Last week, Blue America endorsed Cristina Garcia for the seat to represent SELA and Long Beach (CA-42). I alerted some of the members of Congress who I thought would be most interested in Cristina's aggressive progressive politics.
Many of them weren't. They had already been contacted by Robert Garcia's sleazy campaign spreading his sewer garbage about her. Robert is the mayor of Long Beach and although he recently switched parties and now claims to be some kind of Democrat, he's still a conservative Republican at heart, and helping him get elected is no different than it was when Schumer and EMILY's List persuaded an impressive gaggle of Senate Dems to endorse Kyrsten Sinema in her Senate primary, despite the fact that she was head of the Blue Dogs and had the worst voting record of any Democrat in Congress. Does Cory Booker feel responsible for what Sinema did Wednesday night? How about Kamala Harris-- how does she feel about the stab in the back? Do Amy Klobuchar, Dick Durbin, Mazie Hirono, Tammy Duckworth, Kirsten Gillibrand and the rest of them feel that they put Sinema in the position she was in to wreck the Democrats' agenda? There's no accountability. I doubt any of them remember that they helped Schumer clear the field so that no other Democrat would run. Brian Schatz refused to endorse her until after the primary when she had to face a Republican. Why did Cory Booker and Kamala Harris and Patty Murray feel it was so urgent to endorse her before the primary. Did they even bother to look at her record? Dod they even realize what a monster they were helping get into the Senate?
I doubt Robert Garcia will be as bad as Sinema... but he may be; he's that kind of out-for-himself politician. He'll certainly be a bad member of Congress and all the members who are listening to his lies about Cristina will be called on the carpet for helping him the first time he makes a Sinema-like move if he gets elected.
He's openly gay and one of the smears his team is spreading about Cristina is that she's anti-gay, a complete lie. The video up top was made by Assemblymember Evan Low and State Senator Susan Eggman, Chair and Vice Chair respectively of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus. They work closely with Cristina on LBGTQ issues. "There was no greater ally to work with than Cristina Garcia." Just listen to what they have to say about her: "Any time that we have a hard bill and we need votes that are not easy to find, we know who we can turn to to help us to overturn every rock to find every vote and that's Cristina Garcia.
Below are bills just in the last couple of years that Cristina either wrote, co-sponsored or was instrumental in getting passed for the LGBTQ community. Mayor Robert can spread his poison all he wants but Cristina's record stands on its own. Please consider contributing to her campaign here.
SB 145 (Wiener) Sex Offender Registry Update:
RE sex offender registry reform, but I helped whip votes, voted for it and it passed off the Assembly Floor. 41 Ayes, 25 Noes, 13 Abstained.
The bill was held at the Senate Desk.
Status of bill: signed into law by Governor Newsom. SB 145 ends blatant discrimination against young people engaged in voluntary sexual activity by providing courts the discretion to decide, at sentencing, if registering the defendant as a sex offenders is appropriate, regardless of the sex act they performed. Specifically, the bill exempts a person convicted of non-forcible voluntary sodomy with a minor, oral copulation with a minor or sexual penetration with a minor, as specified, from having to automatically register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registry Act (SORA) if the person was not more than ten years older than the minor at the time of the offense and the conviction is the only one requiring the person to register.
Safe & Supportive Schools Budget Proposal for 2021-22 FY:
As a Member of the budget committee, I supported/coauthored trailer bill language RE school support for LGBTQ/vulnerable student populations
Status of budget proposal: Included in final budget passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Newsom. EQCA priority budget proposal requests funds to promote the creation of an online training on school site and community resources for the support of LGBTQ+ pupils and strategies to increase support for LGBTQ+ pupils and thereby improve overall school climate. The training will be designed for use by teachers and other certificated employees in schools operated by a school district or county office of education and charter schools. This funding would continue California’s leadership in supporting safe and supportive school environments for LGBTQ+ youth.
SB 379 (Wiener, C. Garcia, Low) Equitable and Inclusive UC Healthcare Act: Status: Passed by Senate Education Committee 5-2. Passed by Senate Health Committee 9-2. Converted to a 2-year bill, eligible for consideration in January 2022. SB 379 ensures that University of California Health System (UC Health) contracts with healthcare facilities that allow UC staff practicing in those facilities to provide a full range of healthcare services, including reproductive and gender-affirming care. The University of California — like the State of California — has been a leader in protecting comprehensive reproductive and LGBTQ-inclusive care. But UC Health has entered into contracts with healthcare facilities that subject its providers to dangerous restrictions on comprehensive reproductive and LGBTQ-inclusive care. These types of harmful, non-clinical restrictions on care disproportionately impact patients of color and patients with low incomes, who already face tremendous barriers in our healthcare system.
SB 357 (Wiener) The Safer Streets for All Act:
SB 357 Assembly Floor vote: 41 Ayes, 29 Noes, 10 Abstained. I voted for it and whipped votes for it on Asm floor
Status: pulled from engrossment and enrollment and returned to the Senate Desk; the bill was held at the Senate Desk. Senate Bill 357 repeals provisions of the law that criminalize loitering for the intent to engage in sex work. This misdemeanor crime has failed to protect public safety, in addition to contributing to the discrimination on the basis of gender, race, class and perceived sex worker status – in particular, targeting Black women and members of the transgender community. This bill does not decriminalize soliciting or engaging in sex work. SB 357 simply eliminates an anti-loitering offense that results in the legal harassment of LGTBQ+, Black, and Brown communities for simply existing and looking like a “sex worker” to law enforcement. Due to the broad subjective nature of the language that criminalizes loitering for the intent to engage in sex work, this offense permits law enforcement to stop and arrest people for discriminatory reasons, such as wearing revealing clothing while walking in an area where sex work has occurred before. The creation and enactment of this offense began to cause more harm than help, because of the power it gave law enforcement to profile, target, harass, and criminalize without accountability, and the consequences of criminalization on the livelihood and safety of specifically targeted communities. Furthermore, anyone that is arrested and cited for this offense may have difficult securing employment and safe housing due to having an arrest record relating to sex work.
Summary of AB 1145: Mandated Reporter Bill – Signed into Law: Chaptered September 26, 2020:
AB 1145 (C. Garcia): Specifies that “sexual assault” for purposes of reporting incidents of abuse under the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) does not include voluntary sodomy, oral copulation, or sexual penetration, if there are no indicators of abuse, unless the conduct is between a person who is 21 years of age or older and a minor who is under 16 years of age. AB 1145 simply makes sure that when it comes to reporting voluntary acts of sexual conduct that all types of sexual conduct get the same treatment. Clearing up the contradictions and inconsistencies will allow mandated reporters to better protect teens and better identify cases where there is non-voluntary behavior.
AB 1084 (Low & C. Garcia): Gender Neutral Retail Spaces – Signed in Law: Chaptered October 9, 2021:
AB 1084 (Low & C. Garcia): Gender Neutral Retail Spaces: Status of bill: signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 9, 2021. AB 1084 requires a retail department store with 500 or more employees that sells childcare items or toys to maintain a gender neutral section or area.
You can click on Cristina's image and contribute to campaign:
