Official Website - Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia Representing the 56th California Assembly District |

Gov. Brown signs law allowing home cooks to sell their food

Thursday, September 20, 2018

As excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle:

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law AB626, a groundbreaking new law that allows people to sell directly to the public food they have cooked in their home kitchens.

California Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella (Riverside County), introduced the bill in 2017. It was held in Assembly appropriations until 2018, when it moved forward again with state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, as co-author. Both the state Assembly and Senate voted unanimously in favor of the bill before it moved to the governor’s desk. Brown signed it on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

AB626 is part of a nationwide effort to pass “cottage food” laws permitting small-scale home-based food enterprises. The California Homemade Food Act, signed into law in 2012, allows home cooks to sell jams, pickles and other foods with low risk of foodborne illness.

News

Heber crossing guard receives state recognition

Thursday, September 20, 2018

As excerpted from the Imperial Valley Press:

HEBER — A simple act of kindness from Heber Elementary School District crossing guard Adam Conn was recently recognized to an extent he never imagined.

After Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, heard Conn had been purchasing and distributing ice-cold water bottles to help keep HESD students hydrated during scorching weather, the assemblyman held a recognition ceremony Tuesday at Heber Elementary to present the crossing guard with a California State Assembly certificate of recognition.

“Today is about recognizing Adam and the volunteerism that he puts forward and to show him that his kind gesture of giving back in this particular way now leaves a mark across the state,” Garcia said.

Press Releases

Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia’s Homemade Food Act Triumph Opens Opportunities for more Californians to Achieve the American Dream

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

California’s legalization of homemade food will provide a means of economic empowerment for minority communities.

Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia at AB 626 Rally

(Sacramento – CA) Governor Brown has signed Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia’s (D-Coachella) Homemade Food Act making California the first state in the nation to allow a permitting process for home cooks to prepare and sell meals to the public.

Photo

It Can Wait Campaign Shadow Hills High School

Monday, September 17, 2018

News

California Outlaws Big Bills For Minor City Violations

Sunday, September 9, 2018

As excerpted from NPR:

Cities in California can no longer tack on exorbitant legal fees to settle minor local code violations, thanks to a new law enacted this week.

The law makes it illegal for cities and counties to charge defendants for the legal costs to investigate, prosecute or appeal a criminal violation of a local ordinance.

"We made the argument that, yes, people should comply with local code enforcement laws, but violations should remain in the civil side of prosecution instead of the criminal side," says Eduardo Garcia, a Democrat from Coachella.

He co-sponsored the bill with Republican Chad Mayes, of Yucca Valley.

Assemblyman Garcia says he "wanted to correct a wrong and make sure it doesn't happen to other people."