BILL NUMBER: HR 72 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wesson
JULY 11, 2002
House Resolution No. 72--Relative to commending the Honorable
Elaine Alquist.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST
WHEREAS, The tenure of the Honorable Elaine Kontominas Alquist
with the California State Assembly is drawing to a close following
six years of exemplary service, and it is appropriate at this time to
highlight the many achievements of her illustrious tenure and to
extend to her the highest commendations of the people of the state;
and
WHEREAS, Elected to the California State Assembly in 1996 as
representative of the 22nd District, "The Heart of the Silicon
Valley," Elaine Kontominas Alquist became the first Greek-American
woman elected to the California State Legislature; and
WHEREAS, Assembly Member Alquist provided leadership as Chair of
the Standing Committees on Information Technology, Aging and
Long-Term Care, and Higher Education, as Chair of the Select
Committees on Aging and Long-Term Care and the Aging of the Baby
Boomers, as Co-Vice Chair of the Joint Committee to Develop a Master
Plan for Education-Kindergarten Through University, as a member of
the Committees on Appropriations, Banking and Finance, Education, and
Revenue and Taxation, as a member of the Select Committees on the
Aerospace Industry, Community Colleges/School to Career, and on
Language and Access to Government, as Chair of the Commission on the
Status of Women, and as the Assembly representative to the California
Seismic Safety Commission; and
WHEREAS, As Chair of the Information Technology Committee,
Assembly Member Alquist protected California's children by holding 12
oversight hearings and "blowing the whistle" on the state's $200
million Statewide Automated Child Support System, and as Co-Chair of
the Joint Committee on Y2K Compliance, she helped ensure that
California was Y2K compliant at the beginning of the millennium; and
WHEREAS, Due to her strong advocacy and commitment to California's
seniors, the Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care was returned to
permanent standing committee status and she was selected as its first
chair, and she authored tax check-off legislation to generate funds
for the California Senior Legislature and Alzheimer's research,
focused her efforts on nursing home reform and documentation of
nursing home violations available on the Internet, led California in
urging the federal government to enact the voluntary Medicare
Prescription Drug Benefit, and authored the first HMO reform
legislation signed into law requiring HMOs to cover the costs of
hospice care; and
WHEREAS, In her final term in office, Assembly Member Alquist
served as Chair of the Higher Education Committee and was a champion
for providing access and affordability for all to the state's
institutions of higher learning; and
WHEREAS, Elaine Alquist coauthored Cal Grant expansion legislation
to ensure that all graduating high school seniors who meet program
requirements will receive financial grants to attend college, and
authored the Graduate Education Opportunity Act; and
WHEREAS, Guided by strong values, Assembly Member Alquist fought
for the rights of young children and women as author of "Maricela's
Law," and she authored the Child Support Compliance Act of 1998 and
the Domestic Violence Child Protection Act, which enabled the court
to order counseling for all interested parties in child custody
cases, as well as to consider recent domestic violence incidents
before awarding child custody; and
WHEREAS, As a member of the Women's Caucus, Assembly Member
Alquist fought to maintain funding for child care and she held a
forum to address the shortage of child care in Silicon Valley and the
problems that family care providers encounter; and
WHEREAS, In K-12 education, Assembly Member Alquist provided her
expertise as a member of the Assembly Education Committee for six
years, she authored benchmark legislation that provides gender equity
in education, particularly in the sciences, mathematics, and
technology, she was joint author of the legislation to end social
promotion in schools, and was coauthor of legislation to reduce class
size and provide oversight for charter schools; and
WHEREAS, She authored legislation which requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to strengthen and promote the
opportunity for quality involvement by parents and guardians in
schoolsite advisory bodies; and
WHEREAS, Concerned about the high costs of housing in Silicon
Valley and throughout the state, Assembly Member Alquist worked on
legislation that has enabled first-time homebuyers to realize their
dream of homeownership, including the California Homebuyer's
Downpayment Assistance Program, and she was a strong proponent and
coauthor of the Housing Bond Act that will place a $2.1 billion
General Obligation bond proposal on the November 5, 2002, ballot; and
WHEREAS, For the past five years she held a free women's health
forum directed at older women, providing information about women's
health issues, and she authored a bill which requires entities using
state funds to conduct clinical research to include women over the
age of 40 as subjects in the research, and her advocacy for women's
health extended to her authorship of the California Osteoporosis
Prevention and Education Act; and
WHEREAS, In transportation, Assembly Member Alquist was in the
forefront to bring BART to Santa Clara County; and
WHEREAS, Elaine Kontominas Alquist resides in Santa Clara with her
husband, former State Senator Al Alquist, she is the proud mother of
two grown sons, Bryan White, and Peter White and his wife Anju
Chraudhry White, and a loving yiayia to her granddaughter Jasmine,
and she honors her Greek heritage by serving as honorary chair of the
Hellenic Heritage Institute and as a member of Philoptochos, the
Daughters of Penelope, and the Modern Greek Studies Foundation; and
WHEREAS, Through her public service activities Elaine Alquist has
made a significant impact on the people of the 22nd Assembly District
and throughout the state, and she will be greatly missed by those
individuals with whom she has been associated; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the
Members express their commendations and appreciation to their
colleague, the Honorable Elaine Kontominas Alquist, for her
outstanding record of dedicated service to her constituents and to
all of the people of California, and convey to her best wishes for
every success in her future endeavors.