Carol Liu

Carol Liu
劉璿卿
Member of the California State Senate
from the 25th district
21st district (2008–2012)
Assumed office
December 1, 2008
Preceded by Jack Scott
Succeeded by Anthony Portantino
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 44th district
In office
December 4, 2000 – December 4, 2006
Preceded by Jack Scott
Succeeded by Anthony J. Portantino
Personal details
Born (1941-09-12) September 12, 1941
Berkeley, California
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Michael Peevey
Children Darcie
Maria
Jared
Residence La Cañada Flintridge, California
Alma mater San Jose State University (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (MA)
Profession Teacher

Carol Liu (Chinese: 劉璿卿; pinyin: Liú Xuánqīng; born September 12, 1941) is an American politician who is currently serving in the California State Senate. A Democrat, she represents Senate District 25, which includes portions of the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys.

Before being elected to the State Senate, Liu served in the State Assembly representing the 44th Assembly District until 2006. In 2008, Liu was elected to succeed the termed-out Jack Scott in the State Senate.

25th State Senate district

Senator Carol Liu represents the 25th State Senate District, located in the San Gabriel Mountains, northern San Gabriel Valley, Crescenta Valley, and eastern San Fernando Valley, within Los Angeles County, California.
The 25th District includes:

Senate Focus Areas

Senator Liu established GREEN21, an environmental sustainability program designed to reduce the 25th Senate District’s carbon footprint and develop a sustainable regional economy for the 21st Century.

She also created the Pathways program to simplify access to services for low-income residents to meet their needs for food, housing, healthcare, education and employment.

Senator Liu's efforts as Chair of the Senate Education Committee include a focus on Community Schools strategies, which align the resources of an entire community to support student success and strengthen families and schools.

Legislation

Among her major accomplishments in the Senate has been the enactment of Senate Bill 110, the Crime Victims with Disabilities Act of 2010. Passed unanimously by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the bill assures that abuse and neglect of people with disabilities and elders are treated as crimes. All of Senator Liu's proposed and enacted legislation can be viewed on her official website.

Senator Liu authored SB 64 (2015) to require the California Transportation Commission to review updates to the California Transportation Plan and prepare recommendations to improve the statewide integrated multi-modal transportation system. These changes will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase sustainability, and help prepare the state transportation system to deal with long-term climate change. This bill is part of the Senate's California Climate Leadership Package, and is a follow-up to SB 391 (Liu, 2009).

Senator Liu's SB 42 (2015) – Postsecondary Education Goals bill coordinates California's Higher Education segments (U.C. and C.S.U.).

Her California Earned Income Tax Credit SB 38 (2015) bill creates a California Working Family Tax Credit equal to 15% of the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit. This credit will strengthen the economic standing of families across California and make work pay for those in low wage jobs.

Senator Liu voted in favor of California Senate Constitutional Amendment No.5.[1][2] The proposed bill would have asked California voters to consider repealing provisions of Proposition 209, thus permitting state universities to consider an applicant's race, ethnicity or national origin in making admissions decisions. The proposed amendment resulted in controversy. In a Facebook response,[3] Liu indicated that California Proposition 209 set "outdated barriers" to groups of "underrepresented students eligible for U.C. and C.S.U." and that their enrollment "has not kept pace with the proportion of the high school graduating class they now represent." Senator Liu, along with former Senators Leland Yee and Ted Lieu, who had also voted for the bill, ultimately issued a joint statement calling for the bill to be withheld pending further consultations with the "affected communities."[4]

Early life and career

Liu was born in 1941 in Berkeley, California. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from San Jose State University and her teaching credentials from UC Berkeley, Liu taught junior high and senior high school-level history in the San Francisco Bay Area cities of Richmond and El Cerrito, California from 1964 until 1978. She also served as executive director of the Richmond Federation of Teachers from 1975 to 1978. Liu served as a school administrator from 1978 until 1984.

Political career

Before serving in the Senate, Liu served in the State Assembly. Prior to the Assembly, Liu served on the city council of La Cañada Flintridge, a small city in the Cresenta Valley near Pasadena, from 1992 until 2000, including two terms as its mayor.

In the 2008 primary election for the California Senate seat, she initially faced opposition from former Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer. However, Frommer decided to drop out before the election.

Personal life

Liu is married to Michael Peevey, who was appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission by Governor Gray Davis, and later was named president of the Commission by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, where he served until retiring in 2014.

They have three children and four grandchildren.

References

  1. ↑ "Bill documents". Retrieved 30 Jan 2014.
  2. ↑ "Prop 209 changes spark protests" China Daily USA 2014-02-28
  3. ↑ "Senator Liu on Facebook".
  4. ↑ André Coleman & Kevin Uhrich, "A Giant Awakens" Pasadena Weekly Mar. 12, 2014

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.