ms. miller, anything to add? >> just to clarify, south bay side with management authority, that includes san mateo county. i just wanted to make sure that you know they are on the list, and i do think that the scope of services, if it was not clear, it will be clear is that it includes the necessary transfer, transport, and recyclable selection process as part of that, as part of the rfd. commissioner: thank you very much. ms. miller, in terms of process, if this item was to be voted on and approved today, what authority does it give staff in terms of the contract and the rfp? >> one of two actions. i would like, obviously, if you approve of the rfp, that we issue the rfp publicly. we would have it out for approximately two weeks, and then we could authorize me into a proposed contract, subject to ratification at the next meeting, which would be the fourth friday of march. that would allow us to a lease start -- to at least start with a potential contractors the week of the 21st, where you couldn't wait until the

ms. miller? >> i was going to add that we're going to send them a model resolution. this helps move things along, and model resolution and a staff report to present to their government entities. chairperson campos: commissioner mirkarimi? vice-chairperson mirkarimi: has the california puc ever taken legislative considerations like this themselves? >> yes, the cpuc is allowed to take positions on legislation before them, just like your body here. you are not allowed to take positions on legislation before voters. vice-chairperson mirkarimi: and have they or will they weigh in on this? >> i don't know the answer to that question. vice-chairperson mirkarimi: i would suggest they do, because this was instigated by the assembly bill. with their endorsement, which they should endorse -- if not, they should be removed -- then i would ask that that happened. i would like to tie up all loose ends, because ultimately, cpuc needs to be enforcing the very reforms we are talking about, and i want to make sure they are actually on board. >> that is a good point, and we will check

ms. miller? >> i have no report. chair: sir? >> we have another member who is working with lafco, and she has a background in technology and recently got her master's in public policy and is working on her mba with a focus on green business, so i just want to welcome her to our intern staffing group, and then also, just a quick update, we have received our photos for the photo contest comment nl the choosing of the finalists has begun on our facebook page, so we urge everyone to move forward with pepper -- a canastota contest -- a photo contest, and the choosing of the finalists has begun on our facebook page, so we urge everyone to move forward with it. we have 28 photographs that were submitted. just in comparison, the puc last year had a total of six entries for their water bottle contest. we did better. i know the group was narrowing it down to the final five, and they wish they could of had a few more photographs to select in that mix, because it was very hard to get it down to the final group. if you like, i did bring a th

ms. miller, my office and i, and have been involved in putting together of the r.f.p. as well as reviewing the results and i am confident that this is the right approach and we also wanted to make sure that lafco staff received input from the department of the environment, which was also able to provide feedback and our hope is that we can have an expedited review and that the vendor can come back to us in a short period of time to provide their results so that we can in turn provide that information to the board of supervisors as they make their deliberations. >> i would just add that the department of environment was very helpful, very professional in assisting us in the development of the r.f.p. and also sat with us during the interview panel and we will be working with them as we conduct this study. the study will be due on march 14, or parred me, april 14. we will have a draft and we will be bringing that back to you. representatives from all three consulting groups are here if you had any questions for them. rick hutchenson, their principle, and melody lassiter,

miller: reclaim the balance of my time. ms. castor: 1% communities. mr. frank: will the gentleman yield? mr. miller: reclaiming my time. i was going to allow for adequate time on that but it was not a giveaway but a loan and comparing $2350 billion in the first half -- $350 billion, a giveaway. the chair: gentleman has 15 seconds. mr. frank: would the gentleman yield to me? the chair: the gentleman from massachusetts will allow the gentleman from california his time. mr. miller: i think we are comparing things that have nothing to do before us. we can talk about wall street and banks, if anything it has helped banks and bought foreclosed property. add these straw men to the debate but should we give away taxpayer dollars. i say no. and i say aye on the gentlewoman's amendment. the chair: those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the en bloc amendments are agreed to. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, proceedings will now resume on those amendments printed in part b of house report 12-34 on which further proceed

miller: i meant to reserve my time. ms. richardson: since the gentleman was nice to me, i don't object. mr. miller: i yield to the gentleman. >> i like amendments that are trying to do something tech nickal but where i'm finding a problem in the flow of logic is think about this. we have a neighborhood stabilization program, down to its last $1 billion, we've already spent $6 billion an the concept in the amendment is saying that, well, it's going to keep acquiring one, two, three, or four-unit properties and will keep acquiring them until a certain percentage of mortgages, only this percentage is under water. mr. is why kert: is that -- tissue mr. schweikert: am i going in the right direction? ms. richardson: yes. mr. schweikert: buying a property, sometimes fixing up boarded up windows and then turns it around and putting it back on the market. if one of our problems out there is we have a glut of properties on the market, and that's one of the things holding down values, and i'm going to continue to support a program that

ms. sanchez: i yield for unanimous consent. mr. miller: it's with great regret that i rise in opposition to the home affordable modification program, known as hamp, without significant changes. hamp was designed to help millions of homeowners who had fallen victim to the crisis of 2008 but regrettably at this time it is not working under its current structure. i thank the gentlewoman's time has expired for yielding. the chair: the gentlelady from california. ms. sanchez: mr. chairman, since my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are repealing the home affordable modification program, my amendment states that congress encourages banks that our qualifying neighbors with loan modification. it encourages banks to provide our friends and family on foreclosure prevention and loan modification. my republican colleagues say that the home affordable modification program is not helping enough people. well, it didn't help all the people. that's true. i know people who went and tried to get their homes -- their loans mod foid and it didn't work

ms. speier: thank you. yes, the gentleman from north carolina. mr. miller: thank you very much. i think we all struggle with what phrase to use to describe the people that have been hurt by this. i think weual oo us auto -- i think we use middle class families, sometimes we say ordinary people, sometimes we say regular people. but the phrase that keeps coming to me is, people who are trying to make an honest living. and i think my model for that was my own parents. i'm a child of the middle class. my father worked for the post office, he managed -- at the end of his life, he worked there almost all of his life. he died in 1965 at the end of his life when i was 12. he was a manager of a neighborhood branch of the post office. and after that i saw my mother support me on her own as a widow when i was 12 forward and i remember my law school graduation, my mother being -- trembling. i thought she was overcome with pride since my generation was the first in our family to go to college. and she later admitted to my sister that she'd actually -- after my father died, prayed that if her