News

Thursday, August 9, 2018

BY ASM. JIM WOOD AND ASM. BRIAN DAHLE

Special to The Sacramento Bee

August 09, 2018

In less than a year, some of the worst wildfires in California history have killed 52 people, destroyed thousands of homes and scorched an area larger than greater Los Angeles.

Helping victims is our immediate priority, but we must develop policies that will prevent future mega-fires.

Opinion

The Assembly districts we represent are among the largest in the state, and the extreme risk of wildfire is a fact of life for many of our constituents. That is why legislative leaders asked us to serve on the new Conference Committee on Wildfire Preparedness and Response.

Utilities, insurance companies and attorneys have been beating down our doors to discuss how to pay the bills for wildfire damage. They all have proposals that, not surprisingly, would pass the costs on to others.

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Monday, October 16, 2017

NEW YORK TIMES — With towering flames bearing down, one victim delayed escape in hopes of saving his new truck — but he could not find the keys. An elderly couple slept as danger erupted, not waking until it was too late to flee down their one-lane road. Another couple, who barely missed their chance to drive away, huddled in a pool, surrounded by fire and choking smoke; he survived, but she did not.

“This will be without a doubt the most complicated identification process this area has ever seen,” said Jim Wood, an expert in forensic dentistry who was helping identify bodies through dental records. Dr. Wood, who now represents the area in the State Assembly, also helped identify victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the Lake County fires last year.

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Monday, October 16, 2017

LOS ANGELES TIMES--There's often little politicians can do when wildfires strike, besides comfort the residents who lost their homes and monitor emergency efforts to make sure they're getting the help they need.

California Assemblyman Jim Wood has another job.

"Most of my work is in the morgue at this point," he said. A Democrat from Healdsburg, Wood is also a dentist who is helping law enforcement identify victims of the deadly fires in Northern California. "These are my constituents," he said.

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Friday, August 25, 2017

Readers of The Press Democrat have seen opinion pieces on Senate Bill 562, the “Healthy California Act.” That bill, often called single-payer or Medicare for all, is being held in the state Assembly, and I have been criticized for not doing more to overturn that decision.

Let me be clear, I have always supported health care for all. I am a health care provider, chairman of the Assembly Health Committee and strongly believe that health care is a right.

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Tuesday, June 6, 2017

When it comes to fixing the dysfunctional U.S. healthcare system, state Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) knows there are bigger fish to fry than drug-company discount coupons. But as he told me: “You’ve got to start somewhere.” Wood’s anti-coupon bill, AB 265, was approved by the Assembly last week. The legislation is now making its way through the state Senate. It’s a tricky business, this bill, because what it would do is prohibit pharmaceutical companies from offering discounts to patients for name-brand drugs if there’s a cheaper generic available.

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Sunday, May 14, 2017

MENDOCINO CO., 5/14/17 — Sacramento is sending some money to the North Coast for “illegal” cannabis grow clean up. In a press release, Assemblyman Jim Wood (D – Santa Rosa) trumpeted a line-item of $1.5 million as a win for environmental protection in the Emerald Triangle.  Governor Jerry Brown’s new revised budget proposal will allocate this money to the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) “Fisheries Restoration Grant Program.”

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Friday, May 12, 2017

An issue quietly plaguing Northern California’s forests for decades is finally coming to the surface as legalization sweeps the Golden State and mountain growers are forced out of the woodwork. A press release issued Wednesday from the office of North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) expressed the immense concern the California Governor’s office holds regarding trespass grows in the Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino counties. According the release, Governor Jerry Brown has earmarked $1.5 million to fund the Fisheries Restoration Grant Program, which will address the environmental cleanup of trespass grow sites throughout the forests of Northern California. 

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