L.A. controller says he won’t pay millions owed to DWP groups

Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin announced today that he will refuse to pay nearly $4 million that the city owes two controversial nonprofits affiliated with the Department of Water and Power, saying he can’t write the checks in “good conscience” because the groups have refused to show what they’ve done with more than $40 million in previous payments.

“As the city controller, I have a duty to protect the public’s money and to ensure that city funds are spent appropriately,” Galperin wrote in an email to the Los Angeles Times.

For the latest information go to www.latimes.com.

Julián Castro Confirmed by the Senate as the Next HUD Secretary

This afternoon, the Senate overwhelmingly approved San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro to be the next Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The vote was 71-26.

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States Lead on Minimum Wage. Is Congress Listening?

Congress is back in session this week, and if members have been listening to their constituents, they will move quickly to raise the federal minimum wage, which has lost 20 percent of its purchasing power since the 1980s. But absent action from Capitol Hill, states are taking up the slack.

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Here’s What You Missed: Fourth of July at the White House

It was a busy Fourth of July at the White House. The President began the day by speaking at a naturalization ceremony for active-duty service members and civilians. Later, he and the First Lady hosted military heroes and their families to the White House for a special Independence Day event, including a USO program featuring Grammy award-winning recording artist Pitbull. And it all culminated with a spectacular fireworks display on the National Mall.

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This questionnaire is the first step toward figuring out who we’re going to support during the 2014 election as part of our Gun Sense Voter mobilization effort.

Unlike the NRA, we’re making our questionnaire available to the public. And we’re asking supporters like you to take the questionnaire yourself so you know just how easy it is for candidates to make their positions clear.

Here’s a sample of what we’re asking our leaders to tell us before the August 15 deadline:

• Do you support requiring background checks for all gun sales?
• Do you support prohibiting people from having guns after they are convicted of violent misdemeanor crimes?
• Do you support a law that would close the ‘terror gap’ and block people listed on the federal government’s terror watch lists from buying guns?

These laws — and all of the laws we ask about in our Gun Sense Voter Questionnaire — would reduce gun violence and save lives.

Click here to take the questionnaire and see what we’re asking:

http://gunsensevoter.org/questionnaire/

Thanks for helping out on this,

Richard Martinez