Assemblymember Jim Beall, Jr. (D-San Jose) is currently serving his first term in the California State Assembly. He proudly represents the 24th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Campbell, Saratoga, and parts of Santa Clara, San Jose and Los Gatos. He is dedicated to improving conditions for children, youth, families, and seniors in our community.

Assemblymember Beall was appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly as Chair of the Human Services Committee.  In this role, he plans to develop strategies to combat hunger, preserve safety net programs to seniors, the poor and disabled, and update the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act.  He has a personal interest in the issues covered by the Lanterman Act, and has consulted with and convened a wide range of consumers, advocates, service providers and administrators to explore issues affecting our future.  These issues include the steep increase in the incidence of autism; the quality of employment and day programs for the developmentally disabled; lack of rights and due process in the individual program plans (IPPs); ethnic and language disparities in service delivery; methods of outcome monitoring and evaluation. Following these hearings, a package of legislation will be introduced in early 2008.

In addition to serving on the Human Services Committee, Assemblymember Beall also serves on the following committees: Budget, Higher Education, Veterans’ Affairs, and Budget Sub Committee #1 – Health and Human Services.

Assemblymember Beall is also Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, a committee charged with developing policy to end the crisis of drug and alcohol addiction in California. Currently, the committee is conducting an in-depth review of substance abuse prevention, treatment practices, delivery of services, and coordination between state agencies.  Assemblymember Beall has convened a series of statewide hearings to explore how scientific advances over the past decade have dispelled unfair social stigmas and changed the way we look at addiction.  These advances have shown drug and alcohol addictions are a chronic health disease that physically change the brain and merit on-going medical treatment. Untreated substance abuse -- often coupled with mental illness -- costs California upwards of $44 billion per year.  He strongly believes both substance abuse and mental illness deserve professional medical treatment on par with that provided for all other chronic health illnesses.  Assemblymember Beall believes this complicated issue can no longer be ignored, and he is committed to pushing the issue to the top of California’s agenda.

As a legislator, he supported the adoption of a five percent rate increase for foster care, adoption assistance, KinGap, and group homes.  He also assisted in the adoption of a $20 million increase in transitional housing for foster youth.  In addition, Assemblymember Beall rejected the Governor’s proposed $314 million in cuts to children in CalWORKs families and helped create legislation increasing the frequency of community care facility inspections from once every five years to once every three years.  He also introduced a bill to leverage $100 million in federal funds to get more food stamps for our neediest Californians and introduced legislation that authorizes IHSS providers to read official documents to blind or visually impaired IHSS consumers.

As a nationally recognized expert in the field of transportation planning, Assemblymember Beall has focused significant attention on ensuring the development of a transit system serving the entire Bay Area.  During the past two decades, he served on many local, state, and regional transportation committees including the Traffic Authority Board, Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Valley Transit Authority, and the Silicon Valley Rapid Transit Policy Advisory Board. As Santa Clara County’s representative on the MTC in 1987, he was instrumental in delivering more than $12 million through MTC allocation funding for the county. Assemblymember Beall has also worked on many transportation projects at the state level including the organization of the Silicon Valley Legislative Delegation to lobby for Traffic Congestion Relief Program funds, Corridor Mobility Improvement Account Project funding, and lowering traffic snarls throughout the county.

Assemblymember Beall attended San Jose State University, where he focused on Urban Planning and Public Finance and received a BA in Political Science. Prior to joining the Legislature, he served for 12 years on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and 14 years on the San Jose City Council, demonstrating a deep commitment to the county’s neediest residents including emancipated foster youth, uninsured children, seniors, disabled individuals and those who have been diagnosed with mental health issues. He has been recognized for his work to reform Medi-Cal and welfare programs at the state level and for his work to create safe, affordable housing.