House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) this week announced the formation of a new working group for Democratic Members who represent districts with large Hispanic populations.

[IMGCAP(1)] The Hispanic Working Group will coordinate message delivery and public policy strategies on core Hispanic issues. The group, which mirrors Pelosi’s African American Working Group, will bring together the Congressional Hispanic Caucus with non-Hispanic Members representing significant Hispanic constituencies.

Democratic Caucus Chairman Bob Menendez (N.J.) will chair the new organization, while Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (Texas), chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, will serve as vice chairman.

Buckle Up. The Capitol Police may soon be able to ticket motorists violating D.C. traffic laws on the Capitol campus.

A task force is reviewing the department’s traffic regulations, which once mirrored the Metropolitan Police Department’s, but have not been updated since 1983.

Currently, Capitol Police officers lack authority to enforce city laws governing seat-belt use and child safety during routine traffic stops.

Capitol Police Labor Committee Chairman Mike DeCarlo noted that he recently had to contact a city officer to issue a ticket to a motorist for violating child-safety regulations.

“I couldn’t write [the driver] a ticket for not having a child in a safety seat,” he said.

— Erin P. Billings and Jennifer Yachnin