Denise Moreno Ducheny
Ducheny served in the California State Assembly in 1994 to 2000. She was the first San Diegan, first woman, and first Latino ever to be appointed to this powerful position overseeing the state's $100 billion spending plan. While in the Assembly, Ducheny served as Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee between 1997 and 2000, and as Vice-Chair in 1996. She also served, as Chair of the Select Committee on California-Mexico Affairs, as Co-Chair of the Special Committee on Welfare Reform, as Vice-Chair of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and as Vice-Chair of the Latino Legislative Caucus.
She was first elected to represent the 40th District in the California State Senate in November 2002. Ducheny chairs the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. She is Vice Chair of the Agriculture Committee, a member of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and also chairs the Select Committees on California-Mexico Cooperation and Oversight of the UC Energy Labs.
Gloria Romero
Romero was elected to the California State Assembly in 1998 and to the Senate in 2001. Romero represented the 24th district, which includes East Los Angeles, portions of the city of Los Angeles, as well as a major part of the San Gabriel Valley, including the cities of Azusa, Baldwin Park, Covina, Duarte, El Monte, City of Industry, Irwindale, La Puente, Monterey Park, Rosemead, West Covina and Whittier.
As a public university professor in California, she is a member of the California Faculty Association.
Patricia Wiggins
Wiggins represented the 7th District (Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties) until she was forced out of office by term limits in December 2004. She served as Chair of the Local Government and Banking Committees. In 2000, as an Assemblywoman, Wiggins founded the Legislature's Smart Growth Caucus which grew to include 47 of the legislature's 120 members over the next few years. She is the author of AB 857 (statutes of 2002), pertaining to land use planning. AB 857 established California's spending priorities for future development to address sprawl, and to promote compact development. She is also the author of legislation to facilitate farmworker housing, to promote mixed use development, and to increase funding for agriculture.
Wiggins was elected to the California State Senate in November 2006, and on August 23, 2009, Wiggins announced that she would not run for re-election in 2010. In the Senate, Wiggins chaired the Senate Standing Committee on Public Employment & Retirement, the Senate Select Committee on California's Wine Industry, and the Joint Legislative Committee on Fisheries & Aquaculture.