Capitol Day 2019 Scheduled Speakers

Learn more about the legislators and regulators who will speak to members during CMUA Capitol Day on February 4, 2019, at the Sheraton Grand hotel in Sacramento.

Scheduled to speak at CMUA Capitol Day is Senate Majority Leader Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), co-author of a legislative package passed in 2018 that creates long-term water use efficiency standards for California. Hertzberg is a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications and in 2018 he was chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water. Hertzberg served as Assembly Speaker in 2000-01 during the state's energy crisis.



Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon (D-Whittier) is co-chair of the California Millennial Caucus, a group of younger state lawmakers who have an increasingly influential voice at the State Capitol. Calderon, 33, was elected to the Assembly in 2012. He authored a bill signed into law in 2018 that provides greater legal certainty for blockchain, an emerging digital technology that someday could have wide impacts and applications in the water and energy sector and other industries.

 

Other Featured Speakers

CPUC Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves, whose focus areas include the expansion of solar energy programs in disadvantaged communities, as well as afforability of drinking water in California. She previously was the deputy legislative affairs secretary for natural resources in the Brown Administration and was appointed to the CPUC in 2016.



Senator Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) is the recipient of the inaugural CMUA Legislative Leader in Water Award. In 2018, Caballero authored legislation (AB 2050) co-sponsored by CMUA aimed at enabling noncompliant water systems to voluntarily consolidate within small system water authorities. Caballero is a former mayor of Salinas and she served in the Assembly for six years before being elected to the Senate in 2018.



Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward), chair of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials and member of the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy. In 2017-18, Quirk authored successful bills designed to reduce power outages caused by Mylar balloons and expand direct potable water reuse. He started his career as a climate change scientist.




Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-San Bernardino), a member of the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy. Among other bills, Reyes is the author of the Equity in Clean Energy Investments Act of 2017, legislation that allocates a portion of the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) to low-income and disadvantaged communities.




Senator Henry Stern (D-Canoga Park) is the chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water. He is the first Millennial elected to the State Senate. Stern previously was a senior adviser to former Senator Fran Pavley, the author of California’s landmark Cap and Trade legislation. Stern advanced legislation on energy storage, microgrids and energy procurement during the 2017-18 session.