Accomplishments

"When my family faced housing instability, I learned the importance of stable homes. When I lost job opportunities because of economic downturns, I discovered the power of resilience. When discriminatory policies prevented me from openly loving my wife, I found my voice as an advocate. I thrived because I had access to quality public schools, an opportunity to serve my country and community, and found a loving and accepting community in Burbank and the San Fernando Valley. As your State Senator, I'm working to ensure every family has those same opportunities.

That's why I've turned our shared challenges into concrete change: expanding fertility treatment coverage for families building their futures, reversing childcare funding cuts so parents can work, and creating tenant protections so small businesses can thrive. Here's how we're rewriting the rules to build the future we deserve."

Senator Caroline Menjivar

Rewriting the Rules and Delivering Results

Health Care That Works Better for Families

• Fertility Coverage for All Families: Breaking down barriers so working families can access fertility treatments like IVF, and ending discrimination against LGBTQ+ couples and single people trying to start families.

• Better Mental Health Services: Opening new training programs to fast-track more school counselors into our classrooms, directly tackling California's critical shortage so kids get the mental health support they need.

• Help for Homeless Youth: Making sure teenagers experiencing homelessness can get eye exams and glasses without needing the parental permission they can't get.

Protecting Families and Small Businesses from Eviction

• Small Business Protections: Championing California's first comprehensive tenant protections for small businesses and nonprofits, requiring fair notice for rent increases and evictions, lease translations in five languages, and transparency on hidden fees.

• Renter Protections: Created stronger safeguards for military families facing unfair deposit charges.

• Faster Utility Reconnection: Requiring utilities to restore power within 24 hours when families make payment arrangements, and directing regulators to consider customers' ability to pay before cutting off essential services.

• Keeping Families Together: Restoring $81 million to help homeless families reunify with their children instead of placing kids in foster care, increasing successful family reunifications by 20%.

• Protecting Vulnerable Seniors: Bringing back $83.8 million for emergency housing assistance to older adults who are victims of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation.

Environmental Justice in Action

• Banned Toxic Aviation Fuel: Leading the nation by becoming the first state to ban leaded aviation fuel, eliminating the last major source of lead pollution that disproportionately harms Latino and low-income communities.

• Greener Schools: Breaking down financial roadblocks that stopped schools from building gardens, planting trees, and creating healthy outdoor learning environments to help protect students from extreme heat while enhancing learning.

• Cleaner Water in San Fernando: Securing $3 million to fix the water treatment system so families in the City of San Fernando have clean, safe drinking water.

Strengthening Community Safety Nets

• Protected Childcare: Saved funding for 11,000 childcare spots and secured a plan to create 200,000+ new slots by 2028.

• Boosted Food Benefits: Increased monthly food assistance from $23 to $50 for our most vulnerable seniors.

• Foster Care Improvements: Restored cuts to programs helping kids in foster care and created better support for families.

• CalWORKs Protection: Blocked elimination of essential programs that provide job training, mental health services, addiction treatment, and family support for California's most vulnerable families.

Direct Investment in Our Neighborhoods

• $500,000: For LA Family Housing to complete renovations to 75 units of interim housing at The Sieroty, Reseda.

• $130,000: Refrigerated truck for community food services at Vida Community Center, Sun Valley

• $747,000: Increase outside refrigeration capacity Meet Each Need with Dignity (MEND), Pacoima

• $100,000: Necessary modernization renovations at American Legion Post 176, San Fernando which haven’t been made since 1953

• $400,000: Equestrian trail master plan for the Northeast San Fernando Valley

• $500,000: Roof repairs and air conditioning upgrades at the Alliance for Community Empowerment (ACE) in Canoga Park

• $150,000: New roof for the Heartfelt Education Through the Arts (H.E.ARTS) in North Hollywood

• $1 million: Support the acquisition of a commissary at ICON-CDC.

• $3 million: Support construction of the Pacoima Justice and Job Training Center.

  These aren't just policy wins—they're real changes that improve life for families right here in our community.