The mother of one of the Berkeley balcony victims has this week helped to advance a bill designed to prevent such future tragedies, bringing the state of California another step closer to bringing it into law.

 

Jackie Donohoe, the mother of 22-year-old Ashley Donohoe and the aunt of Olivia Burke – who both lost their lives in last summer’s tragedy – gave an impassioned speech calling for increased regulation of the building industry.

 

Addressing a business and professions committee of the Californian legislature, Jackie pleaded with politicians to pass a bill requiring building companies to disclose private deals struck to settle faulty construction claims.

 

Her testimony comes after it emerged that the company which built the apartment block involved in last year’s tragedy, Segue Construction, had previously struck a private settlement deal over construction defects.

 

Local authorities later admitted that they would have launched an investigation into the company’s licence and practices if they had been aware of these previous private settlements.

 

 

Pleading with politicians to put the bill through the latest committee stage, an emotional Jackie said: “That balcony should not have went down. My daughter and the rest of these kids should be alive today.”

 

“How many more balconies have to come down in California?...We never want to see another family go through the pain and suffering that we’re going through,” she added.

 

Jackie’s heart-wrenching testimony clearly struck a chord, as the bill was unanimously passed through the current committee stage.

 

Ultimately, if the bill is passed into law, it will require companies to alert the state licensing board when they are convicted of crimes in connection with their work.

 

We will keep you updated on the progress of the proposed bill.

 

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