SACRAMENTO — The 34-member, bipartisan Legislative Women’s Caucus today announced its list of priority bills for the legislative year.

In years past, the Women’s Caucus has taken positions on budget issues and has advocated on policy matters. But this marks the first time the caucus has created a legislative platform.
“It’s a natural step to begin endorsing bills and framing our issues,” said Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka, who chairs the Women’s Caucus.

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In a “passing the torch” ceremony the California Legislative Women's Caucus selected new leadership Wednesday evening, naming Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod as its Chair.

“I am pleased to serve as chair of the Women’s Caucus, I will work to ensure women and families are recognized in the legislature,” said Senator Negrete McLeod. Senator Negrete McLeod represents the Inland Empire.

In Conjunction with the American Heart Association’s Go Red Campaign. 

Caucus is partnering with the American Heart Association (AHA) to raise awareness about heart disease, the leading cause of death for women in America.

WHO: Assemblywoman Lori Saldana along with members of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus sponsored the AHA’s GO RED FOR WOMEN campaign.

SACRAMENTO –The end of 2009 brought unfortunate news to women across the state, and Sen. Jenny Oropeza hopes to reverse that trend in 2010 with her first bill of the year.

First, the Preventive Services Task Force sparked a national uproar when it recommended early last month that women at low risk for breast cancer undergo regular mammograms beginning at age 50. The previous recommendation was age 40.

Senator Oropeza’s SB 148 was signed by the Governor and became law January, 2010. It requires medical providers to post Notices of Violation relating to mammography machine inspections to be placed somewhere that is visible to patients and staff. Such violations may reflect malfunctioning mammography machines or poorly trained or uncertified personnel operating machines and interpreting results.

Measures approved on bipartisan votes

SACRAMENTO – Measures to help returning veterans and domestic violence victims sailed through first policy tests today, with both proposed laws receiving strong bipartisan support.

The measures by Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, are:

Senate Bill 1127, Training for Veteran Families. Approved by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, this measure would help families of veterans support their transition from active service to civilian life. 

SACRAMENTO, CA – The Women’s Foundation of California presented Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) with the Champion Award yesterday for fighting to protect critical safety net programs for women and girls while she served as chair of the Assembly Budget Committee and presided over the Budget Conference Committee process.

SACRAMENTO — The governor released his May Revise budget proposals today, relying on large cuts and the elimination of some vital health and human services to close the $19.1 billion budget deficit.  An Assembly Budget Committee analysis of the governor’s May Revise is available at http://www.assembly.ca.gov/budget.

SACRAMENTO — The State Assembly passed legislation authored by Assemblymembers Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) and Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) intended to reverse the Schwarzenegger Administration’s elimination of mammograms for 100,000 low-income women under the Every Woman Counts (EWC) program.

Assembly Bill (AB) 1640 passed with a 56-12 vote and moves to the State Senate for further review.