Wilma Chan
Assembly Member
16th District, California
Assemblywoman
Wilma Chan (D-Oakland) represents the cities of Oakland, Alameda
and Piedmont in the California State Assembly. She is the
Assembly Majority Leader and serves on the Assembly Budget
Committee and Education Finance subcommittee. She is a member of
the Assembly Committees on Health; Aging and Long Term Care;
Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy; Government
Organization; and Banking and Finance. Ms. Chan is Chair of the
Select Committee on California Children's School Readiness and
Health. She is Co-Chair of the Select Committee on Language
Access to State Services, Vice Chair of the Asian-Pacific
Islander Legislative Caucus, member of the Select Committees on
Water and Air Quality, and California-Mexico Relations. Ms. Chan
is also a member of the Legislative Women's Caucus, Environmental
Caucus, Internet Caucus and Smart Growth Caucus.
Ms. Chan was
elected to the Assembly in 2000, bringing 25 years of community
service and ten years of hands-on legislative experience to the
Legislature. Before winning election to the Assembly, Ms. Chan
was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1994 and re-elected
without opposition in 1998. On the Board of Supervisors, Ms. Chan
chaired the Health Committee. She was the first Chair of the
Alameda County Children and Families Commission, which has been
distributing $20 million annually in new funds for the children's
services. The Alameda County's Commission was considered the
'crown jewel' because of its comprehensive approach to early
childhood development.
Her
accomplishments at the Board of Supervisors included expanding
the number of school-based health clinics, working with local
officials to gain release of 220 acres of the Alameda Naval Air
Station land for local needs, and leading lobbying efforts to
restore benefits to legal immigrants. She also championed the
efforts to build a new Emergency Room and Critical Care Building
for the Alameda County Medical Center and Highland Hospital. She
initiated a pilot welfare-to-work project in Oakland's San
Antonio neighborhood, and developed the strategic plan on the
future of health care services in Alameda County.
Assemblywoman Chan
is an outspoken advocate on behalf of California children and
their families. Her legislative priorities include health care,
senior services, early childhood education, environmental health
and sustainable economic development. Recently, she is
introducing a package of bills to improve children's health and
school success, and legislation to increase recycling, protect
consumers, assist seniors, and promote civil rights. She has also
'adopted' Fruitvale Elementary School in Oakland and will be
working with the parents, teachers, neighbors, community and
civic groups to improve the health and education of the 700
students who attend the school. Ms. Chan has also launched
'Computers for Kids,' which will be distributing free computers
to local schools. She authored a new law to encourage counties to
build school partnerships by donating surplus computers to
schools. She helped obtain funding for Woodstock Child
Development Center in Alameda, which resulted in a decision to
keep the Center open.
In 2001, Ms. Chan
convened the Assembly Select Committee on California Children's
School Readiness and Health, and held the first state hearings on
the link between a child's health and school success. The
Committee issued a groundbreaking report of their findings and
legislative recommendations in March, 2002.
Ms. Chan led the
successful legislative effort making permanent food stamps and
cash assistance to low-income legal immigrant families and
seniors, and sent the Governor legislation to encourage in-fill
housing and new retail in downtown Oakland. She won approval for
a study to determine the best way to provide in home support
services to all California seniors and people with disabilities
on a sliding fee scale and legislation to keep the Oakland Street
Academy open. Ms. Chan also won approval of legislation to
address seismic safety retrofitting at Oakland's Highland
Hospital. She carried legislation to phase-out birth defect and
cancer causing chemicals in California. She co-authored
successful legislation to increase affordable housing, promote
smart growth and increase funding to education.
In her first year
in office, Ms. Chan recruited hundreds of volunteers to spruce up
childcare centers in Oakland and fix up a park and childcare
center in Alameda. She held sidewalk office hours throughout the
district in the 'Chan Van' and distributed free energy saving
light bulbs to local residents. She organized 500 school children
in Oakland, Alameda and Piedmont to make winter holiday crafts
which they brought to assisted living centers for seniors.
Assemblywoman Chan
has been honored by the National Association of Social
Workers-California Chapter, the American Association of
University Women, California Hunger Action Network, Alameda
County Tobacco Control Coalition, and the Soroptimists, among
others. The Alameda Rotary gave her the Paul Harris award.
Ms. Chan was born
in Boston, MA and has lived in Oakland and Alameda for nearly
three decades. She holds a BA from Wellesley and a Masters Degree
in Education Policy from Stanford University. She lives in
Alameda with her husband, a public school teacher and her
daughter. Her son is a student at UC San Diego.
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