Doug LaMalfa remains unknown to students
Photo credit: Katia Berg
Most Chico State students know where the nearest party is or who the toughest professors are but do not know who our local congressman is.
Doug LaMalfa became the Northern California representative in 2012 and managed to secure a second term in 2016. He isn’t only responsible for Butte County, as he also represents Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama counties.
LaMalfa is a nightmare to most students, as an extremely conservative member of Congress. He is one of the least bipartisan legislators among all representatives, according to Govtrack.
LaMalfa’s views on keeping God in the public sphere and that “abortion is a poor substitute for abstinence” are outdated. He strongly agrees with republicans to the extent that he almost has no mind of his own.
While there’s little to debate about the topic of global warming, LaMalfa has continued to raise opposing views about it even existing. He stands along with the 56 percent of congressional Republicans who continue to believe it is a myth.
There have been several attempts by Chico residents and students to write letters to the congressman about realizing the dangerous effect that global warming is having on our planet, but none have been successful.
LaMalfa stated, “The climate of the globe has been fluctuating since God created it,” according to Thinkprogress.
The stances that LaMalfa takes are directly against science. When most people in Chico were holding rallies against Trump and actively trying to discredit the president, their representative held his same views.
LaMalfa has managed to succeed in certain areas. In 2015, his H.R. 2212 bill was signed into law. This allowed the Secretary of the Interior to take 300 acres of federal land in California into trust for Susanville Indian Rancheria.
The land that was given to the Native Americans did benefit them by giving them back what they already owned. His recent law managed to benefit the people within the county he oversees and allowed the Susanville Indian Rancheria to expand their businesses to earn more revenue.
Chico State students should be aware of who is representing the area that they are living in. Choosing not to vote and refusing to focus on issues that pertain to the community leads to people like LaMalfa getting voted into office.
Despite benefiting the Susanville Indian Rancheria, LaMalfa has done little for Northern California. His strong belief in conservative values have no place in a strongly democratic state like California.
Nicole Henson can be reached at [email protected] or @TheOrion_News on Twitter.
Garrett D. // Apr 28, 2017 at 1:55 pm
“His strong belief in conservative values have no place in a strongly democratic state like California.”
For Pete’s sake. This isn’t the point of the house of representatives.
Now, I don’t like Lamalfa, and didn’t vote for him, but please use some legitimate arguments. As a member of the house of representatives Lamalfa’s duty is to represent *his* constituents. It is the job of a U.S. Senator to represent the entire state, while a U.S. House member represents the people of his district. Like it or not, we live in a generally conservative area, and we’ll always have a conservative house member. The idea that he has no place representing us because he doesn’t fit the motive of the entire state is frankly terrifying.
It is my understanding that POLS155 is an interesting class, and would encourage anyone interested in the government to take it.
John // Mar 24, 2017 at 9:32 pm
This is a shameful hit piece that shows a complete disregard for both reality, and the values held by thousands of citizens of Northern California.
“Doug LaMalfa became the Northern California representative in 2012 and managed to secure a second term in 2016.”
Nice alternative facts. The real term length of all House members is two years, not four.
“LaMalfa has done little for Northern California.”
Interesting, because LaMalfa was the one who called President Trump to (successfully) request federal assistance during the Oroville spillway failure. Doug also works in a bipartisan manner to promote water storage projects like the Sites Reservoir in Colusa County, which would absolutely benefit our region.
“Chico State students should be aware of who is representing the area that they are living in. Choosing not to vote and refusing to focus on issues that pertain to the community leads to people like LaMalfa getting voted into office.”
News flash: Chico State is not the center of the 1st Congressional District. If you step outside of the safe spaces on campus, you’ll find citizens are rightfully concerned about high taxes, skyrocketing insurance premiums, and the overregulation of local farms and businesses.
Marilyn Terhune-Young // Mar 20, 2017 at 3:25 pm
Good article, but you left out Nevada County, where LaMalfa recently faced a record-breaking crowd of mostly resistors at a town hall recently.