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Alberto Torrico
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Karen Bass |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office December 6, 2004 |
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| Preceded by | John Dutra |
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| Political party | Democratic |
Alberto Torrico (born March 18, 1969 in San Francisco, California) is the California State Assembly Majority Leader and has been a member of the California State Assembly since December 6, 2004, succeeding term-limited Assemblyman John Dutra.
He represents the 20th Assembly District which includes Fremont, Newark, Union City and Milpitas among other cities in the East Bay. A Democrat, Assemblyman Torrico serves in both the Hispanic Caucus as his father is from Bolivia and the Asian Pacific Island Caucus as his mother is Japanese. This makes him the first California state assemblyman to serve in two different ethnic caucuses.
Alberto Torrico currently sits on the governmental organization committee,Utilities and Commerce committee, and Public Employees, Retirement & Social Securtity committee. He is also the chair of the Select Committee on Safety and Protection.
In February 2009 Torrico announced his intention to run for California's Attorney General in 2010 [1]
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Early Life and Education
Torrico attended Irvington High School in Fremont, California where he was one of the Mission Valley Athletic League’s best soccer players. Torrico became the first member of his family to graduate from college when he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Santa Clara University. He went on to earn a J.D. from University of California Hastings College of Law.
Legal Career
Torrico’s career in public service began as a policy aide for Santa Clara County Supervisor Ron Gonzalez. He specialized in labor law at Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfield in Oakland and Los Angeles, taught labor and employment law at San Jose City College, and served as assistant general counsel at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority in San Jose. In 2001, he opened a private law practice in Fremont where he worked with unions, took individual employee-rights cases and did criminal defense work, incorporations for small business, wills and trusts.
Early Public Service
An incident in law school inspired him to focus on public service and civil rights. As a volunteer at a legal clinic, he represented a Central American immigrant who had been denied more than $10,000 in overtime pay. The client wanted to settle the case for $3,000, but Torrico persuaded him to hold out and won a $10,000 settlement. The grateful client thanked him and called him a role model for other young Latinos.
Public Service
Newark City Council
Torrico was elected to the Newark City Council in 2001 and was subsequently elected by his colleagues on the City Council as the new Vice-Mayor of Newark. Even in tough economic times, Torrico worked to keep the city budget balanced while still fighting for his top priorities. He championed the creation of affordable housing and the development of regional solutions to the area's traffic problems. Torrico is proudest of his work to expand city-sponsored educational programs that give teens a chance to "drop-in," instead of dropping out. The son of immigrants, Torrico worked hard to give children opportunities they may not have had.
California State Assembly
Torrico was elected to the California state Assembly in 2004 to succeed term-limited John Dutra. Torrico is the first legislator to join two ethnic caucuses: the Legislative Latino Caucus and the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus. In his first term 17 of his bills were signed into law, an extraordinary feat for a freshman legislator. As Chair of the Assembly Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security (PERSS) he led the battle to defeat Gov. Schwarzenegger’s drive to privatize public pensions and to eliminate benefits to the widows of fallen police officers and firefighters.
In his second term Torrico was appointed Chair of the Governmental Organization Committee. Torrico was later named Director for Majority Affairs. In this role Torrico was responsible for major Democratic legislative initiatives and for Democratic Caucus development. In May of 2008, Torrico was tapped by Speaker Bass to become Assembly Majority Leader. He successfully authored legislation to increase public safety by establishing statewide standards for EMT certifications, disciplinary orders and conditions of probation. Since being elected to the Assembly, Torrico has authored 47 measures that were passed by the Legislature. Remarkably, 32 of them were signed into law by California's Republican Governor.
Torrico is currently in his third and final term in the assembly. Due to term limits he will be termed out in 2010. One of his legislative priorities includes passing the safe surrender bill which allows parents, within 30 days of giving birth, to safely surrender their child over to a designated safe surrender location. Other legislation ranges from good government reform bills to oil extraction fees to fund higher education.
Personal Life
Torrico and his wife, Raquel, have an 8-year-old son, Mateo, and 4-year-old daughter, Amy-Elyzabeth. Torrico’s father is of Bolivian descent and his mother is of Japanese descent.
Future Political Career
Torrico is currently a candidate for California Attorney General in 2010 [2].
| California Assembly | ||
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| Preceded by John Dutra |
Assemblymember, 20th District 2004–present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Karen Bass |
Assembly Majority Leader May 13, 2008–present |
Incumbent |
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