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Our Weekly Names Majority Leader Bass as State Person of the Year

December 28, 2006
First Majority Whip makes history

By Shirley Hawkins
OW Staff Writer

Karen Bass has been a State Assembly member representing Los Angeles’ 47th District since 2005. She was selected by speaker Fabian Nunez as the Majority Floor Leader for the California State Assembly during the 2007-2008 legislative session, making her the first African American and the first woman to hold the leadership position.

During the 2005-2006 legislative session, Bass served as the Majority Whip and has emerged as a champion of foster care, having served as the chair of the Select Committee on Foster Care.

After hearing hundeds of children, parents and foster families testify at more than 15 public hearings hosted by Bass throughout California, Bass organized bipartisan participation that has resulted in a package of 25 bills focusing on improving the state’s foster care system. She also helped to secure $82 million in the 2006/2007 state budget for Foster Care Reform, which is the largest increased allocation in more than a decade and develop new laws to help improve the system.

Bass’ concern for helping her community developed early in her career. As a former graduate in the University of Southern California’s Physician Assistant Program, Bass worked at the Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center’s emergency room where she saw the violence and despair unleashed by the crack cocaine epidemic. To combat the disparities, Bass used her organizing experience to found the Community Coalition, a direct response to the drug epidemic and “war on drugs” in South Los Angeles.

For her unwavering dedication and diligence, Karen Bass is Our Weekly’s 2006 State Person of the Year.
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