SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers on Wednesday demanded quick fixes to the state unemployment benefits system a week after two scathing state audits found poor planning and ineffective management caused significant delays in payments to people left jobless during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Serving with Eggman on the natural resources and water committee will be newly elected gay Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz). He formerly served in the state Assembly until being termed out in 2008 to then join the administration of former governor Jerry Brown as the state's secretary for natural resources.
Laird will chair the Senate's budget subcommittee #1 on education and be vice chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. He will also be a member of the appropriation; budget and fiscal review; judiciary; and labor, public employment, and retirement committees.
SACRAMENTO, CA – John Laird was sworn in as a State Senator today to represent the over 900,000 constituents of Senate District 17, which stretches from southern Santa Clara County through Santa Cruz County, coastal and south Monterey County, and south through San Luis Obispo County, including the majestic Carrizo Plain National Monument. Sworn in at noon today, Laird was among nineteen other newly elected or re-elected Senators. The ceremony was markedly different from traditional swearing-in ceremonies due to COVID-19 distancing requirements.