ATC’s letter to Jerry Brown supporting legislation to deal with the increase in Valley Fever
Honorable Governor Edmund G. Brown March 9, 2018
c/o State Capitol
Sacramento, California 95814
Honorable Governor Brown,
The Acton Town Council has become increasingly concerned with the rapid rise in reported Valley Fever infections in California, with Acton being adjacent to one of the areas with the highest reported cases annually. Of the 5,121 confirmed and reported cases in California in 2017, Los Angeles County had the highest number at 681. The Antelope Valley, which lies just to our northeast, had the most reported cases in Los Angeles County for that year and there are confirmed cases here in our small community itself. The fact that the Federal Center for Disease Control estimates that as many as 150,000 cases nationwide go unreported each year due to lack of awareness and sufficient physician training to recognize this debilitating and potentially fatal disease should be a huge red flag to our state.
With Valley Fever cases confirmed on the rise, and with great concern for our residents, the Acton Town Council supports the new Valley Fever Assembly bills: AB 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790 and 1881. This bill package is a strategic and targeted approach that tackles Valley Fever from various angles by creating annual deadlines for reporting, simplifying diagnosis confirmation, strengthening protections for workers, enhancing physician training and standardizing testing to diagnose and confirm cases of this disease.
It is imperative that Valley Fever be recognized as the serious health crisis that it clearly has become. The Acton Town Council urges you, Governor Brown, to pass these five aforementioned bills that will soon come before you. This dynamic bill package is the first step in addressing this very serious disease and is long overdue.
Sincerely,
Russ Fawkes
President,
Acton Town Council
Cc: Senator Scott Wilk
Assembly members Tom Lackey, Rudy Salas and Vince Fong
I’m a Acton residence since. 1992. I do not wish to spend any Acton tax money to support Gov Brown Sanuary State. Is any money from Acton going to Brown for this?
Any taxes collected from Acton residents go to the county or state. As an unincorporated area, we do not collect any taxes nor do we control how the county or state spends them.