Protests Against Steinberg Continue as Water Committee Fails to Reach Deal

Media Advisory: For Immediate Release, September 9, 2009

Contact: Barbara Daly 916-761-4726

Protests Against Steinberg Continue as Water Committee Fails to Reach Deal

(Sacramento) Residents of Sacramento and the Delta will continue to hold protests today against the mad rush by Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg to ram a badly-flawed water bill package through the State Capitol against the needs and wishes of his constituents. The protesters will be picketing in front of Steinberg's office on 1020 N Street, across from the south side of the State Capitol, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, September 9.

"We are protesting against Steinberg's plan to build a peripheral canal even though Sacramento and Delta residents are completely against this giant government boondoggle," said Barbara Daly, a Delta farmland owner, of Save the Delta. "The backroom deals and politically stacked Conference Committee that have produced the current water bill package are a complete mockery of the democratic process."

Over 40 people from the Sacramento area and Delta held a lively protest in front of Steinberg's office in Sacramento on Friday, September 4 to protest Steinberg's water deal. Another protest was held yesterday from 10 a.m. to 2 pm.

Steinberg's constituents are outraged that none of the 14 members of the Water Conference Committee that Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass appointed last week are committed to protecting the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. They are appalled that Delta legislators opposed to the canal have been completely excluded from the Conference Committee and the backroom water bill negotiations.

Democrats and Republicans on the Conference Committee failed to reach a water deal by 5 p.m. yesterday as Steinberg had originally intended. The Committee will meet today on the call of the chair. "This will allow for a floor vote on Friday," said Alicia Trost, Press Secretary for Steinberg.

Political insiders claim that Steinberg is planning to combine language from the previous bills and a water bond into one new bill some time this week. Delta advocates are criticizing this latest move by Steinberg to rewrite California water policy in the dead of night.

For more information, go to: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/09/05/18620933.php