News from the Women's Policy Institute

News from the Women's Policy Institute

In This Issue:
1. Introducing the 2009-2010 Women's Policy Institute Fellows
2. 2009 Legislative Session: Outcomes and Next Steps

Introducing the 2009-2010 Women's Policy Institute Fellows

We are thrilled to introduce the 23 outstanding women who have been selected to participate in the 2009–2010 Women’s Policy Institute. The 2009–2010 fellows will work in the areas of environmental and reproductive justice, economic justice, criminal justice and elder women’s issues. From its inception seven years ago, the Women’s Policy Institute has brought together leaders from different social justice movements to work in collaboration and examine where the movements intersect. For the first time this year, the Institute has a combined environmental justice and reproductive justice (EJ/RJ) team that will look at the linkage between the environmental justice and the reproductive justice movement. All the teams in this year’s class are in the process of developing policy projects that will advance the health, safety and economic prosperity for everyone in California

Criminal Justice Team
Terry Dodge, Crossroads, Inc.
Marci Fukuroda, Rainbow Services Ltd.
LeaJay Harper, Center for Young Women’s Development
Aaliyah Muhammad, All of Us or None
Alicia Walters, ACLU of Northern California

Economic Justice Team
Ashley Boyd, MomsRising
Jenny Chung, Insight Center for Community Economic Development
Anisha Desai, Women of Color Resource Center
Beatriz Garcia, Central Coast United for a Sustainable Economy
Hannah Hill, Women’s Foundation of California
Verna Griffin-Tabor, Center for Community Solutions

Environmental Justice & Reproductive Justice Team
Juana Rosa Cavero, Pacific Institute for Women’s Health
Kim Gilhuly, Human Impact Partners
Lucia Gonzalez-Schlosser, Dolores Huerta Foundation
Traci Townsend, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Aditi Vaidya, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy
Jocelyn Vivar, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Elder Issues Team
Julia Tal Caplan, California Senior Leaders Alliance
Elvira Castillo, Los Angeles Department of Community and Senior Services
Brooke Hollister, University of California, San Francisco
Saima Husain, South Asian Network
Jessica Jew, LA Health Action
Leane Marchese, ElderHelp

Institute fellows convened in mid-September for the first of four retreats in Sacramento. During the first retreat fellows had a chance to connect and learn about current policy issues in their issue area and begin researching potential policy projects. Institute fellows will reconvene in December to learn more about the legislative and lobbying process and promote their policy projects to garner support. 

2009 Legislative Session: Outcomes and Next Steps

This year’s legislative session was particularly challenging given the state’s budget crisis and ongoing political gridlock over how to solve it. Policy advocates had to think creatively and strategically to develop moveable pieces of legislation that were fiscally neutral yet meaningful. One-third of all legislation never passed policy committee hearings. Of the 704 bills that actually made it to the governor’s desk, only 456 were signed into law.  

Despite the odds and the threat of massive vetoes, Governor Schwarzenegger signed some groundbreaking legislation into law. The following is a summary of actions taken by the Governor on bills of relevance to the Institute community and to the Women’s Foundation of California:

  • SB 572 (Leno, D-San Francisco) proclaims May 22 as Harvey Milk Day in honor of the first openly gay legislator in California. The bill also encourages public schools to commemorate the day and honor Harvey Milk’s contributions to the fight against discrimination.
  • AB 119 (Jones, D-Sacramento) ends gender discrimination in insurance coverage by barring gender-based pricing when determining health insurance premiums. AB 119 is a positive step toward improving women’s health.
  • AB 1053 (Solorio, D-Anaheim) reduces the recidivism rate by providing reentry services to individuals exiting the juvenile justice system.
  • AB 1003 (Perez, D – Los Angeles) provides culturally-competent care to domestic violence survivors in the LGBT community. The new law will expand access to services.

Great strides were made in the 2009 legislative session, but more work is needed to create an equitable California. Through united action, community education and relationship building we can spread awareness and build momentum to enact the changes sought in the previous legislative session. The following is a list of noteworthy legislation that was vetoed by the Governor but has the potential to significantly improve the well-being of all Californians.

  • AB 324 (Beall, D-San Jose), a Women’s Policy Institute bill, would have required the State of California to use the Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) to accurately measure poverty in order to adequately plan for the needs of California’s growing aging population. The bill gained significant bipartisan support and was supported by over 100 organizations, agencies and departments.
  • AB 98 (De La Torre, D-South Gate) would have required health insurance policies to include maternity care and would have helped ensure the long-term health of families.
  • AB 382 (Ammiano, D-San Francisco) the LGBT Prisoner Safety Act required prison officials to take prisoners’ sexual orientation and gender identity into consideration when determining housing. AB 383 would have been a significant step toward promoting the safety of all inmates.
  • AB 1185 (Lieu, D-Torrance) the Equal ID Act would have codified and clarified the language and decision of the Somers v. Superior Court case which ruled it unconstitutional to deny a transgender individual born in California but residing in another state the ability to petition the court for a gender change on forms of identification.

For additional information regarding legislation affecting women and girls in California in the 2009 Legislative Session please visit the California Commission on the Status of Women at www.women.ca.gov.

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