Constituents Handsomely Reward Garcia

Constituents in state Assembly District 56 handsomely rewarded Eduardo Garcia and, in the process, delivered the Democratic veteran lawmaker an unmistakable mandate: Keep doing what you are doing.

As of Friday morning, Garcia captured just shy of 60 percent of the vote, for a total of 17,110 constituents; Garcia’s Republican challenger, Jeff Gonzalez of Indio, garnered 40 percent of the vote, or 11,640 constituents. It was an overwhelming triumph by any measure.

Constituents like him; they really like him.

First elected in 2014, Garcia serves as chairman of the Assembly’s Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. Although he has made the Salton Sea’s restoration a priority during his tenure, constituents will find his thumbprint on a variety of issues. In 2018, Garcia has more than two dozen pieces of chartered legislation to his credit. They run the gamut from education and veterans affairs to public safety and community environment. See the complete list and descriptions of each here.

Garcia knows and understands that to get things done, especially for the good of his constituents, he must work in a bipartisan fashion – and he has.

“I am honored that the residents of the 56th Assembly District have entrusted me to continue serving as their voice in Sacramento,” Garcia told Uken Report. “Our team has been effective at conducting outreach, being present and providing constituent services year round. By directly engaging with community members we have established a track record of success passing resident-driven policy solutions. From day one, we have reached across the aisle to rectify disparities and better position our region for resources.”

This has been a banner year for Garcia. In a historic move earlier this year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law AB 2439, Garcia’s legislation designating Desert Memorial Parks’ LGBTQ Veterans Memorial in Cathedral City as the state’s official LGBTQ Veteran Memorial.

The successful passage of this measure makes California the first state in the United States of America to dedicate a memorial recognizing LGBTQ veterans.

Garcia and Brown were able to achieve what others had not. In 2004, Democratic State Sen. Christine Kehoe introduced similar legislation and it was vetoed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Constituents hailed the move.

In another popular move that constituents cheered, Garcia succeeded in getting a measure passed that will permit the sale of prepared meals and other foods from small-scale, home kitchen operations.

The list goes and each is driven by constituents, not Garcia’s ego.

There was one issue, one effort he saw as the most significant.

“Our work with this year’s California Park and Water Bond (SB5/Prop68) has allocated $200 million towards Salton Sea mitigation,” Garcia said. “These funds will help address the serious environmental, public health, economic and air quality issues surrounding the sea.”

His effort to expand, nearly double the size of, the Desert Healthcare District is also a standout piece of legislation.

“Significantly, our 2016 legislation, AB 2414, authorizing the expansion of the Desert Healthcare District boundary was recently approved by voters (Measure BB); creating a valley-wide approach to health and making medical services available to more of our families, including those further east living with respiratory diseases related to poor air quality near the Salton Sea.”

So, what’s next?

“The issues don’t change for us,” Garcia said. “We have to continue to grow our regional economy. We have to roll out our plans for the Salton Sea. We have to address the issues of clean water and support our farming communities. I look forward to building on what we have started.”