Laurie Davies AD 74 (R)
LWVOC Legislative Interview
February 6, 2026

Joint interview with LWV North San Diego County, who took the lead. They were represented by Cathy Green, their president (whose name I missed), and another member, Cathy.
LWVSC interview team: Julie Agin, Debbie Gilmore
Present at the interview were Assembly Member Davies, her Chief of Staff Donna Cleary and staff member Ellery.
District 74: Includes San Clemente, Dana Point, Laguna Niguel and San Juan Capistrano in South Orange County, down through Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Vista and part of Fallbrook in San Diego Co.

Ms. Davies started the interview by complimenting the LWV about their reputation… noting the issues the League addresses … and stating that we should be proud to be affiliated with the League. Ms. Cleary later noted the influence of the League, that the League can hold press conferences and author opinion editorials.
Question # 1 What major issues do you think the Legislature must deal with in 2026? (asked by Cathy Green)
• Assembly member Davies first mentioned affordability…the cost of living…taxes going up….food, gas, utilities, insurance..
• The gas tax…electric vehicles are reducing revenue. Moving to the use of number of miles travelled is being looked at, but there are privacy issues with revealing miles traveled.
• The push for electric vehicles was not well thought out, the repercussions were not considered.
• Toll road fees add to the burden.
• Obamacare has doubled.
• Insurance costs…so many areas are in a fire zone now. Residents are lucky to get the FAIR plan but some cannot.
• Businesses are pulling out of California.
• Fraud is being uncovered
• For example, “$25 billion” in homelessness funding…questions were not asked about the number of people housed, fed, rehabilitated, etc.
• Ms. Davies wants audits…looking at fees for items like phone service…and are these programs working?
• She wants to pull the curtain back on Sacramento, something that is not adequately covered in the news.
• RHNA - Regional House Needs Assessment - needs to be reformed. It requires certain numbers of housing units built by income category.
• The numbers are impractical to follow.
• Existing land uses are not taken into consideration….such as a lake or a dump.
• The requirements are city-by-city….cities should be able to work together…for example if one city has more jobs but not enough land.
• Housing such as work force housing, ie., for teachers… student housing… and seniors housing should be counted toward the goals.
• Housing is not coming on the market…people are not moving out of their homes.
• If seniors move into retirement housing, that frees up existing housing. Seniors can downsize and their children who are living at home can move into student housing.
• Ms. Davies voted against offshore oil drilling, noting that such oil does not increase the local supply and leaves the area.
• Davies stated that we don’t have pipelines to other states.
• We’ve lost two refineries leading to higher costs. We could see $10 per gallon prices.
• The Huntington Beach Air Show lost millions of dollars because the oil spill.
• Davies sends out her dispatch every week telling her constituents who to call… the applicable committee member for example. She advises them to pay attention to who passes what in the Assembly.
• Phone calls to their office are given a lot of attention; they look closely at the number of calls they receive on an issue.
• Davies said she loves her district and the people…she listens to everything.
• It’s why she conducts polls generally asking 5-6 questions, sending out e-blasts to 100,000 registered voters from a list maintained by the Secretary of State.
• Callers to office holders should point out that even if the caller is not in the assembly member’s district, their vote will affect the caller.
• Assembly members don’t like their phones ringing off the hook.
The CA Assembly process
• Davies noted that she is a Member of Problem Solvers, a bipartisan group of 28 members of the Assembly.
• During discussions about bills, her colleagues in the Assembly often say, “have you thought about an amendment?” Similarly, large coalitions will sometimes indicate, “support with an amendment.”
• Ms. Davies stated that she has introduced eight bills:
• Child care - Calworks now requires families to request child care assistance at the start of the year, which creates a waiting period if a woman becomes pregnant during the year.
• Electric bikes, noting that they are an issue in her district. Certification will be required to park the bike at school, the parent must be involved if the minor is under 16 years old, and police would go out to the schools for the certification process. Davies believes there has to be a way to register E-bikes, and she would love to have the LWV’s support.
• Drowning prevention - the bill opens the door for trained persons to come into the schools to raise awareness, noting there is a huge racial disparity in this area. Davies wanted vouchers for swimming lessons, but that was cut from the bill. She also noted there is a lifeguard shortage because of retirements, and there is no state-wide plan.
• Sober living homes - Davies stated that residents are recruited by brokers who offer incentives such as iPads and cash. Some residents come from other states and should be given a round-trip ticket, not just one-way. The homes have no standards, don’t provide treatment, and have no clinicians on staff. There are 3000 sober living homes in Orange County, however San Diego has fewer. Another concern is that detox facilities are now allowed in residential areas.
• Funding for a study on hyperbaric pressure, a non-narcotic treatment for PTSD.
• Raising awareness for suicide prevention. Victims of sextortion, often arising from foreign “trolling” sites, become suicidal after sending compromising photos of themselves.
• Human trafficking