Talk:Lorena Gonzalez (California politician)/Archive 1

Bio info
Alma Mater: Stanford University, Georgetown University, UCLA Profession: Should Secretary-Treasurer of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council be previous profession? (January 2008 - May 2013)

Edited bio from official: http://asmdc.org/members/a80/about/biography

Lorena Gonzalez is the daughter of an immigrant farmworker and a nurse. She attended public schools in San Diego County before earning a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a master’s degree from Georgetown University, and a Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law.

Gonzalez worked as the Senior Advisor to former California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, where she served as his appointee to the California State Lands Commission and as an alternate on the California Coastal Commission. From January 2008 until May of 2013, she served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO, a non-profit labor advocacy organization that represented more than 200,000 local workers in 135 affiliated unions and worker centers. Lorena became the first woman and person of color to be elected to head the Labor Council since the organization was founded in 1891.

A single mom, Lorena has two children - Tierra and Antonio - and lives in the city of San Diego.

Special Election
Gonzalez was elected to the 80th District in a special election held May 21, 2013. She defeated former Chula Vista Councilmember Steve Castaneda with 70.75% of the vote. http://www.sdvote.com/voters/Eng/archive/201305bull.pdf

Committee Assignments
Gonzalez serves on the Assembly’s Committees on Education; Health; Rules; Insurance; and Water, Parks & Wildlife. She is also the first Chair of the Select Committee on Women in the Workplace. http://asmdc.org/members/a80/committees http://asmdc.org/members/a80/news-room/press-releases/speaker-john-a-perez-creates-select-committee-on-women-in-the-workplace-names-assemblymember-lorena-gonzalez-as-chair

After joining the Legislature in the middle of its 2013 session, Lorena authored two bills that empowered California’s immigrants by providing them safeguards against immigration fraud (AB 1159), and allowing qualified DREAMers who pass the State Bar exam to practice law, regardless of their immigration status (AB 1024). http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB1159 http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB1024

AB 1522
In January 2014, Gonzalez introduced AB 1522, calling for earned, paid sick leave for all California workers. The final version of the bill provides paid sick days for all private sector California workers who are not otherwise covered by a collective bargaining agreement, covering an estimated 6.5 million people. http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article2609216.html

AB 1522 passed the California State Senate on August 29, 2014 and the California Assembly on August 30, 2014, was signed into law by the Governor on September 10, 2014, and takes effect on July 1, 2015. California became the second state (after Connecticut) to pass paid sick legislation. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-brown-paid-sick-leave-20140911-story.html http://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/wgwkstnd/sickleave.htm

Assemblywoman Gonzalez also had a number of other bills passed into law during the 2014 legislative session. It includes the 'VOTE Act' (AB 1873) creating a San Diego County pilot project to provide all special election voters with postage-paid mail ballots and early voting opportunities, and bills allowing homeowners to install drought-resistant landscaping without potentially facing fines from their home owner's association (AB 2104), streamlining the Medi-Cal approval process for community clinics (AB 2051), protecting seniors during the investment process (AB 2347), and requiring training and education programs to address workplace bullying (AB 2053).

She also authored a successful resolution (AJR 49) urging President Obama to take executive action to suspend any further deportations of legalization-eligible individuals with no serious criminal history. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/sep/26/brown-signs-mail-ballot-election-bill/ http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/sep/18/hoa-drought-lawns-water-ab2104-gonzalez/ http://www.californiahealthline.org/capitol-desk/2014/9/new-law-to-shorten-application-process-for-community-clinic-startups http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB2347 http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB2053 http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AJR49

Lucasoconnor (talk) 00:10, 28 October 2014 (UTC)