Published: Wednesday, Apr. 25, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 12A

We all like to bash Washington, which provides plenty of ammunition for disdain. But like it or not, what happens on Capitol Hill still matters – a lot – to the Sacramento region.

So the Metro Chamber’s annual “Cap-to-Cap” lobbying trip is important. About 300 officials and community leaders from across the region are in the delegation that has been in Washington since Sunday and returns home tonight.

Their most urgent priority is to get the go-ahead to finish shoring up the levees that ring the Natomas basin, home to 100,000 people. It’s a public safety as well as economic development necessity, but the congressional authorization – needed to seek nearly $400 million in federal money – has been held up by the House GOP’s ban on earmarks.

Also, Sacramento-area officials are urging passage of a major transportation bill that would be more than a stopgap, thus allowing cities and states to plan for multiyear projects. Besides fixing crumbling roads and bridges and expanding mass transit, the measure could create some badly needed jobs in the region’s moribund construction industry.

Officials are buttonholing lawmakers and staffers on regulatory reform, including a bill to discourage “drive-by” lawsuits under the Americans With Disabilities Act by giving small businesses time to fix violations.

The 18-page policy agenda the delegation took to Washington covers a wide range of issues: securing direct flights from Sacramento International to Reagan National Airport in Washington; overruling federal housing officials to restore a program that allows homeowners to get low-interest loans to add solar panels and other energy efficiency measures and repay the loans as part of property tax bills; supporting policies to boost the region’s efforts in clean energy, the biosciences and the farm-to-table movement.

Unsurprisingly, many items on the wish list are requests for money: federal air quality grants, full funding for emergency food and shelter programs, grants for research in science, health and agriculture.

Roger Niello, the Metro Chamber’s president and CEO, didn’t expect firm commitments during the trip but says the delegation has received a good reception and has had productive discussions.

He gave the update Tuesday on his way from a delegation lunch with David Walker, former head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, to a sit-down with Sen. Barbara Boxer. Area officials are also meeting with Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Reps. Mike Thompson, Wally Herger, Dan Lungren, Tom McClintock, Doris Matsui and John Garamendi. It is both a challenge and an opportunity that the region’s Washington delegation is split between Democrats and Republicans.

This being an election year, it is a reminder that as much as congressional candidates’ stands on the issues of the day, voters ought to judge them by their ability and willingness to work together for the region.

Congress still holds significant power and the purse strings. What it does, or doesn’t do, helps shape this region’s destiny. It can only help that lawmakers meet face to face with some of the local leaders who have to live with those decisions.

Copyright Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

]]> http://www.AngeliqueAshby.com/sacbee-cap-to-cap-2012/feed 0 http://www.AngeliqueAshby.com/westlake-charter-schools-7th-annual-international-festival-saturday-april-28-2012 http://www.AngeliqueAshby.com/westlake-charter-schools-7th-annual-international-festival-saturday-april-28-2012#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:08:42 +0000 Michelle http://www.AngeliqueAshby.com/?p=5647

Looking for a fun Saturday activity for you and your kids? Check out Westlake Charter School’s 7th Annual International Festival!

(Sacramento, CA)

Monday, April 09, 2012

In February, Save Mart Supermarkets offered to match any donations made before April 10 for the cash-strapped pools program. Staff from the City of Sacramento have been on the phone or waiting for it to ring all day. Councilwoman Angelique Ashby says she saw last summer how much the community relies on city pools.

ASHBY: “And there was this lineup of kids -the cutest kids you’ve ever seen in your life- with their goggles on their foreheads and their flip-flops on. But, there was a line of them -probably100 kids waiting for that swimming pool to open. Whenever I think of the Save the Pool campaign, I think of that lineup of little kids.”

Ashby says it would be very disappointing if the city were unable to meet such a generous matching offer. The last tally showed donations were about $90,000 short of the goal.

Click here for a link to the Save Our Pools site or call 1-855-895-7665 to donate.

Read more: http://www.capradio.org/171596

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Frustrated Sacramento homeowners are hoping to get answers from two California leaders Tuesday when Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congresswoman Doris Matsui will tour the levees in Natomas.

People in the area say they’re concerned about high insurance rates and safety.

17 miles of levee work have been finished along the Sacramento River. 24 miles of levees still need to be upgraded along the American River and the east drainage canal.

But federal money is being held up in Congress, Sacramento City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby explains.

“We need two things: Federal authorization of the work that’s been done, which is the federal government accepting the Army Corps of Engineers’ report saying, ‘yes you’ve done the work.’ And two, we need an appropriation,” said Ashby.

The project has been in the works for five years. $360 million have been spent so far. Sacramento’s flood control agency says only half of the critical levee work needed is finished.

As the project awaits completion, a federal building moratorium that began in 2008 remains in effect.

Congresswoman Matsui said the project will protect 100,000 people and ensure the community is safe from disaster.

The visit to comes less than a month after House Speaker John Boehner toured the levees.

Copyright 2012 by KCRA.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more: http://www.kcra.com/news/30864438/detail.html#ixzz1rewCqdHj