Sandre Swanson

ALAMEDA -- Make no mistake, Sandre Swanson really does want your vote Tuesday.

But the freshman 16th district assemblyman would prefer that his supprters cast their ballots for him as more of a validation of his first term efforts more than some grand electoral accolade.

After all, Swanson probably knows more about California politics than most currently serving politicos in Sacramento. But he also knows the work ahead in 2009 -- for all lawmakers -- will be tough and at times unpopular.

Not willing to wait and see whether the economic recovery plans that their colleagues in Washington will actually work, political leaders in both San Francisco and Oakland announced their own plans to rev up the Bay Area economy late Monday.

Assemblyman Sandré R. Swanson on Tuesday promoted the passage of legislation he authored that will provide a safety net for sexually exploited minor children.

Speaking at a press conference outside of the Alameda County Family Justice Center in Oakland Swanson said the passage of his AB 499 will work to slow the burgeoning trade in commercially sexually exploited youth.  

Swanson, D-Alameda, said the bill will provide the framework for a vital safety net for children under 18 who have been forced into prostitution, child pornography or human trafficking. 

"At last, we can begin to attack this modern day slave trade," Swanson said. "Until now, the law has treated these children, some as young as 11 or 12 years old, as nothing more than criminals. Yet the truth is that they are the victims, forced onto the street for financial gain by sexual predators.  Gov. Schwarzenegger rightly sees this as a crisis, and I applaud him for signing this important legislation."

The governor in an earlier press release, said: "This legislation is an important step forward because it expands victims rights, provides further protections, and develops training for law enforcement to better assist victims of these horrific crimes."

AB 499 goes into law on Jan. 1.

East Bay Assemblyman Sandré Swanson is concerned that right in the midst of one country's most serious financial storms the state's unemployment insurance fund appears like it will go broke by January.

The Oakland/Alameda Democrat made his concerns public during a joint hearing of the Assembly's insurance and budget committees this week in Sacramento.

"This fund is critical to ensure that workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own are able to pay their bills and put food on the table while they look for work," Swanson said.  "The current funding crisis threatens the solvency of that fund and we must address it as quickly as possible."

OAKLAND - Assemblyman Sandré R. Swanson held a press conference Wednesday to put on public display one of his legislative victories, a local government whistleblower bill that was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger late last week.

Swanson (D-Alameda) talked about AB 2001, which authorizes cities and counties to create and maintain whistleblower hotlines -- a resource that the state lawmaker says has been missing at the local government level.

STATE CAPITOL - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to veto the state budget passed by legislators early Tuesday morning, and said hundreds of bills on his desk from the legislature are likely to be vetoed as well.

At a press conference, Schwarzenegger said the budget had far too many "get out of town" gimmicks and not enough budget reform for him to support it.

"This is one area where I would say we've failed the people of California," Schwarzenegger said. "I'm very disappointed that the budget that is passed is so irresponsible."

East Bay state Assemblyman Sandre Swanson spent time Sunday condemning the two-thirds budget vote requirement during a statewide radio address.

Swanson (D-Alameda/Oakland) didn't mine any words during the weekly Democratic response radio broadcast, saying that the system allowed a minority of hard-line Republican legislators to "hold hostage" the budget of the most populous and diverse states in the nation.

A deal on the now 11-week-late spending plan was believed to have been reached Sunday afternoon and may be voted on as early as tonight.

The text of Swanson's speech:

State Democratic legislators took aim at the two-thirds requirement for passing a state budget in a radio address this weekend, in what could be the opening salvo toward a ballot measure to eliminate that requirement in an upcoming election.

In the address, state Assembly members Sandre Swanson (D-Alameda) and Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) said the two-thirds requirement is a barrier to responsible governance.

OAKLAND - Assembly members Sandré R. Swanson, D-Alameda, and Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley will join health care leaders and working families to discuss the impacts of Republicans' proposed budget cuts on vital health care services in the East Bay on Friday.

Swanson and Hancock will meet at the Alzheimer's Services of the East Bay on the Summit Hospital campus at 400 29th St. starting at 11:30 a.m.

"Republican proposals target health care with both direct cuts and salary decreases for certain health workers to the minimum wage.  A hard spending cap, and the ability of the Governor to make mid-year cuts could also directly impact health services," Swanson noted in a press statement.

SACRAMENTO -- Assemblyman Sandre Swanson (D-Oakland/Alameda) said that due to the ongoing state budget impasse he would not be traveling to Denver this week to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Here's his statement: