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At the March 31, 2022, General meeting of the La Palma-Cerritos Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) at the Cerritos Library, guest speaker Assemblymember Cristina Garcia talked about ending her service as a California State Assemblymember. She will have served as Assemblymember for 10 years from November of 2012 until December 5, 2022. She said that she started her career as a teacher and a librarian. She was always interested in being of service, and other teachers encouraged her to be of service to the community.
Assemblymember Garcia said she was proud of serving on the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, which consists of 38 women members of the California Senate and Assembly. Working together, she and the Women’s Caucus helped to pass 13 bills for more equity for women and girls. She and the Women’s Caucus helped to get rid of a tax on feminine hygiene products, and made sure the restrooms in all middle schools, high schools and colleges have feminine hygiene product dispensers available. She also made sure that Food Banks also distribute feminine hygiene products.
Another issue that Garcia worked on was getting a bill passed to make stalking illegal and a felony. Prior to this bill, a person had to go to Civil Court to get protection from stalking. With the passage of this bill, one goes to Criminal Court and the stalker can be charged as a felony.
Garcia said that she addressed many cases of “consent” related to marital consent issues. In the past, if a husband raped his wife without her consent, it was not a crime. Now, In California, a married woman must give her consent first before having sexual intercourse or it could be a crime.
Garcia continues to be concerned about reproductive justice. She said that California may become a refugee state if other states make abortion illegal. She said that the State of California has been creating a fund to support women’s care after abortions. She worked on a bill that eliminates all co-pays for abortions in California, and that bill passed last year.
Another area that Garcia is passionate about is the environment. As a member of the Environment, Safety, and Toxic Materials Committee, she said she has been trying clean-up regional pollution violations by companies. She has been working to get Federal Funds to clean-up polluted sites in California. She said she had some success but there was still more to be done.
When asked about her future plans, Garcia said that she still wants to always be of service. She is running for a Congressional seat in the United States House of Representatives in the 42nd District with the primary voting slated for June 7, 2022. The final voting for election for that seat will be on November 8, 2022.
At the end of her speech, everyone in attendance applauded her for all her accomplishments as an assemblymember. They all wished her success in her campaign to win a Congressional seat.
Mary Ann Quinn, Program Co-Chair of the La Palma-Cerritos AAUW, thanked Assemblymember Cristina Garcia for coming to the meeting and presented her with a Certificate of Appreciation for coming to speak about legislative issues at the meeting.
For more information about Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, contact her at her e-mail [email protected]
