1.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
California State University, Los Angeles
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California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university in the heart of Los Angeles, one of the 23 universities in the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 129 Bachelors degrees,112 Masters degrees,3 Doctoral degrees, Cal State LA is a Hispanic-serving institution. Cal State LA has a student body of more than 24,000 students primarily from the greater Los Angeles area, Cal State LA operated year-round on the quarter system with four quarters, each 11 weeks in duration. In fall 2016, the university converted to the system as part of a system-wide conversion of all quarter campuses. Cal State LA is organized into eight colleges that house a total of four schools and approximately 50 academic departments, divisions, Cal State LA is home to the critically acclaimed Luckman Jazz-Orchestra and a unique Early Entrance Program in the Honors College for gifted students as young as 11. U. S. News has ranked Cal State LAs undergraduate business program as one of the best in the nation, the School of Nursing is considered to be one of the best in the state of California. Classrooms are shared with Cal State LA However, LACHSA activities tend to be separate from those of the university, notable LACHSA alumni include singer Josh Groban, actress Jenna Elfman, actor/singer Corbin Bleu, and UCLA Athletics senior executive Ron Country Club Kobata. Cal State LA open a new downtown Los Angeles campus in 2016 to provide university programs, the university has signed a lease for 21,000 square feet at West 8th Street and South Grand Avenue. Cal State LA will offer undergraduate and graduate programs at the site, as well as professional development, the campus will contain 12 classrooms,2 computer labs, student lounges, student collaboration space, conference and events space, and administrative and faculty offices. The university is located on the site of one of Californias 36 original adobes, built in 1776 by Franciscan missionaries and destroyed by fire in 1908. These lands once were part of a Spanish land grant known as Rancho Rosa Castilla, given to Juan Batista Batz, the inspiration for the name of the rancho, according to local historians, was the wild roses that once grew near the ranch home. The main drive through the campus is known as Paseo Rancho Castilla, Cal State LA was founded on July 2,1947 by an act of the California legislature and opened for classes as The Los Angeles State College on the campus of Los Angeles City College. In 1949, the Los Angeles State College was reconstituted by the Legislature as The Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts, in 1972, CSCLA was awarded university status and was renamed California State University, Los Angeles. Since 1954, Cal State LA has been accredited by the Western Association of Schools, the universitys credential programs are approved by the Commission for Teacher Credentialing Committee on Accreditation. In 1968 Cal State LA established the nations first Chicano Studies department, in 1993, the CSU Chancellor and Trustees approved development of Cal State LAs Charter College of Education, creating the first such college of higher education in the nation. The original mascot of the school was the Diablo, in 1980, new university president James Rosser adopted a new mascot, Eddie the golden eagle, designed to be more reflective of the campus highly diverse community. The theme was extended to student facilities such as the student union, sept.2000 California Governor Gray Davis chooses the Cal State LA campus to hold press conference at which he signs the historic bills expanding the Cal Grant program. A Statue of Confucius, a gift of the Republic of China in Taiwan, was dedicated June 1987, the statue was moved to a new campus location in summer 2005
4.
California State Legislature
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The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U. S. state of California. It is a body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house. New legislators convene each new session, to organize, in the Assembly and Senate Chambers, respectively. Aside from the recess, the legislature is in session year-round, the Democratic Party currently holds supermajorities in both chambers of the California Legislature. The state senate currently consists of 27 Democrats and 13 Republicans, except for the period from 1995 to 1996, the Assembly has been in Democratic hands since the 1970 election. The Senate has been in Democratic hands continuously since 1970, the first Californian State House was originally a hotel in San Jose owned by businessman Pierre Don Pedro Sainsevain and his associates. The State Legislature currently meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento, members of the Assembly are elected from 80 districts and serve two-year terms. Members of the Senate are elected from forty districts and serve four-year terms, twenty Senate seats are up for election at each two-year election cycle. Term limits were established in 1990 following the passage of Proposition 140. In June 2012, voters approved Proposition 28 which allows legislators to serve a maximum of 12 years without regard to whether the years are served in the State Assembly or the State Senate. The proceedings of the California State Legislature are briefly summarized in regularly published journals, which show votes, reports produced by California executive agencies, as well as the Legislature, were published in the Appendices to the Journals from 1849 to 1970. Since the 1990s, the legislature has provided a video feed for its sessions. Due to the expense and the obvious political downside, California did not keep records of actual speeches made by members of the Assembly. As a result, reconstructing legislative intent outside of an acts preamble is extremely difficult in California for legislation passed before the 1990s. Since 1993, the Legislature has hosted a web/ftp site in one form or another, the most sought-after legislative committee appointments are to banking, agriculture and insurance. A bill is a proposal to change, repeal, or add to existing state law, an Assembly Bill is one introduced in the Assembly, a Senate Bill, in the Senate. Bills are designated by number, in the order of introduction in each house, for example, AB16 refers to the 16th bill introduced in the Assembly. The numbering starts afresh each session, there may be one or more extraordinary sessions
5.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
6.
Willie Brown (politician)
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Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served over 30 years in the California State Assembly, spending 15 years as its speaker, and later served as the 41st mayor of San Francisco, the first African American to do so. Under the current California term-limits law, no Speaker of the California State Assembly will be permitted to have a longer tenure than Browns, the San Francisco Chronicle called Brown one of San Franciscos most notable mayors who had celebrity beyond the citys boundaries. Brown was born in Mineola, Texas and graduated from Mineola Colored High School in 1951 and he moved to San Francisco in 1951, attending San Francisco State University and graduating in 1955 with a degree in liberal studies. Brown earned a J. D. from University of California and he spent several years in private practice before gaining election in his second attempt to the California Assembly in 1964. Brown became the Democrats whip in 1969 and speaker in 1980 and he was known for his ability to manage people and maintain party discipline. According to The New York Times, Brown became one of the countrys most powerful state legislators and his long tenure and powerful position were used as a focal point of Californias initiative campaign to limit the terms of state legislators, which passed in 1990. During the last of his three allowed post-initiative terms, Brown maintained control of the Assembly despite a slim Republican majority by gaining the vote of several Republicans, near the end of his final term, Brown left the legislature to become mayor of San Francisco. Brown served as San Francisco mayor from January 8,1996 until January 8,2004 and his tenure as mayor is marked by a significant increase in real estate development, public works, city beautification, and other large-scale city projects. He presided over the era at a time when San Franciscos economy was rapidly expanding. Brown presided over the city’s most diverse administration with more Asian Americans, women, Latinos, gays and he increased San Franciscos funding of Muni by tens of millions of dollars and ended the citys policy of punishing people for feeding the homeless. The SF Board of Supervisors opposed Browns agenda and some of his initiatives, in particular office, Brown was restricted by term limits from running for mayor and was succeeded by a political protege, Gavin Newsom. Brown was born in Mineola, a segregated town in east Texas marked by racial tensions, to Minnie Collins Boyd. Brown was the fourth of five children, during Browns childhood, mob violence periodically erupted in Mineola, keeping African Americans from voting. His first job was as a boy in a whites-only barber shop. He later worked as a janitor, fry cook, and field hand and he learned his work ethic at a young age from his grandmother. He graduated from MacFarland High School, a school he later described as substandard. Brown originally wanted to attend Stanford University and his interviewer from Stanford also taught at San Francisco State and was surprised by Brown’s ambition
7.
California Democratic Party
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The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of California. Headquartered in Sacramento, it is chaired by veteran Democratic politician and former United States Representative John L. Burton and it is the majority party in both chambers of the California State Legislature, i. e. the State Assembly and the Senate. In regards to businesses and economics, the California Democratic party takes a stance that protects consumers, small businesses, unions, the platform also makes a point to champion the economic reforms of President Barack Obama. The 2012 platform addresses the issues of family in several sections, the platform promises to protect seniors, children and all types of families with fair economic and social policies. These policies range from continuing Medicare for the elderly and keeping playgrounds safe for children, the platform also highlights the right of a woman to make choices for her own body and claims that healthcare is a natural right of all people. The California democrats further promise to protect the dignity of disabled citizens, the platform is dedicated to advocating for the rights of women through equal pay and affirmative action. The party prioritizes the creation of a sustainable and earth-friendly state, focus is placed on the development of alternative forms of energy and how energy is consumed. In addition, the stresses that green jobs are a solution to economic. Finally, the platform takes stances on open internet use, immigration, the Democrats of California support the right of the people to express their thoughts and ideas through any media, and their right to assemble. The party believes that laws should be fair and that immigrants should not be discriminated against. The party wishes to bring education to the forefront, aiming to turn California into a state for academic achievement. A Detailed description of the California Democratic Partys position on all of the issues can be found in their 2012 Platform document. The California Democratic Party passes multiple resolutions every year as a way of expressing their opinion to lawmakers statewide, while the partys resolutions have no legal force themselves, they are official documents that elected representatives should take into account when making decisions. A few recent resolutions are summarised below,2012 Buy American This resolution, written 18 November 2012, encourages all arms of government to favor American suppliers of goods and services. The above are three of a long list of Resolutions passed by the California Democratic Party in 2012 and in preceding years. The history of the Democratic Party of California is complex and long, the State has traded hands every few cycles since its admission into the union in 1850. At that time, the state was firmly in the hands of the Democratic Party, until the early 1880s after the Republican Party abolished slavery, the Republicans held the state through the power and influence of railroad men. The Democratic Party responded by taking an anti-corporate, anti freedom of attainment position, in 1894, Democrat James Budd was elected to the governorship, and the Democratic Party attempted to make good on their promises to reform the booming railroad industry
8.
Diane Watson
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Diane Edith Watson is a former US Representative for Californias 33rd congressional district, serving from 2003 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party, the district is located entirely in Los Angeles County and includes much of Central Los Angeles, as well as such wealthy neighborhoods as Los Feliz. A native of Los Angeles, Watson is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles and she worked as a psychologist, professor, and health occupation specialist before serving as a member of the Los Angeles Unified School Board. She was a member of the California Senate from 1978 to 1998, Watson was elected to Congress in a 2001 special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Julian C. She was re-elected four times, but retired after the end of the 111th Congress, born in Los Angeles, California, Watson was raised Catholic. According to a DNA analysis, some of her ancestors were from the Central African Republic and she was educated at Dorsey High School, Los Angeles City College and the University of California, Los Angeles, where she earned her BA in Education. Watson became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha and she earned an MS from California State University, Los Angeles in School Psychology and a PhD in Educational Administration from Claremont Graduate University in 1987. She also attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Watson taught elementary school and was a school psychologist in the Los Angeles public schools. She has lectured at California State University, Long Beach and California State University and she was a health occupation specialist with the California Department of Educations Bureau of Industrial Education. Watson was elected to the California State Senate from 1978 to 1998, the longtime chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, she gained a reputation as an advocate for health care for the poor and children. Term limited, she was replaced by Kevin Murray and they feared massive defection from the African American self-designation. In 1992, Watson ran for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, after a hard-fought campaign that often turned negative, Watson narrowly lost to former Supervisor Yvonne Burke, who was supported by US Representative Maxine Waters. President Bill Clinton appointed her United States Ambassador to Micronesia in 1999. S, Watson opposed the Bush tax cuts, saying they were unaffordable. She was one of the 31 members of the House who voted not to count the votes from Ohio in the United States presidential election,2004. In 2006, the National Journal ranked Watson as the most liberal member of Congress, on the issue of Cherokee Freedmen membership in the Cherokee tribe, Watson noted that 20,000 Cherokee lived in California. She opposed the Cherokee Nations March 2007 vote to amend its constitution to limit membership to only those descendants with at least one Indian ancestor on the Dawes Roll. Appeals to the Cherokee Nations position were pending, in part because the tribe excluded descendants of Cherokee freedmen and intermarried whites from voting on the amendment. In June 2007 Watson introduced a bill to sever US relations with the tribe, in the 2008 Democratic primary, Watsons district went overwhelmingly for Illinois Senator Barack Obama by a margin of 61-29
9.
Gary Condit
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Gary Adrian Condit is a former politician and member of the Democratic Party who served in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003. Condit holds a B. B. A from the USC Marshall School of Business, Condit originally represented Californias 15th congressional district, and then later Californias 18th congressional district after redistricting following the 1990 census. Condit gained significant national attention for an affair with intern Chandra Levy. Condit was not candid and forthcoming with investigators about his relationship with Levy, Condit lost the 2002 Democratic primary based in large part on negative publicity from the scandal. Prosecutors later convicted an illegal immigrant and Mara Salvatrucha member, Ingmar Guandique, Condit began his career on the city council of Ceres, California, near Modesto, from 1972 to 1976—the last two years as mayor. He served on the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors from 1976 to 1982, and was elected to the California State Assembly in 1982. In 1988, Condit was a member of the Gang of Five with Charles M. Calderon of Whittier, Gerald R. Eaves of Rialto, Rusty Areias of Los Banos and Steve Peace of Chula Vista. The group tried and failed to unseat Willie Brown, who was serving as Speaker of the Assembly of the California State Assembly at the time, Condit was elected to Congress in 1989 in a special election, after House Democratic Whip Tony Coelho resigned. He was elected to a term in 1990, and reelected five more times without serious difficulty. The Republicans didnt even put up a candidate in 1992 and 1998 and his most important committee assignment was as a senior member on the House Intelligence Committee in the months and years prior to the September 11 attacks. Like most Democrats from the Central Valley, Condit was somewhat more conservative than other Democrats from California, a Blue Dog Democrat, Condit voted against President Bill Clinton more frequently than all Congressional Democrats. Following the September 11,2001 attacks, interest in the Levy case declined, on December 7,2001, Condit announced he would run for re-election. He lost the Democratic primary election in March 2002 to his aide, then-Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza. Condits most notable vote in his last months in office was the resolution to expel Congressman James Traficant after his conviction on corruption charges, in the 420–1 vote on July 24,2002, Condit was the sole nay. In 2001, Condit became the subject of news coverage after the disappearance of Chandra Levy. Police questioned Condit two times, and both times he denied having an affair with her, however, Levys aunt eventually went public with conversations she had with her about their relationship, police questioned Condit a third time, and he confessed to the relationship. When the affair began, Condit was 53 and Levy was 23, while Condit was not named as an official suspect in the disappearance, Levys family suspected that Condit was withholding important information about her disappearance. This followed news reports that Condit had an affair with a flight attendant, because of the Levy scandal, Condit was portrayed on an episode of South Park where he was considered responsible for the disappearance of Chandra Levy. C
10.
Montebello, California
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Montebello is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the southwestern area of the San Gabriel Valley on 8.4 sq mi 8 mi east of downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities, and is a member of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, in the early 20th century, Montebello was a well-known source for oil reserves. At the 2010 census, the population was 62,500, the estimated population as of July 1,2013 was 63,495. Before the arrival of the Spaniards in the area today as Montebello. Because the language of the Tongva was different from the tribes it was called Gabrielino by the Spanish. As more non-natives arrived and settlements were established, illness and disease came with them, by 1870, the area had few remaining indigenous inhabitants as disease brought by the Europeans killed many of the Tongva. The establishment of the mission marked the beginning of the Los Angeles regions settlement by Spaniards, the mission did well initially as a farm and cattle ranch. Six years after its founding, however, a destructive flood led the mission fathers to relocate the establishment farther north, the original mission site is now memorialized as California Historical Landmark #158. During the early years of the existence, the region operated under a Rancho land grant system. The current city of Montebello consists of land from Rancho San Antonio, Rancho La Merced, the Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe, built in 1844, still stands at the center of old Rancho la Merced in East Montebello. Recently restored, Rancho la Merced is the citys oldest standing structure, on January 8,1847, the Battle of Rio San Gabriel took place in what are today parts of the cities of Whittier, Pico Rivera and Montebello. Today the site is California State Historical Landmark #385, and there are two cannons and a plaque commemorating the battle that overlook the river on Bluff Road and Washington Boulevard. Following the American Civil War, some 5,000 acres of the East Los Angeles area was owned by Alessandro Repetto, an Italian immigrant settler from Genoa, Italy. The land was divided among the partners, one large parcel of approximately 2,000 acres going to a partnership of Newmark and his nephew. It was out of the Newmark and Cohn share of 1,200 acres that city Montebello had its beginnings in May 1899, after receiving the advice of hydraulic engineer William Mulholland for the drafting and building of the towns water system, the land was subdivided. In 1900 the completed water system was incorporated as the Montebello Land, the remainder of the land was subdivided into 5 acres lots suitable for small-scale agriculture. On Mulhollands suggestion, Montebello was adopted as the citys name, originally an agricultural community, Montebello was formerly known for its prolific production of flowers, berries, fruits, and vegetables. The first public show was sponsored by the Montebello Women’s Club
11.
California State Assembly
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The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. It consists of 80 members, with each member representing at least 465,000 people, members of the assembly are generally referred to using the titles assemblyman, assemblywoman, or assemblymember. The State Assembly convenes at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, in the current session, the Democrats control 55 seats, forming a supermajority of the chamber. The Speaker presides over the State Assembly in the leadership position, controlling the flow of legislation. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus, followed by confirmation of the full assembly, other leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses according to each partys strength in the chamber. The current Speaker is Democrat Anthony Rendon, the majority leader is Democrat Ian Calderon, while the minority leader is Republican Chad Mayes. The chambers green tones are based on the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, the dais rests along a wall shaped like an E, with its central projection housing the rostrum. Along the cornice appears a portrait of Abraham Lincoln and a Latin quotation, almost every decorating element is identical to the Senate Chamber. According to Article 4, Section 2 of the California Constitution, the Chief Clerk, the Sergeant-at-Arms, and the Chaplain are not members of the Legislature. The Sergeant-at-Arms protects the members of the California State Assembly and this position has existed since December 15,1849, when Samuel N. Houston became the Assemblys first Sergeant-at-Arms. The Chief Clerk, the acting Chief Sergeant-at-Arms, and the Chaplains are not members of the Legislature
12.
Cristina Garcia (politician)
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Cristina Garcia is an American politician serving in the California State Assembly. She is a Democrat representing the 58th Assembly District, which parts of southeastern Los Angeles County. Garcia is the incumbent Chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus, and she also serves as a Commissioner on the State Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. She is also a member of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, before being elected to the Assembly in 2012, Garcia helped to form the local advocacy organization Bell Association to Stop the Abuse in response to the City of Bell corruption scandal. Garcia served as Assistant Majority Floor Leader from 2014 to 2016, as a legislator, with suspicions of corruption about the state Capitol, Garcia introduced an ethics and transparency package of bills, the Political Conduct, Ethics and Public Trust Acts of 2014. Governor Jerry Brown signed five of her reform measures into law, AB1673 - Eliminating Influence Peddling, AB1666 - Penalties & Bribes, would double the existing restitution fines amounts and prohibit the use of campaign funds to pay a restitution fine under this section. AB1692 - Personal Use of Campaign Funds, to prevent campaign funds from being used to pay for fines that are the result of abuse of personal use of campaign funds laws. AB1596 - Vote by Mail, require all vote-by-mail applications, AB1596 was Assemblymember Garcia’s “There Ought to be a Law” contest winner in 2014. AB2040 - Detailed Disclosure of Government Compensation, requires salary details to be disclosed on the local government websites. Garcia also advocates on issues concerning Women and Children, Garcia launched her Young Legislator’s program in 2014 to mentor high school students in her district to become legislators. Members are given hands-on experience, working within their communities, as they participate in events hosted by Garcia’s district office. She introduced AB256, on Cyber-Bullying, which became law in 2013, Garcia lives in the Southeast Los Angeles community of Bell Gardens, where she was raised and attended public schools. She went on to earn a degree from Pomona College, a masters degree
