesce Democrats around a landmark permitting plan to accelerate renewable energy development. The bill from Democratic Reps. Sean Casten of Illinois and Mike Levin of California would ease transmission build-out, expand renewable energy and fix the country’s jumbled electricity system. And with 76 original cosponsors representing both the progressive and more … Continue Reading
December 12, 2023
Senate Dems amplify call for a biodiversity strategy
by Michael Doyle
Senate Democrats on Tuesday stepped up their push for a national biodiversity strategy. The nonbinding resolution introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), with the backing of five Democratic co-sponsors, calls for a strategy that would encourage federal agencies to "identify and pursue a full range of actions" that could conserve and enhance biodiversity. The resolution also calls for establishing four-year assessments of the progress made. “As the impacts of climate chaos become deadlier … Continue Reading
December 06, 2023
Arctic drilling, royalty bills clear House committee
by Nidhi Prakash
The House Natural Resources Committee approved legislation Wednesday to reinstate oil development rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and to block a Biden administration proposal to limit oil and gas leasing in part of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The committee voted mostly along party lines to advance Minnesota Republican Rep. Pete Stauber’s H.R. 6285, the "Alaska's Right to Produce Act." “This recent policy decision is just the latest in their efforts to shut down … Continue Reading
December 06, 2023
House committee approves bipartisan pipeline safety bill
by Nico Portuondo
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee easily passed bipartisan legislation Wednesday to reauthorize the nation's pipeline safety regulator. The "Promoting Innovation in Pipeline Efficiency and Safety (PIPES) Act," H.R. 6494, would extend safety programs for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration for four years and inch the agency closer to developing standards for hydrogen service and carbon storage. It passed by voice vote. "This bill ensures the right … Continue Reading
December 06, 2023
Marin County allots $3.65 million to aid Golden Gate Village
by Richard Halstead |
Marin supervisors have authorized a $3 million loan and a $650,000 grant to benefit the Golden Gate Village housing complex in Marin City. The loan would be to the Marin Housing Authority to help cover predevelopment costs for revitalizing Golden Gate Village. The federally-owned complex that houses about 700 low-income people is badly in need of repair due to years of underfunding by the federal government. “This allows us to move the project forward as quickly as possible,” Marin County … Continue Reading
December 01, 2023
‘A joke’: Dems grouse about House Republican plans for COP28
by Emma Dumain
House Republicans are preparing to send more than a dozen of their own members to this year’s United Nations climate summit in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai — a record number for the GOP that not so long ago was a party seeped in climate denialism. But instead of celebrating a new era of Republican engagement on climate action, Democrats are grousing that they are being sidelined by colleagues they say don’t have any desire to meaningfully engage in the high-stakes talks known as … Continue Reading
November 30, 2023
Sausalito ferry dock project gets $6M federal infusion
by Adrian Rodriguez
A long-planned Sausalito ferry dock replacement project is getting a $6 million boost from the Biden administration. The Federal Transit Administration announced Thursday that it is allocating the funds to the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District to replace the Sausalito ferry terminal and boarding system. Golden Gate Ferry has provided service in Sausalito for more than 50 years, and the Sausalito dock was built in 1996. The service carries a half-million riders a year … Continue Reading