Over nearly two decades in the California legislature, starting as an Assemblymember and then as a State Senator, Jackie achieved an impressive record with more than 300 pieces of legislation signed into law by both Democratic and Republican Governors. She has authored groundbreaking legislation in privacy and consumer protection, child welfare, and healthcare. Many of her bills have become templates for other state and national legislation.
Here are Jackie’s Top 10 legislative accomplishments:
- Privacy Rights: Hailed as “landmark” legislation by the San Francisco Chronicle, SB 1 gives Californians the right to control their personal financial information and to protect their privacy against invasion by financial institutions, their affiliates, and identity thieves. The law requires financial institutions to obtain a customer’s permission before it may market the customer’s personal information to unaffiliated companies. Additionally, these institutions will not be able to share customer information with affiliated companies if the customer objects.
- Prescription Discounts for Seniors: For the past several years, SB 393 has given California seniors an average 20% discount on their prescription medications by granting them the same discounts that the State of California receives through its massive Medi-Cal program. The Department of Health Services reports that more than one million prescriptions are filled monthly with the SB 393 discount.
- Delinquent Child Support Collection: Law triggered the collection of some $1 billion in delinquent child support orders. Jackie’s efforts forced deadbeat parents to face loss of license (driver’s license and professional license) for failure to pay court-ordered child support. She also enabled the state income tax collection agency-the Franchise Tax Board-to go after the bank accounts of individuals who refused to pay child support.
- Clinical Trial Access for Cancer Patients: The University of California, Davis, reports that Jackie’s SB 37 of 2000 has effectively removed existing roadblocks to cancer patients’ participation in potentially life-saving clinical trials. The law requires health plans to cover the cost of a patient’s participation in an approved cancer clinical trial if the treating oncologist believes the trial will have therapeutic benefit for the patient.
- Uncovering Auto Repair Fraud: SB 1988 of 2000 established a unique program where state auto mechanic specialists inspected insurance-paid repairs of recently damaged vehicles. The Bureau of Automotive Repair became known as the only state agency in the nation that made “house calls.” Inspectors went to car owners’ homes and at no charge inspected the quality of repair made to a vehicle that had been damaged within the last 90 days. The inspectors found that 42 percent of the 1,300 vehicles inspected had fraudulent repairs. The state required corrective action and in some cases it revoked the license of the guilty auto body shop.
- Women’s Health: Jackie has been very active in women’s health. Among her many accomplishments, one bill signed into law requires health plans to cover the cost of contraception and osteoporosis screening while banning maternity surcharges. Jackie also wrote legislation that created a “check-off” box on CA State tax forms enabling taxpayers to direct money specifically to Breast Cancer Research.
- California Kid’s License Plates: Jackie’s 1992 law established the California Kids’ License Plate that has raised millions for children safety programs. This highly popular official state license plate features symbols (a heart, a star, a hand or a plus-sign) that are used to create personal messages such as ” I (heart) 49ers.”
- Consumer Protection/Travel Restitution: Since 1996 thousands of Californians who have lost money due to travel agency failures have been protected under Jackie’s one-of-a-kind Sellers of Travel Restitution Fund. All California travel agencies and tour operators are required to pay into a state fund that is used to compensate travelers who buy travel but are not provided the services because of a business failure. This fund is maintained at a level of about $1 million.
- Family Law Mediation Program: Jackie created a free service operated by the courts to help low-income people filing for divorce. This program is used by about 80 percent of all persons who file without an attorney.
- Domestic Violence Reporting: In 1993 it was estimated that 35% of women entering emergency rooms were victims of domestic violence, but that 40 percent of physicians made no response to the evidence of abuse. Jackie’s AB 1652 now requires medical professionals to report suspected domestic violence to the appropriate authorities.