As everyone knows AB 1634 comes before the Senate
Business and Professions and Economic Development
Committee on Monday, July 9th. at 1:30.

While it is important to contact every Senator on that
Committee

Here are three Senators to really home in on.

SENATOR ELLEN CORBETT
Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro), the chair of
the Senate Judiciary Committee, was elected in 2006 to
represent the 10th Senate District, an East Bay
district that includes the cities of San Leandro,
Fremont, Hayward, Union City, Pleasanton, Milpitas and
Newark and part of San Jose, as well as the
communities of Castro Valley, San Lorenzo and Sunol.
A former member of the state Assembly (1998-2004),
Sen. Corbett has a long history of public service in
the district. She served as a city councilmember and
mayor of San Leandro and worked as an attorney,
community college professor and civic activist.
During her Assembly tenure, she chaired the Judiciary
Committee and the Revenue & Taxation Committee. Her
legislative record includes legislation to reduce
prescription drug costs, restore wetlands along the
Bay, protect consumer rights and increase penalties
for discrimination against the disabled.
Sen. Corbett attended local schools in the East Bay,
including Chabot Community College and California
State University, Hayward. She graduated from the
University of California, Davis and McGeorge Law
School. Prior to her legislative career, Sen. Corbett
practiced civil law.
Sen. Corbett lives in San Leandro with her teenaged
son.

SENATOR DEAN FLOREZ

Senator Dean Florez was born and raised in the Central
Valley and has represented the lower half of the
Valley for eight years. He was first elected to the
State Assembly in 1998 and served two terms. He was
subsequently elected to the Senate in 2002. His
mostly rural district stretches across 300 miles
anchored by the city of Bakersfield in the south and
the city of Fresno at its northern tip.
Florez has been a leader in the areas of clean air,
farm worker safety, high-speed rail and government
accountability. He has served as chairman of numerous
committees with jurisdiction over agriculture; water,
parks and wildlife; banking, commerce and
international trade; and government oversight. He
currently chairs the Senate Committee on Governmental
Organization which addresses issues relating to
gaming, alcohol policy, government services and state
emergencies.
Florez has been a leading figure in finding workable
solutions to the Valley’s air pollution crisis, taking
on powerful interests along the way. He authored five
historic clean air laws which took dramatic steps to
cleaning the second dirtiest air in the nation.

The grandson of farm laborers, Florez spent his early
years in the Colonia outside of the city of Shafter,
in Kern County. He graduated from Shafter High
School, attended Bakersfield College and earned his
bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UCLA,
where he also served as student body president. He
went on to receive his MBA from Harvard Business
School.
Prior to attending Harvard, he worked in the
Legislature as a legislative and budget consultant.
Florez is a licensed investment banker and economic
development specialist. He lives in his hometown of
Shafter - where his mother, Fran, currently serves as
Mayor - with his wife Elsa, their daughter Faith and
son Sean.

SENATOR LELAND YEE

After serving four years in the California State
Assembly, Leland Yee was elected to the State Senate
in November 2006, garnering over 78 percent of the
vote – the largest percentage for any Democratic
candidate with a Republican challenger. Representing
District 8, which includes San Francisco and San Mateo
County, Yee is the first Chinese American ever elected
to the California State Senate and first Asian
American elected to the Legislature’s upper house in
forty years. Yee is also a member of the Senate
Democratic Leadership as the Assistant President pro
Tem.
During his tenure in the Legislature, Senator Yee has
fought for children, mental health services, working
families, open government, consumer protection, the
environment, and civil rights. He has been named
“Legislator of the Year” by the California Association
of School Psychologists, California School Nutrition
Association, California Psychiatric Association,
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges,
California Independent Grocers, and California Mental
Health Directors Association. In addition, he was
named “Person of the Year” by GamePolitics.com, a
leading video game news site.
Since 2003, Dr. Yee has one of the best track records
in getting his bills passed and signed into law. In
fact, he has successfully passed 64 pieces of
legislation, of which 48 have been chaptered into law.
In 2006, Yee had 10 bills chaptered. Most notably, AB
2581 made California the first state in the nation to
specifically prohibit censorship of college student
press, including school newspapers and broadcast
journalism. AB 450 requires disaster preparedness
agencies to consider household pets, service animals,
equines, and livestock in emergency evacuation
planning. In the State Assembly, Dr. Yee became the
first Asian Pacific American to be appointed Speaker
pro Tempore, the number two position in the California
State Assembly. Yee was also elected and still
remains the President of the National Asian Pacific
American Caucus of State Legislators.
In 1996, Dr. Yee was elected to the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors. Leland Yee emigrated at the age
of three to San Francisco from China. He was educated
in San Francisco's public schools, and received his
bachelor’s degree from University of California at
Berkeley, and his master's degree from San Francisco
State University. After earning his doctorate in
Child Psychology at the University of Hawaii, Dr. Yee
worked in various mental health and school settings.
Leland Yee and his wife have four children.


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