There is not a single member of the California Assembly more out of touch with her district than Asm. Catharine Baker.
Get this: when it comes to supporting progressive ballot measures, Baker’s East Bay district ranks 26th out of 80 statewide. This is a place where the voters care about progressive issues! Baker’s voters want to tax the wealthy to fund education, repeal the ban on bilingual education, overturn Citizens United, reduce gun violence, legalize marijuana and ban plastic bags. This is a district where equality, diversity, humane law enforcement, basic safety and the environment are deeply held values!
And yet, when given the chance to support those causes in Sacramento, Baker butchers it. Her voting record is in the bottom third — 56th out of 80.
Remember how we said Baker’s voters cared about the environment? Well, Baker voted against mandating the closure of the disastrous Aliso Canyon gas facility (AB127), against support for local authorities to use water more efficiently (AB1668), against setting new pollution limits for big polluters exploiting ‘cap and trade’ (AB378), against providing state funds to the low-income communities most harmed by pollution (AB523), and against mandating all new developments undergo environmental review (AB890). Does that sound like what the voters of East Bay would have wanted her to do? Of course not.
But wait! There’s more! Do you recall us telling you that Baker’s constituents wanted, in an overwhelming majority, to reform California’s parole and juvenile bail system to make it more progressive and humane? Well, here’s how Catharine Baker voted on criminal and racial justice issues — against guaranteeing all minors have a right to an attorney at interrogations (SB395), against protecting Californians from being entered into a gang database unless strong evidence of gang membership actually exists (AB90), against helping people get released from prison for crimes committed when they were young (AB1308) and against doing away with the draconian, ineffective mandatory life-without-parole sentences for minors (SB394). Um… what part of that sounds like Catharine Baker supports a more humane, progressive criminal justice system?
We could go on and on, because Catharine Baker’s legislative record is full of votes that betray the values of her district. Time and again, her votes put corporations before employees, profits before the environment, and campaign contributors before her constituents.