Bill Text: CA AJR40 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: United States-Mexico border.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 41-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - Died at Desk. [AJR40 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AJR40-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AJR 40 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Nazarian and Levine
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo, Atkins, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta,
Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Dodd, Eggman, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gray, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Lopez, Low, Medina,
Mullin, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Ting, Weber, and Wood)
(Coauthor: Senator Allen)
MAY 19, 2016
Relative to the United States-Mexico border.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 40, as introduced, Nazarian. United States-Mexico border.
The measure would urge the Members of Congress to work to
recognize Mexican American families' needs to visit family members in
Mexico and increase commerce between our nations by reducing border
delays through a more open border and to speak out against and to
reject efforts to build a wall along the United States-Mexico border.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, California and Mexico share more than 130 miles of an
international border that is 1,954 miles long. The border region is
home to tremendous cultural history and economic commerce between the
United States and Mexico; and
WHEREAS, In California, 12 million (32 percent) of the 38 million
residents are of Mexican descent. California has one of the highest
concentrations of Spanish speakers in the United States. In Southern
California, between Los Angeles and the Mexican border, 40 percent of
the population speaks Spanish. If the City of Los Angeles were in
Mexico, its five million Mexican residents would make it the fourth
largest city in Mexico (after Mexico City, Guadalajara, and
Monterrey). Mexican Americans frequently find it challenging to
travel back and forth between Mexico and California, thereby making
family visits to Mexico difficult; and
WHEREAS, Achievements by Latinos in America and California include
contributions to all facets of our community; and
WHEREAS, Latino voters continue to go to the polls in record
numbers and influence the entrance of newly elected Latino public
officials in both the Democratic and Republican parties and influence
issues that encompass providing affordable housing, investing in our
children, ensuring that higher education is affordable and
accessible, creating good paying jobs for working families, and
improving the overall quality of life for all Californians; and
WHEREAS, California's Latinos have contributed to the state's
culture and society through their many achievements in music, food,
dance, poetry, literature, architecture, entertainment, sports, and a
broad spectrum of artistic expression; and
WHEREAS, Latinos in California have challenged the frontiers of
social and economic justice, thereby improving the working conditions
and lives of countless Californians; and
WHEREAS, Mexico has the largest network of free trade agreements
in the world, with a total of 12 free trade agreements involving 44
countries, on three different continents. United States trade with
Mexico and Canada has more than tripled since 1994. United States
exports to Mexico increased from $54.8 billion in 1994 to $226.2
billion in 2013. Imports from Mexico increased from $51.6 billion in
1994 to $280.5 billion in 2013. Mexico's economy has increasingly
become oriented toward manufacturing. The United States has free
trade agreements in force with 20 markets around the world, including
Mexico. In 2014, 47 percent ($765.2 billion) of United States goods
were exported to free trade agreement countries; and
WHEREAS, In 2014, California exported $174.1 billion to 229
foreign economies and accounted for 10.7 percent of total United
States exports. In 2015, California's largest export market was
Mexico, which purchased $26.8 billion (17.4 percent) of all the
states exports in 2015; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 177,000 California jobs (17 percent of all
export-supported jobs in California) are related to the commercial
relationship with Mexico. Commerce, tourism, and foreign direct
investment from Mexico support more than 200,000 jobs in California
(1.5 percent of the total number of payroll jobs in California); and
WHEREAS, Border crossing delays at the United States-Mexico border
accounted for an estimated output loss of $3.9 billion and a 30,000
national job loss due to reduced output in 2008. In California,
losses were estimated at $3.2 billion and a 25,000 job loss. Research
shows that if border delays continue to grow, economic losses will
continue to increase significantly by 2017 and could cost the United
States economy nearly 54,000 jobs and $12 billion in output annually
resulting in an estimated cumulative loss of $86 billion. California'
s cumulative economic loss in output due to in-state border delays
over the next 10 years is estimated to be $4.5 billion; and
WHEREAS, Some American political figures have proposed or publicly
supported building a wall between the United States and Mexico.
Using precast cement wall panels, it is estimated that it would take
four years, 339 million cubic feet of concrete and 5 billion pounds
of reinforced steel to build the wall at a cost of approximately
$10.6 billion; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully requests that
the Members of Congress work to recognize Mexican American families'
needs to visit family members in Mexico and increase commerce between
our nations by reducing border delays through a more open border and
to speak out against and to reject efforts to build a wall along the
United States-Mexico border; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
