SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - “This was our rig ten years ago,” said the research technician, nonchalantly slapping a clunky headset that resembles a prop from The Matrix into the hands of a surprised student. “It cost forty thousand dollars,” he continued, as students passed the metallic monstrosity from hand to hand, “And now we use a consumer headset that costs five hundred and does the same thing better.”

I was visiting Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, a state-of-the-art fully-immersive room that, at its core, runs off of an everyday computer and an HTC Vive virtual reality (VR) headset. I was being given a sneak peek behind the lab’s research, which not only reaffirms the mind-bending illusions of VR, but explores its powerful effects on human behavior. Subjects who were made to cut down a virtual tree were more likely to conserve paper, those who were immersed in a dying coral reef were more likely to retain information about ocean acidification, and people who were given superpowers and told to save a digital child were more likely to come to a real person’s aid in the aftermath of the virtual experience.

The evidence seems clear: VR is possibly the most influential artistic medium currently in existence because of its innate ability to quickly change how people think and behave. Right now most of the research explores the potential benefits of such influence, increases in charitable donations, environmental awareness, and general good citizenship, but as one fellow student of mine pointed out, couldn’t it just as easily be used for ill?

It’s a question that the research is yet to adequately explore; considering there is already some observed correlation between violent video games and short-term increases in aggression, how might the average person react to a fully immersive virtual experience?

The researcher remarked that, without the fourth wall of a single screen, he found violent VR experiences extremely unpleasant; after all, violence in real life is horrific far more often than it is fun. Nevertheless, one person’s experience can’t outweigh the fact that a definite market for extremely violent and brutal VR experiences will develop as the more people get their hands on VR technology.

Right now, most popular VR experiences dodge this problem by seriously pulling their punches. Few VR games or experiences are realistically violent, and the ones that are refrain from being as “in your face” as they obviously could have been. But the question remains on whether the moral onus on the consumers not to be influenced by violent VR, or on VR content creators to not make it in the first place.

Despite its potential problems, our first instinct should be to place the responsibility on the consumers, not on the creators, as we do with every other art form. Most headsets come with a warning that VR should not be used by children under 12, and if those warnings are kept as prominent as they are today, we can hopefully restrict the VR audience largely to people who are capable of telling truth from fiction and won’t take VR’s potential negative effects to heart. Nevertheless, as this powerful new medium continues to emerge the question of how it could damage us is arguably more important than the exploring possible benefits. If finding research subjects proves problematic, we can turn once again to Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab. College students are always looking for a thrill, and VR could prove to be the adventure of a lifetime.

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Tucked away in a book in my Capitol office is a letter addressed to Kenneth William Cooley whose return address is stated simply as The White House.  A 4 cent stamp on the envelope shows a Mercury space capsule floating above a luminous Earth with the words “US Man in Space.” Its cancellation mark shows it was mailed on May 4^th 1962 in Washington, D.C. I had written President John F. Kennedy at the age of seven, and received that response shortly after I turned eight.

As a child, I was inspired that President Kennedy dreamed big dreams and was bold-minded as an innovator. As an adult, I now know the ensuing US space program reflects his willingness to ask “what might be?”

In my adult life, both as a founder of the City of Rancho Cordova, with 10 years on its City Council and two terms as Mayor, and now as a State Assemblyman, I find another John Kennedy quote relevant almost every day.

“Our responsibility,” Kennedy said, “is one of decision, for to govern is to choose.”

While I still agree that “to govern is to choose,” my Ken Cooley corollary is that we must always know the available choices.

To strengthen public confidence in government, we in government need to make good choices that use tax dollars wisely. Public stewardship is more than well-managed programs, however. Programs themselves must tackle the right priorities. It is the State Legislature’s job, as a co-equal branch of government, to conduct vigorous oversight and monitoring of state agencies so multi-million and billion dollar state projects don’t balloon out of control or get spent on the wrong goals.

Recent news makes me very pleased with my early opposition to two expensive projects which use dollars I believe would be put to better use to strengthen our schools, early childhood education and other critical social and physical infrastructure needs of our state.

These are the High Speed Rail (HSR/Bullet Train) project that I opposed when a key vote came up in 2013 to allocate one quarter of cap and trade dollars to it in a continuing appropriation and also the twin tunnels proposal. Concerning the tunnels, I believe they place at risk the waters of San Francisco Bay, which is the greatest estuary system on the west coast of North and South America. Teeming with millions of fish and all the waterfowl which use the Pacific Flyway depend on those waters, just as you and I, and our children and grandchildren do. 

Diverting scarce public dollars to the bullet train and the twin delta tunnels is a bad choice.

When passed by the voters in 2008 before the severity of the most recent recession became plain, the entire High Speed Rail project was promised to cost $40 billion. By 2016 it had climbed to $64 billion and now the latest cost estimate for the first segment has jumped nearly 80%, up to $10.6 billion.  “The worst-case scenario,” a financial consultant recently said “has happened.”  

In addition, because the project has yet to tackle reaching the more populous Bay Area and Los Angeles, the financial estimates will likely worsen.

Given our state’s challenges, I will continue my opposition to giving a big new blank check to the consistently over-budget bullet train. That would be putting good money after bad and will actually prevent the state’s ability to address other key needs. Like my original 2013 “NO vote” on the HSR continuing appropriation, I will not support major new funding now.  

The second state initiative fraught with problems and in swift need of additional oversight is the “Water Fix” project, which includes the construction of twin tunnels (40 feet in diameter and 35 miles long) underneath the Sacramento−San Joaquin River Delta and estuary.

Much of California’s water supply passes through the Delta’s “gateway” into the waters of San Francisco Bay. Decades of pumping water from this critical estuary to southern California has significantly contributed to its declining ecosystem, placing many species at risk of extinction.  Many environmentalists say the tunnels would bring even more harm.

Environmental issues aside, the project is on shaky ground economically. The estimated $17 billion project was slated to be funded by water agencies that would benefit from Delta sourced water supplies. However, not a single member of the federal water management Central Valley Project has agreed to support or contribute to WaterFix. Further, a 2017 federal audit said $50 million in taxpayer funds were used improperly to subsidize the San Joaquin Irrigation District for their part in helping plan WaterFix.

The administration reportedly is considering scaling the twin tunnels down to a single tunnel, a dramatic change that will require more dollars for redesign and environmental studies and I continue to oppose spending that money at this time.

It is still very much true, as John F. Kennedy stated, that to govern is to choose, and I believe we need to focus on choices that will bring better benefits to all California children, communities, and our future.

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Sacramento Association of Health Underwriters (SAHU) was recently recognized with Gold Certification on 01/26/2018.

Sacramento was recognized for this award as part of NAHU's Chapter Certification Program, which is an ongoing program that recognizes excelling chapters throughout the calendar year.

“The leadership of NAHU members has a far-reaching impact on providing for the healthcare needs of individuals, families and business in their communities. We are grateful for Sacramento’s hard work with chapter development and recognize them for their efforts with this well-deserved award,” said NAHU CEO Janet Trautwein.

“SAHU exemplifies the dedication to providing the best opportunities for our members through their dedication to chapter development,” said Helen Ornellas, president of SAHU. “This year, SAHU organized food drives in our local community, held monthly meetings as part of our communications efforts and hosted quarterly social events to increase and maintain NAHU memberships. These projects and many others have set a standard of excellence in the health insurance industry that we are proud to represent.”

The National Association of Health Underwriters represents 100,000 professional health insurance agents and brokers who provide insurance for millions of Americans. For more information, please call Scott Gilroy at 818.298.9780 or email scott.gilroy@kclife.com. 

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Senator Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado) today announced Senate Bill 911, legislation that ensures killers of police dogs are prosecuted as felons.

“Everyone is safer when police dogs are on the front lines of duty with their human partners, from law enforcement and victims to the community-at-large. These animals risk their lives to serve and protect,” said Senator Gaines. “It’s our duty to make sure we are protecting them by toughening penalties if they are harmed.”

Senate Bill 911, the Police Dog Protection Act of 2018, will make it a mandatory felony for intentionally killing or inflicting serious injury to a police dog or police horse in the line of duty. Current law involving injury to police animals is a “wobbler,” meaning that either a misdemeanor or a felony can be charged depending on the circumstances. SB 911 makes it an automatic felony.

Police animals are a significant investment of taxpayer dollars. For example, it can cost police agencies about $10,000 to buy a K-9 dog and up to about $100,000 for training, equipment and care throughout its career.

At least 10 police dogs have been killed in the line of duty over the past five years in California. Nationally, 24 police dogs were killed in action in 2017.

Senator Gaines said state law needs to be toughened so we don’t have to add to those statistics. “We want to make it clear that harming a member of our law enforcement community – dog, horse or human – will result in serious consequences. My hope is that by increasing the penalty, we will decrease the death statistics for these brave animals.”

A police dog or “K-9” is a dog that is specifically trained to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel. Their duties include: searching for drugs and explosives, locating missing people, finding crime scene evidence, and protecting their handlers. Police dogs are trained using verbal cues and hand gestures. The most commonly used breeds are the German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois and Rottweiler.

Senator Ted Gaines represents the 1st Senate District, which includes all or parts of Alpine, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra and Siskiyou counties.