Don Perata

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Don Perata (born April 30, 1945) is a California Democratic politician, who is the current President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate.

He was elected to the post of President Pro Tempore in 2004. He will continue his Presidency until the end of the current 2004-2006 session.

Perata earned his degree from Saint Mary's College of California and taught English, History, and Civics from 1966 to 1981 in Alameda County schools.

Perata began his political career when he ran for the mayor of Alameda in 1975 but was narrowly defeated. In 1986 he was elected to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and was re-elected to a second term later.

He was elected as an California State Assemblyman for the Oakland, Alameda, and Piedmont district in 1996 and a State Senator for the 9th District (includes Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Dublin, El Sobrante, Emeryville, Livermore, Oakland, Piedmont, Richmond, and San Pablo) in 1998. He became the California State Senate President Pro Tem in 2004.

Perata's run (and election) to the State Senate in 1998 was part of a series of five special elections that were held in the East Bay within less than 12 months, as Perata and other East Bay politicians vied for different political offices. For a detailed account of events, see Special election musical chairs.

Perata is a staunch advocate of gun control. In 1999, Perata successfully drove legislation that updated the California "assault weapons ban" by adding a ban of generically-described semi-automatic firearms. However, he has been accused of hypocrisy on gun control, since he himself possesses a concealed weapons permit - something quite difficult for the average citizen in a California metropolitan area to acquire. Nevertheless, Perata deems the weapons permit necessary due to a number of death threats presumably received from certain opponents of his firearms related legislative activity.

Perata has been the most vocal and involved elected official in the state when it comes to the rights of the elderly, the mentally ill, and the disabled. He has not only legislated, but also marched and protested alongside advocates for those who are the most vulnerable. His commitment has ensured services continue uninterrupted, and that caregivers' pay isn't cut back to minimum wage when Republicans threatened to do so.

Senator Perata has been under investigation by the FBI for possible corruption since 2004. The FBI has targeted one Oakland lobbyist, Lily Hu, who formerly worked for Perata and allegedly received improper payments from business associates.

In early 2005, Perata introduced a bill to repair California's flagging infrastructure including highway improvements, housing reform and levee repairs. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger picked up on this idea in November 2005, on the night his ballot initiatives were resoundly defeated. While Schwarzenegger's plan included fixing transportation problems, his infrastructure plan was drastically more costly and advocated more prisons and didn't address the housing problem. In a rare occurrence for Sacramento politicos, in early 2006 Perata and Schwarzenegger began to work together to piece together an infrastructure plan that both sides of the legislature could embrace. They were successful and five bond measures will go before California voters on the November 2006 ballot. These measures address roads, mass transit, affordable housing, levee repair, and upgrading educational facilities.

In 2006 Perata accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Indian tribes. He is currently sponsoring a bill to expand Indian-owned casinos in California.

In summer of 2006, Perata recalled a town hall meeting which local citizens were addressing California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on the subject of illegal immigration. At a press conference, Perata attracted mild controversy when he referred to the San Diego-area opponents of illegal immigration as "crackers." [1]. The word "cracker", is sometimes used as a pejorative term for a white person.

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Preceded by
Barbara Lee		 California State Senator
9th district
1998—present		 Succeeded by
—
Preceded by
Barbara Lee		 California State Assemblymember
16th district
1996—1998		 Succeeded by
Audie Bock
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