Serving their last days as Assembly members, Wilma Chan, Judy Chu and Carol Liu have each left a distinctive mark in the State Capitol.
As chair of the Health Committee, Chan was an outspoken advocate on behalf of California children and their families and affordable health care. She represented a social consciousness in the legislature that will be missed.
As the Committee Chair of Appropriations, Chu was a powerful force in the Capitol overseeing all legislation that had a fiscal impact on the state. She was our strongest champion of hate crimes, APA legislative issues, social service and civil rights.
As chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, Liu passionately pursued her goal to ensure that all Californians have access to higher education and wanted to make California’s public education system the best in the nation.
Chan and Liu plan to run for the Senate in ‘08. And expect Judy Chu to take her seat on the State Board of Equalization with Betty Yee after the November election.
What a difference a year makes: After a disastrous nonproductive 2005 legislative session, 2006 looks to be a banner year, thanks to a more cooperative spirit between the governor and the Legislature. First, the state budget was completed on time. Chances look good for the state minimum wage to be increased from $6.75/hr. to $8.00/hr., with a 50-cent increase in Jan. 2007, followed by a 75-cent raise in Jan. 2008.
The governor is also expected to sign AB 32, which will make California the first state in the U.S. to require industries to lower greenhouse gas emissions as a means to address global warming. Hopefully, this major environmental bill will lead the way for federal action.
AB 2911, which would require drug companies to discount their products for the 6 million Californians without health insurance, is also expected to be signed by the governor.
The governor and the legislature have also put together a series of bond measures on the November ballot that will finally provide funding for the needed repairs to the deteriorating infrastructure of the state.
America’s unpaid debt: It was déjà vu for me as I read the recent Sacramento Bee headline: “Filipino vets ask for full WWII honors.” I recall my political sister, Georgette Imura, and I working on this very issue in the ‘80s when we headed up the Senate Office of Asian Pacific Affairs.
How long is it going to take this country to fulfill its promise to the thousands of native Filipinos who heeded President Franklin Roosevelt’s call to serve in the U.S. armed forces in World War II? Over 100,000 Filipino veterans gave their lives to this country to help the U.S. win World War II. And to this day, they are still fighting to be fully recognized as U.S. veterans.
California Congressman Bob Filner (D-San Diego) has been championing this cause for over 14 years. He is now joined by Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Riverside) in his uphill battle to pass HR4574 — the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2006; so, this is not a partisan issue. It is also not a “juice” bill that has a lot of money behind it. Both Filner and Issa epitomize the value of excellence in electoral politics for carrying this bill that cries for equal justice for the diminishing number of unsung heroes who are still waiting to receive benefits equal to U.S. World War II vets. Filner deserves a lot of credit for his successful legislation to at least provide Filipino veterans disability benefits for war-related crimes, and access to VA hospitals and nursing homes. But, Filner has not stopped fighting for full benefits and pension rights. The current bill is stuck in the Veterans committee and Filner feels that if he can get it to the floor of Congress, it would pass.
Fiscal impact, we are talking $200 million a year to cover approximately 30,000 to 50,000 Filipino veterans who are still alive. Considering the billions of dollars we are spending daily in a senseless war in Iraq, the cost of this bill is minimal. This continues to be the most significant political issue facing Filipino Americans today. All Americans, not just Asian Americans, should be angry and ashamed that this travesty of justice has yet to be resolved for over five decades.