SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With the start of the regular legislative session on Monday, it also marks a historic day at the California State Capitol. Women will make up nearly half of the current lawmakers, with new members sworn in at the start of the session.
"I'm proud that this legislative class, boasts the greatest number of women legislators in our state," said Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas (D).
Members from the senate and assembly were sworn in Monday, and this year marks a major milestone. Assemblymember Sade Elhawary (D-Los Angeles) is one of 58 women out of the 118 current state legislators. She is focused on making her first time in office meaningful.
"We know what it means when women lead. We know what it means and how much it shifts in terms of the kind of legislation we pass. The kind of ways that we even work together," Asm. Elhawary said.
Women will make up 49% of the state legislature with 37 in the Assembly and 21 in the Senate.
"When you have women in the legislature that care about childcare, that care about education, that have their own children that they're taking care of care of, that care about the issues that families are facing, it's gonna be at the forefront of our legislation," said Senator Suzette Valladares (R-Santa Clarita).
Also making history, California State Senate Republicans will be majority women this year, with Senator Valladares being one of them. Regardless of party affiliation, she said she's proud to stand amongst all these women at the state Capitol.
"I'm really happy that we're going to have almost half of women advocating for those policies," she said.
The feeling is mutual for Asm. Elhawary as she's prepared to have a productive year with her colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
"I've already built relationships, started to build relationships that feel really important and intentional, because, when women come to the table, it's not about competition. It's about how do we really work together," she said.
Some key issues both women tell ABC10 they want to tackle this year range from solving the homelessness issue in the state, cost of living and retail theft.
