Lorena Lowdowns

As 2016 comes to a close and we prepare for the next legislative session, we reflect on a year of successful events and invaluable community partnerships that make it all happen.

Though they call this time of year legislative recess, this season has been a busy one for our office, with some of our biggest events in the 80th District. Inside, you'll find more details about we've been up to recently, from celebrating diversity through our first-ever Latino | Filipino Fiesta, distributing nearly 1,300 turkeys at our 4th Annual (and biggest-to-date) Operation Gobble Thanksgiving Turkey Distribution & Health Resource Fair, participating in community parades and festivals, to procuring over 65,000 diapers through our annual Holiday Party & Diaper Drive.

We can't thank you enough for connecting with us all year round and joining us on this incredible journey of public service. Your input and support helps us most effectively serve the South Bay and Mid-City.

We're grateful and excited for the opportunity to continue to represent you for another term, and we hope that you'll continue to share your legislative ideas, needs and concerns with us.

In this Issue:

Wishing you all a safe and joyous holiday season!

Signature
Assemblywoman,
80th District

Lorena's Lowdowns

October 2016

Monday, October 10, 2016

Dear Friends,

It’s an exciting and hectic time of year. My colleagues and I wrapped up another busy legislative session in which hundreds of bills were considered. We’ve now received the governor’s final decisions, many of which we are happy to celebrate and others which remind us that our work is far from over. Check out our BILLBoard inside for updates on our legislative efforts, including landmark protections supporting farmworkers and janitors that have now been signed into law.

As always, our team enjoyed participating in neighborhood events in every corner of the district, working with constituents on community issues and distributing our free, reusable AD 80 grocery bags. Inside, you can see some of the many places we visited this festival season. We love connecting with you, hearing your legislative ideas and assisting you in any way we can.

I’m proud of the powerful ways that the 80th District continues to be a model of embracing and celebrating diversity. Please join me for our inaugural Latino | Filipino Fiesta—a special celebration of the overlapping Hispanic Heritage and Filipino American History months and our district’s commitment to diversity, equity, unity and cultural understanding. This event is free and open to all members of the public. Bring your friends and family, and enjoy a community resource fair, free food, live entertainment and the presentation of our 2016 Latino & Filipino Leader Awards. You can find more details on this event on the back cover. See you there!

In this Issue:

Sincerely,

Signature
Assemblywoman,
80th District

Lorena's Lowdowns

August 2016

Monday, July 25, 2016

Dear Friends,

The first half of our 2016 legislative session ended with a flourish, with 18 of our bills moving through the Senate. You can read more about our bills inside and we will continue our efforts when we return to session.

I was also pleased to help pass a balanced, on-time state budget that addresses many of my top priorities: establishing major new funding for childcare services and creating 9,000 new slots for early childhood education; eliminating the Maximum Family Grant to stop penalizing children in families receiving CalWORKS; making college more accessible by improving funding and slots for California students at UC and CSU campuses; and setting aside an extra $2 billion in our rainy day fund to help us prepare for hard times in the future.

Here in the 80th District, we are excited to welcome our third annual class of Junior Legislators to our office this month. These local high school students from across the region are participating in an intensive, month-long program to learn about the legislative process, develop their own bill ideas and produce community service projects. At the end of the program, I’m always excited to hear the students pitch their innovative bill ideas as part of their graduation.

Please stay in touch and contact our office with any questions or concerns. I hope to see you soon.

In this Issue:

Sincerely,

Signature
Assemblywoman,
80th District

Lorena's Lowdowns

July 2016

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Dear Friends,

Though the Legislature’s summer recess is right around the corner, we’ve kept a hectic pace.

In the Appropriations Committee, we reviewed 470 bills — the most since 2007. Just over half received approval and many are now continuing forward in the state Senate.

I was also fortunate to serve on the Legislature’s Budget Conference Committee, where we forged tough compromises that resulted in another on-time budget for California. This budget addresses our housing affordability crisis, delivers new major investments in child care programs, helps our kids get a strong start, and makes it easier for parents to get back to work and provide for their families.

Between it all, our team had a great time celebrating the success of so many residents of the 80th Assembly District; we’ve supported local janitors in their fight for justice and safety from sexual violence, promoted cultural equity through community festivals, and participated in much more that you can read about inside.

Please stay safe this summer. I hope to see you soon.

In this Issue:

Sincerely,

Signature

Assemblywoman,
80th District

Lorena's Lowdowns

June 2016

Friday, May 20, 2016

Dear Friends,

It’s been a hectic month in the Capitol with hundreds of bills making their way through the Assembly Appropriations Committee, covering every topic imaginable. You can find updates inside this newsletter on the progress of our own legislation, including efforts to reduce the costs of basic necessities for working families, improve public safety, enhance workplace safety protections, reduce human trafficking, expand voting rights and more.

In between all our work in Sacramento, I was happy to join representatives from Facebook for an exciting small business event here in the district, where I honored outstanding small businesses with hundreds of local business leaders. I was also fortunate to join students and faculty from our 2016 80th Assembly District adopted school as they received a $5,000 grant to support their health initiatives in City Heights. Check out information on our small business honorees; get the details about the great work at our adopted school, and read about many of our other recent community events inside.

This month, we’re also welcoming our 2016 group of local interns from High Tech High in Chula Vista. We always have a great time with local young people, who are passionate about the legislative process and are already growing into effective future leader for the community. It’s wonderful to add these students to our team!

Please stay in touch. I hope to see you soon.

In this Issue:

Sincerely,

Signature
Assemblywoman,
80th District

Lorena's Lowdowns

May 2016

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Dear Friends,

It’s been a historic month for California, starting with the Governor signing new legislation that will raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next several years. Shortly after, he signed legislation to significantly expand paid family leave to better help low-income working people care for their family members if they’re sick or injured. I was proud to co-author both of these bills, and I’m excited for what may be still to come.

We were also reminded in April of how much further we still have to go when we marked Equal Pay Day, highlighting the wage gap between women and men in the workplace. In California, women make just 84 cents on the dollar compared to men, and for Latinas, the lost income over a career is more than $1.6 million – five times worse than women overall. I was proud to co-author the nation’s toughest rules to take on this problem last year, but clearly we have more to do.

Finally, we’re looking forward to our 3rd Annual Small Business event in the district. This year, Facebook will come to help local small business owners improve their use of social media and reach new customers online.

I hope to see you soon at one of our community events. And I hope you’ll stay in touch with our office if we can help you in any way.

In this Issue:

Sincerely,

Signature
Assemblywoman,
80th District