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The Women's Foundation of California thanks the speakers, advisers, and allies who helped make the 2008-2009 Women's Policy Institute such a success!
Women's Policy Institute Director
Marj Plumb, Plumbline Coaching and Consulting, Inc.
Elected Officials
Assemblymember Lori Saldaña
Assemblymember Jim Beall
Assemblymember John Pérez
Senator Carol Liu
Senator Dean Florez
Mentors
Chione Flegal, PolicyLink
Karen Shain, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Michael Herald, Western Center on Law and Poverty
Rocio Cordoba, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
Jennifer Brooks, CFED
Liz Guillen, Public Advocates, Inc.
Kathy Mossburg, Kathleen Mossburg & Associates
Special Advisers & Allies
Mary Wiberg, California Commission on the Status of Women
Nicole Vasquez, Assembly Budget Committee
Elmy Bermejo, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality and California Commission on the Status of Women
Kim Tran, Office of Assemblymember Jim Beall
Frances Chacon, Office of Assemblymember Jim Beall
Andrea Lane, Office of Senator Carol Liu
Allison Ruff, Aging and Long Term Care Assembly Committee
Marisol Franco, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
LeaJay Harper, Center for Young Women’s Development
Marlene Sanchez, Center for Young Women’s Development
Steven Meinrath, Senate Public Safety Committee
Robert Oakes, Office of Senator Carol Liu
Jessica Flintoft, San Francisco Safe Communities Reentry Council
Jessica Fields, San Francisco State University
Colin Grinnell, Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation
Lenny Goldberg, California Tax Reform Association
Barry Broad, Broad & Gusman, LLP
Julian Gross, Partnership for Working Families
Speakers
Lora Connolly, California Department of Aging
Jane Williams, California Communities Against Toxics
Sumayyah Waheed, Books Not Bars
Fabiola Lao, Breast Cancer Fund
Shannan Farley, Spark
Sue Castagnetto, Women and Criminal Justice Network
Cathy Senderling, Child Welfare Directors Association
Mónica Henestroza, Public Advocates, Inc.
Martha Zaragoza-Diaz, Californians Together Coalition
Beth Graybill, Senate Education Committee
Mufaddal Ezzy, Senator Darrell Steinberg’s Office
Kip Lipper, Senator Don Perata’s Office
Debbie Davis, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Martha Arguello, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Rene Guerrero, Planning and Conservation League
Destiny Lopez, ACCESS
Bonnie Chan, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
Rebecca Gudeman de Ortiz, National Center for Youth Law
Robin Levi, Justice NOW
Jeanine Hays, Family Violence Prevention Fund
Ann Marie Benitez, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Charlotte Newhart, Newhart & Associates
Valerie Small Navarro, ACLU Legislative Office
Beth McGovern, California Commission on the Status of Women
Melanie Moreno, Senate Health Committee
Ginni Bella, Legislative Analyst’s Office
Gary Passmore, California Congressional of Seniors
Allison Ruff, Assemblymember Patty Berg’s Office
Jean Paul Buchanan, Senate Select Committee on Aging
Awet Kidane, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass
Olivia Calderon, New America Foundation
Kay Fernandez Smith, PolicyLink
Paul Leonard, Center for Responsible Lending
Claudia Viek, CAMEO
Donne Brownsey, Sacramento Advocates, Inc.
Diane Fishburn, Olson, Hagel & Fishburn LLP
Angela Gilliard, Western Center on Law and Poverty
Robbie Gonzalez Dow, California WIC Association
May Lee, Asian Resources
Nayantara Mehta, Alliance for Justice
Marilyn Bamford, FamiliesFirst
Rebecca Farmer
Wendy Rae Hill, National Associate of Social Workers
Jean Ross, California Budget Project
Julie Salley-Gray
Linda Budge, Geometra Planning & Permitting
Jennifer Kent, Governors Office
Rachel Michelin, California Women Lead
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2008-2009 Women's Policy Institute Fellows
We are pleased to announce the selection of thirty-two outstanding women working in environmental health, reproductive justice, economic and educational justice, criminal justice and elder women's issues from all over California for the 2008–2009 Women's Policy Institute.
Cynthia Banks, LA County Community Senior Services
Claudia Bonilla-Haas, San Francisco Unified School District
Corrin Buchanan, San Francisco Women's Centers
Erin Cassard Schultz, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at UCSF
Sunaena Chhatry, Earned Assets Resource Network
Barbara Clifford, California Health Collaborative- Chico
Denise Coleman, Huckleberry Youth Programs
Hamdiya Cooks, All of Us or None
Tina Cosentino, Californians for Pesticide Reform
Noor Dawood, Prison Law Office
Connie Galambos Malloy, Urban Habitat
Farideh Hatami, The California Endowment-Los Angeles
Anne Im, Asian Americans for Community Involvement
Kimberly Irish, Law Students for Reproductive Justice
Karuna Jaggar, Women's Initiative for Self Employment
Tina Ling, Asian Law Caucus
Suguet Lopez, Lideres Campesinas
Monica Martinez, Downtown Women's Center
Pilar Mendoza, The Advancement Project
Diana Ramos, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
Karla Rodriguez, Women's Foundation of California
Jessie Ryan, Campaign for College Opportunity
Phoebe Seaton, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Daniela Simunovic, Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment
Susie Smith, Insight Center for Community Economic Development
Victoria Tolbert, Alameda County Dept of Adult and Aging Services
Kristina Wertz, Transgender Law Center
Shanell Williams, Center for Young Women's Development
Anna Wong, Community Works
Nancy Wong, San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center
Lola Young, California Senior Legislature
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The 2008-2009 Women's Policy Institute fellows have completed the training portion of the program, but their policy work is far from over. Take a moment to learn the status of each team's bill.
Reproductive Justice Team
SB 134 (Liu, D – Pasadena) ‘Increasing Communication Between Incarcerated Adolescents and Their Children' will improve the ability of incarcerated youth to parent their children. SB 134 will allow young parents to communicate over the phone and in writing not only with their child but also with their child’s caregivers, social worker, teacher, physician or any other person involved in their child’s upbringing so they can also be involved in their child’s upbringing. This bill will also encourage state detention facilities and local county juvenile detention facilities to provide opportunities for meaningful contact between incarcerated youth and their children in order to maintain the parent-child bond, minimize any negative impact incarceration will have on the young parent and child, improve opportunities for successful re-integration, and reduce the need for foster care.
UPDATE: Advocates and lawmakers have switched gears and are working behind the scenes in collaboration with the relevant state departments and agencies to accomplish the intent of the bill through administrative changes. If necessary, the bill may continue in the legislative process in 2010.
Environmental Justice Team
SB 194 (Florez, D – Shafter) ‘The Community Equity Investment Act of 2009’ will ensure equitable investment by directing new and existing funds to the poorest communities in our state. Over 1.5 million Californians live in disadvantaged, unincorporated communities, lacking basic infrastructure and services such as: safe drinking water, sidewalks, adequate waste-water disposal systems, streets and street lights, parks, adequate housing, and public transit. In addition to directing public funds to these communities, SB 194 will create incentives for cities and counties to develop and implement a plan to ensure that residents of disadvantaged, unincorporated communities within their boundaries enjoy basic infrastructure and services.
UPDATE: SB 194 passed through the Senate Local Government Committee and was referred to the Senate Committee on Rules on May 4th, 2009. Date of the next hearing is TBD.
Elder Issues Team
AB 324 (Beall, D – San Jose) ‘Elder Economic Dignity Act of 2009’ would require the State of California to use of the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index) to provide a better measure of poverty to plan for the needs of California’s growing aging population. The Elder Index is a new tool that accurately quantifies the annual cost of meeting basic needs for retired, older adults in each California County. AB 324 will help State and Counties gather more effective information about the needs of seniors and allow better prioritization of services, community planning and advocacy. AJR 6, a separate Resolution, urges Congress and the President to modernize the Federal Poverty Guidelines to reflect what it actually costs to survive in each state and county of the United States.
UPDATE: AB 324 passed the Committee on Aging and Long Term Care on April 22, 2009 and was referred to the Assembly Appropriation Committee. The bill was heard in appropriation on May 6th and placed on hold or "suspense" until the committee has assessed the fiscal impact of all Assembly bills still moving through the process.
AJR 6 (Beall, D - San Jose) 'Elder Economic Dignity Act of 2009' calls on President Obama and Congress to ensure that the United States is working to achieve the economic security of the aging population in California and beyond by modernizing the way in which poverty among seniors is calculated.
UPDATE: AJR6 passed unanimously out of the Assembly Aging and Long Term Care Committee and passed by a wide margin ont the Assembly floor. The resolution will be heard in senate committee at a future date.
Criminal Justice Team
SB 153 (Liu, D – Pasadena) ‘Safe and Sensible Release Times Act of 2009’ will require that people are released from jail at a time of day when they have increased access to services that are critical to their success on the outside, such as transportation, housing, health care, reentry facilities, and substance abuse treatment. Upon completion of sentenced time served, SB 153 will require that individuals be released from jails between 6am and 6pm. It will also require that same-day court ordered releases be completed by 8pm. SB 153 is a common sense measure that will increase public safety for all members of our communities.
UPDATE: SB 153 is now a 2 year bill. Advocates are working with Senator Liu's office and may hold an informational hearing in the fall to educate legislators about the ongoing dangers of releasing people, especially women, from jails late at night. The bill will continue in the legislative process in 2010.
Education Team
AB 440 (Beall, D – San Jose) ‘College Student Success Act of 2009’ will ensure that community college students who meet the general education requirements to transfer to a four-year university are eligible to receive an Associate of Arts degree in recognition of their achievement. Many transfer students leave the community college system with nothing to show for their work and should they experience interruptions on their path to obtain a Bachelor's degree find themselves far less marketable in a competitive California economy. Moreover, it is often low-income students, students of color, and women who face the most obstacles on their path to obtain a degree. These students deserve a benchmark of their hard-earned success.
UPDATE: AB440 passed the Assembly Committee on Higher Education on May 6, 2009. The next hearing is TBD.
Economic Justice Team
AB 1139 (Pérez D – Los Angeles) would amend existing Enterprise Zone legislation to ensure that those most in need have access to jobs, hiring tax credits promote employee retention, and employers are incentivized to provide health benefits. The bill is intended to revive California's communities that have been hardest hit by the economic crisis. AB 1139 is sponsored by the Teamsters and Longshoremen unions.
UPDATE: AB 1139 was heard in the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy on April 29, 2009. Advocates and lawmakers will hold regional meetings to mobilize advocacy efforts and build broad support to move the bill forward in 2010.
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