News

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.

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.

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.