Martha Escutia

Martha M. Escutia (born January 16, 1957) is a Democratic politician who represented the areas surrounding Los Angeles in the California State Senate from 1998 until 2006 and in the California State Assembly from 1992 until 1998. She is currently one of the founding attorneys of The Senators (Ret.) Firm, LLP.

Escutia represented California's 30th State Senate district. She 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.

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