BILL NUMBER: AJR 5	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 17, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 11, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gomez
    (   Coauthors:  
Assembly Members   Hall,  
  Nazarian,    
and Rendon   ) 
    (   Coauthors:  
Senators   Padilla   
 and Pavley  ) 

                        JANUARY 17, 2013

   Relative to  the Los Angeles River.  
National   Cancer Awareness Week. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 5, as amended, Gomez.  Los Angeles River: ARBOR study
alternative 20.   National   Cancer Awareness
Week.  
   This measure would designate the week of April 20 to 26, 2014,
inclusive, as National Cancer Awareness Week, encourage the promotion
of policies and programs that seek to reduce cancer disparities and,
as a result, improve cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and
followup care for all Californians, and urge the President and the
Congress of the United States to recognize National Cancer Awareness
Week.  
   This measure would urge the United States Army Corps of Engineers
to select ARBOR study alternative 20, which would serve to revitalize
communities and create a more functional and interconnected
watershed that will provide a more diverse regional ecological system
and restore the functionality of the Los Angeles River as a critical
natural and cultural heritage and community resource. 
   Fiscal committee: no.


   
   WHEREAS, National Cancer Awareness Week has been observed across
the country each year since 1987 in an effort to bring attention to
the disparities of cancer among medically underserved populations;
and  
   WHEREAS, The American Cancer Society is participating in National
Cancer Awareness Week to highlight the disparities in cancer burdens
and to encourage public and private sector commitments in helping
eliminate these disparities; and  
   WHEREAS, California is the most populous and ethnically and
culturally diverse state in the country, and thus, is in a position
to provide leadership for the nation to address the reduction of the
incidence of cancer among all races, ethnicities, and genders; and
 
   WHEREAS, In California, disparities exist in knowledge about
cancer, cancer survival, and access to early detection, high-quality
treatment, health care coverage, and health care. Social inequities
also exist, including differences in occupational hazards,
environmental exposures to pollution and other toxins, access to
education, nutrition, physical activity, safe neighborhoods, healthy
food options, and other factors that contribute to an increased or
reduced risk of cancer; and  
   WHEREAS, The risk of developing and dying from cancer varies
considerably among different cultural populations in California. The
medically underserved are often diagnosed at later stages, and with a
higher incidence of cancers with higher mortality, such as lung
cancer, and are more likely to receive delayed health care; and 

   WHEREAS, Cancer is the leading cause of death among Latinos, Asian
Americans, and Pacific Islanders, and is the second leading cause of
death for most other Californians; and  
   WHEREAS, In California, African American males have the highest
overall cancer incidence and mortality rates. African American women
are more likely to die of breast cancer, although non-Hispanic white
women are the most likely to be diagnosed with the disease. African
Americans have substantially higher rates of cancers of the stomach,
small intestine, liver, and larynx, myeloma, and Kaposi's sarcoma
than non-Hispanic whites. African American men are at especially high
risk for prostate cancer, more than any other racial and ethnic
group; and  
   WHEREAS, In California, lung cancer is the most common cancer
among Laotian and Vietnamese men, while prostate cancer is the most
common cancer for men in most other ethnic groups. Colorectal cancer
is the most common cancer among Kampuchean and Korean men. Despite an
overall statewide decline in colorectal cancer rates from 1988-2008,
incidence sharply increased among Koreans and Vietnamese. Asian
Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Latinos have substantially higher
rates of liver and stomach cancer than other groups. Vietnamese women
have much higher rates of cervical cancer than non-Hispanic white
women. Asian Americans have among the lowest rates of screening for
breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers. There remains a lack of
data about factors related to cancer, cancer control, and effective
interventions among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; and 

   WHEREAS, In California, Latinos have substantially higher rates of
stomach and liver cancers than other Californians. Latinos have
higher rates of acute lymphocytic leukemia and cervical cancer than
non-Hispanic whites. Latinos have the highest likelihood of being
medically uninsured, which can create serious barriers to screenings,
early detection, and treatment. Latino women have the highest risk
of developing cervical cancer, significantly higher, than
non-Hispanic white women, African American women, Asian American
women, and Pacific Islander women; and  
   WHEREAS, Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
community are at greater risk for cancer, face specific challenges
accessing quality health care because of insurance policies that fail
to cover same-sex partners, and may hesitate to access health care
because of previous discrimination in health care settings. Lesbians
have fewer mammograms, pelvic examinations, and Pap smear tests than
heterosexual women. There remains a lack of data about factors
related to cancer, cancer control, and effective interventions in the
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community; now, therefore,
be it  
   Resolved, by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the President and the
Congress of the United States to recognize "National Cancer
Awareness Week"; and be it further 
    
   Resolved, That the Legislature declares the week of April 20 to
26, 2014, inclusive, as "National Cancer Awareness Week," within the
State of California, and encourages the promotion of policies and
programs that seek to reduce cancer disparities and, as a result,
improve cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and followup care
for all Californians; and be it further 
    
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
author for appropriate distribution. 
    
   WHEREAS, The Los Angeles River flows roughly 51 miles from its
origin in the San Fernando Valley to the Long Beach Harbor and is 32
miles long within the City of Los Angeles; and  
   WHEREAS, Within the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles River
flows through three United States congressional districts, eight city
council districts for the City of Los Angeles, approximately 20
neighborhood councils, 12 community plan areas, the second largest
urban region in the United States, and one of the world's busiest
port regions, and flows into the Pacific Ocean, the world's largest
body of water; and  
   WHEREAS, The Los Angeles River corridor is home to more than one
million people, more than 390,000 housing units, more than 480,000
workers, more than 35,000 businesses, and more than 80 schools; and
 
   WHEREAS, The Los Angeles River flows through historically
disadvantaged communities and underserved neighborhoods of Los
Angeles that lack open-space resources and have high unemployment
rates; and  
   WHEREAS, The County of Los Angeles, the State of California, the
federal government, and an incredible number of nonprofit groups and
organizations have been invaluable partners in the process of
developing and now implementing the Los Angeles River Revitalization
Master Plan; and  
   WHEREAS, The goals of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master
Plan include improving environmental quality, improving public access
to the Los Angeles River, increasing recreation and open spaces,
enhancing flood control, encouraging community reinvestment, and
increasing awareness and pride in the Los Angeles River; and
 
   WHEREAS, In 2006, recognizing the environmental degradation
occurring in and along the Los Angeles River within the boundaries of
the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles City Council authorized the
Board of Public Works of the City of Los Angeles to execute an
agreement with the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the Los
Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study, also known as
the ARBOR study, committing the City of Los Angeles to a 50-percent
share of the cost as local sponsor. In 2009, the cost increased when
the total ARBOR study cost was raised to $9,710,000; and 

   WHEREAS, The ARBOR study is consistent with the goals of President
Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, which includes
direction to reconnect Americans, especially children, to America's
rivers and waterways and to build upon state, local, private, and
tribal priorities for the conservation of land, water, wildlife, and
historic and cultural resources, creating corridors and connectivity
across these outdoor spaces, and for enhancing neighborhood parks. In
the President's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, federal
agencies are asked to determine how the federal government can best
advance these priorities through public-private partnerships and
locally supported conservation strategies; and  
   WHEREAS, The Los Angeles River watershed was selected as one of
only seven nationwide first-phase pilots of the Urban Waters Federal
Partnership, an implementation piece of President Obama's America's
Great Outdoors Initiative, which aims to stimulate regional and local
economies, create local jobs, improve quality of life, and protect
Americans' health by revitalizing urban waterways in underserved
communities across the country and the ARBOR study was selected as
the top priority of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership in Los
Angeles; and  
   WHEREAS, In 2013, the United States Army Corps of Engineers
developed a final array of the four best buy alternatives for the
ARBOR study and only one of those alternatives includes both
significant restoration at the Los Angeles River's confluence with
the Verdugo Wash near the City of Los Angeles's border with the City
of Glendale and the only substantial western bank connection,
providing a profound hydrological link between the Los Angeles State
Historic Park (Cornfields site) and the Los Angeles River, leveraging
a significant investment made by the State of California toward
restoration of the Los Angeles River; and  
   WHEREAS, The City of Los Angeles endorses the ARBOR study
alternative 20 that results in the most expansive ecosystem
restoration, specifically that which includes the following
priorities for the City of Los Angeles:
   (a) Verdugo Wash Confluence.
   (b) Taylor Yard/Bowtie.
   (c) Taylor Yard/G-2.
   (d) Arroyo Seco Confluence.
   (e) Cornfields Los Angeles State Historic Park.
   (f) Piggyback Yard (Union Pacific Railroad); and 

   WHEREAS, Once completed, the ARBOR study will recommend a project
that will be cost-shared by the United States Army Corps of Engineers
and local sponsors to modify the river's concrete channel
significantly for the first time since the river was channelized by
the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the early to mid 1900s.
The project will be one of the largest examples of urban ecosystem
restoration in the nation's second most populous city; now,
therefore, be it  
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the United States
Army Corps of Engineers to select the ARBOR study alternative 20,
which would serve to revitalize communities and create a more
functional and interconnected watershed that will provide a more
diverse regional ecological system and restore the functionality of
the Los Angeles River as a critical natural and cultural heritage and
community resource; and be it further 
    
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
Commanding General and Chief of Engineers of the United States Army
Corps of Engineers.