Martha Escutia
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Martha M. Escutia (born January 16, 1957) is a former California State Senator from the 30th Senate District. She represented the cities of Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Maywood, Montebello, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, South El Monte, South Gate, Whittier and Vernon.
A resident of Whittier, she was first elected to the California State Assembly in 1992 to represent the largely Latino 50th District. She moved up to the Senate in 1998, and was termed out of office in 2006.
Escutia served as Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications (EU&C) and was also the first woman Chair of the 27-member California Legislative Latino Caucus.
As a Senator, Escutia held key leadership positions including: Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee as a freshman senator, the first Latina Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the first woman Chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, and Chair of the California Legislative Women's Caucus.
Throughout her career, Escutia championed universal health care for children and is recognized as the creator of Healthy Families. Seeking to protect California's children from unhealthy levels of air contaminants, she established the first-ever Children's Environmental Health Protection Act.
A supporter of school reform and equality, she has been instrumental in reducing class sizes in California, making Advanced Placement classes accessible for all California students and working to ensure that struggling students have access to high-quality remedial education programs. As an advocate against childhood obesity, Senator Escutia authored legislation known as SB 12, later signed into law, which limited the availability of junk food for children on school campuses.
Escutia was also successful in passing legislation to implement the first low-cost auto insurance program for low-income residents in Los Angeles and San Francisco counties.
The California Labor Federation AFL-CIO named her “Legislator of the Year” for her advocacy on behalf of working men and women. Her outstanding work on environmental issues has brought recognition from the California League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club and the American Lung Association. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has commemorated her “Commitment to the People of Los Angeles County.” She was also awarded the “Good Housekeeping Award for Women in Government” for her work on the Children's Environmental Health Protections. In 1999, the California School Boards Association gave her its "Legislator of the Year Award" for her efforts on behalf of schoolchildren and K-12 education.
In November 2005, the Corona New Primary Center in Bell, California was dedicated the Martha Escutia Primary Center in her honor.
Escutia is an honors graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in Public Administration, and received her law degree form Georgetown University. She holds certificates in Advanced International Legal Studies of Trade and Tariffs from the World Court at The Hague, Netherlands, and in Foreign Investment from the National Autonomous University in Mexico City.
A native of East Los Angeles, Senator Escutia is the mother of two sons, Andres 12 and Diego 9.
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| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Curtis R. Tucker, Jr. |
California State Assemblywoman, 50th District 1992-1998 |
Succeeded by Marco Antonio Firebaugh |
| Preceded by Charles M. Calderon |
California State Senator, 30th District 1998-2006 |
Succeeded by Ronald S. Calderon |
