News Articles - Assemblymember Ken Cooley Representing the 8th California Assembly District

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Q&A With Assemblyman, Sheriff, Supervisor at Annual Rosemont Meeting Wednesday

Details: Created on Tuesday, 07 May 2013 13:32

Rosemont residents will have a chance to grill some of their elected officials Wednesday night.

The Rosemont Community Association will hold its annual meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Rosemont High School cafeteria, and the schedule includes question-and-answer sessions with Assembly Member Ken Cooley, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli and Cordova Recreation and Park District Administrator Jim Rodems.

Tighter rules sought for teen drivers

Details: Created on Thursday, 25 April 2013 09:29

Tighter restrictions could be coming to California's newly licensed 18- and 19-year-old drivers pending a bill making headway in the Legislature.

Assembly Bill 724, authored by Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, seeks to provide similar regulations required of drivers under the age of 18.

Under the Graduated Driver Licensing Program, first-time drivers at age 18 or 19 would be required to complete 30 hours of driver education, achieve six hours of professional driver training and uphold a one-year 11 p.m. curfew. They also wouldn't be allowed to drive with passengers under the age of 20 for several months.

Teen drivers will soon see new driving restrictions along with earlier curfew times

Details: Created on Thursday, 25 April 2013 09:21

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - California lawmakers moved to make newly licensed 18 and 19-year-olds follow rules that already apply to younger drivers.

Some teens wait to get their license until they are 18 and skip drivers education courses but, Assembly Bill 724 would change that and require new 18 and 19-year-old drivers to complete a 30-hour driver education course and six hours of professional driver training.

Eggman targets parole violators

Details: Created on Wednesday, 24 April 2013 10:20

SACRAMENTO - California lawmakers in the Assembly Safety Committee are considering a bill today that would send high-risk parolees back to state prisons instead of overcrowded county jails when they violate parole.

Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, co-authored the proposed amendment to the realignment law, that would give judges the discretion to return parole violators to prison for up to one year, rather than the current 180-day maximum jail stay.

More limits proposed for teen drivers

Details: Created on Tuesday, 23 April 2013 10:23

California lawmakers moved Monday to further restrict teenage drivers, including approval of one measure to require that newly licensed 18- and 19-year-olds follow rules that now apply to younger motorists.

Two bills approved by the Assembly Transportation Committee piggyback on current restrictions on drivers under 18, such as requiring a driver's education course, 50 hours of supervised behind-the-wheel training and a year-long provisional stage in which they cannot drive with passengers under 20 or be on the road after 11 p.m.

Should violent criminals go back to prison, instead of county jail?

Details: Created on Monday, 22 April 2013 08:57

Assembly Bill 601 is a revamp of realignment, California’s controversial plan to reduce prison overcrowding to comply with federal court orders.

Realignment has become a hot-button issue in California, where some county jails have no room for parole violators.

Change to California’s Prison Realignment Law Focuses on Drug Dealers

Details: Created on Thursday, 04 April 2013 11:07

California Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Sacramento) has introduced a bill that would send drug dealers to state prisons instead of county jails. The bill, introduced in response to Governor Jerry Brown’s prison realignment law, has support from Democrats throughout the state.

According to an Associated Press article, Cooley’s bill delves into specific measurements of illicit substances sold, aiming for drug dealers “higher up” on the chain. This realignment effort will place those charged with the sale or transport of “more than 2.2 pounds of cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine in state institutions.

Assembly Bill Would Change Gov. Brown's Prison Realignment Plan

Details: Created on Tuesday, 02 April 2013 13:56

On Monday, Assembly member Ken Cooley (D-Sacramento) said that he has introduced a new bill (AB 222) would alter part of Gov. Jerry Brown's (D) prison realignment law, which aims to reduce overcrowding to improve inmate health care, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports (Thompson, AP/Sacramento Bee, 4/1).

In 2006, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson ruled that federal oversight of the state's prison health care system was needed after determining that an average of one inmate per week died as a result of medical malpractice or neglect.

Capitol Alert: Assemblyman Cooley calls for tweaks to prison realignment

Details: Created on Monday, 01 April 2013 13:54

Assemblyman Ken Cooley this morning said his bill returning certain drug traffickers to prison to serve long-term sentences is not a challenge to the state's realignment program, but rather is part of a discussion on how to improve the current law.

After touring the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Galt, the Rancho Cordova Democrat said Assembly Bill 222 affects a relatively small group - about 40 inmates statewide whose terms are increased due to a sentence enhancement for selling, possessing or transporting excessive quantities -- more than one kilogram or 30 liters -- of cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine.

Bill seeks changes to prison realignment law

Details: Created on Monday, 01 April 2013 08:51

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—A Democratic state lawmaker on Monday said he wants to alter part of Gov. Jerry Brown's prison realignment law so serious drug pushers are sent to state prisons instead of county jails.

The bill by Assemblyman Ken Cooley of Sacramento would apply to those convicted of selling or transporting more than 2.2 pounds (or 1 kilogram) of heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine. It is one of numerous changes to the 2011 law proposed by lawmakers of both parties.