Cathleen Galgiani (D) - District 05

Senate Resolution – Accomplishments for Senator Galgiani

Cathleen Galgiani served in the Legislature for 14 years, representing San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced Counties, and portions of Sacramento County in the Central Valley.  Her district is home to some of the richest agricultural land in the world. 

As Chair of the Agriculture Committee, in both the Senate and Assembly, she has sought to promote and grow California’s domestic food supply, and multi-billion dollar agriculture economy. 

Senator Galgiani was appointed by Governors Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom to serve as a member of the Delta Protection Commission, whose mission is to protect and restore the overall environment, and wildlife habitat of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta. 

She worked on the Legislative Committee on the Development of UC Merced to help secure funding and support for the establishment of California’s 10th University of California Campus, UC Merced.  , Galgiani secured $90 million dollars, from the State Budget for construction of a 56,000-square-foot building to support instruction and research activities for the Schools of Engineering and Natural Sciences.  She was also involved in the planning stages for creating the “UC Merced San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (PRIME)” program – a collaboration to train the next generation of San Joaquin Valley physicians.

Senator Galgiani has worked to facilitate the nation’s first High-Speed Rail project by authoring Proposition 1A, the California High-Speed Train Bond Act, and leading the statewide effort to secure more than $3 billion dollars in Federal stimulus funding for the project.  She also worked with stakeholders to create the Small Business Enterprise program within the High Speed Rail Authority.

During the State’s budget crisis, Senator Galgiani authored AB 2474 (2008), AB 896 (2009), and AB 1872 (2010) to protect the Children’s Hospital funding, to ensure continuous healthcare for California's most medically fragile pediatric population in the California Children's Services (CCS) program and the Genetically Handicapped Person's Program (GHPP). Infants and children in these programs have rare, difficult to treat, and potentially fatal illnesses.

Senator Galgiani led the effort to secure $9 million dollars to construct the city of Merced’s first railroad crossing underpass at G Street.  Prior to its construction, 73% of Merced’s residents, and emergency responders were blocked from having access to emergency hospital services when a train was stalled on a railroad track.

During California’s historic drought, Senator Galgiani helped enact Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014.  In addition, her legislation, SB 1120, was signed into law, establishing a statewide inventory of local and regional water supply projects in need of funding, in order to fast-track the development of local & regional water projects.   

As a member of the Legislature, Senator Galgiani has also focused her attention on:

• Establishing a “Family Justice Center” to bring a team of professionals together under one roof to provide multiple services for victims of domestic  violence, and their children:  In 2010, she authored AB 1770 to allow Stanislaus County to establish a Family Justice Center, similar to the model that has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice. 
• Providing mental health care services for California’s youth, including our youth in the LGBT community:  Assemblymember Galgiani authored AB 1780 (2008) to develop the administrative structure for the operations and fiscal management of the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program, which provides mental health services for our children & youth.
• Developing the “Court Appointed Special Advocates of Merced County” (CASA), whose goal is to provide a safe haven for all foster care children of Merced County:  CASA provides highly trained advocates to assist foster children by uniting the court system with agencies serving children in need of protection from further abuse and neglect.
• Protecting kids from online predators.  Senator Galgiani authored AB 755 (2011) to establish California’s Electronic Securing and Targeting of Online Predators Act (E-STOP).  AB 755 was folded into Proposition 35, which passed overwhelmingly by the voters in 2012. 
• Expanding telemedicine: AB 2120 (2008) Allows medical providers who use telemedicine in medically underserved rural and urban areas, to receive Medi-Cal reimbursement for optometry and dermatology services.  The lack of primary care practitioners, and the lack of transportation for patients in remote areas, continue to be barriers for patients in need of healthcare. 
• Portable dental care units - SB 562 (2013) Establishes a framework for "portable dental units," which can be used by a dentist, or dental hygienist at various field sites to help ensure the availability of dental health care services for patients who receive care in remote or underserved areas in the Central Valley.

Senator Galgiani served as the Legislative Chair for the annual “Peace Officers Memorial” Event at the Capitol.  She worked to secure funding in the State Budget to help pay for officer training in community- oriented policing, and collaboration between mental health professionals and law enforcement.

Along with Senator Anthony Canella, and Assemblymember Adam Gray, Senator Cathleen Galgiani fought to secure $400 million to extend the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) train from San Joaquin County to Ceres, Modesto, and Merced, as a key component of Senate Bill 1, the “Road Repair & Accountability Act” of 2017.

As Chair of the Select Committee on Missing & Unidentified Persons, she passed a number of bills to aid in the recovery and identification of missing persons.  She authored SB 1066 (2014) which requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to include photographs, dental records, and DNA for missing adults within its directory for missing children.  SB 1066 also requires the DOJ to serve as the statewide repository for all missing and unidentified persons, maintain dental records, and forward all information to the National Crime Information Center. 

SB 846 (2014)  expands the authority of the California Department of Justice (DOJ) to use a criminal profiling tool, known as “linkage analysis,” to help local law enforcement identify similar characteristics that may exist in a series of unsolved cold cases, suggesting the likelihood that the crimes were committed by the same offender.

SB 1330 (2016)  aids in the recovery of missing individuals who are developmentally disabled or cognitively impaired, by ensuring that law enforcement can utilize the “Be on the Lookout” bulletin to broadcast a missing person’s report and effect an immediate law enforcement response. 

SB 210 – (2015) – SB 210, sponsored by the deaf and hard of hearing community, requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to select language developmental milestones to provide parents, educators, and policy makers tools to identify and address language deprivation among children before they enter the classroom.

SB 1150 (2016) Along with Senator Mark Leno, Senator Galgiani was joint author of SB 1150 to provide protections under the “Homeowners Bill of Rights” to widows, widowers, and other survivors from losing their homes to foreclosure by requiring mortgage servicers to consider them for a loan assumption or modification in the event they aren’t listed on the mortgage note.

SB 1177 (2016) authorizes the Medical Board of California (MBC) to establish a Physician and Surgeon Health and Wellness Program (PHWP) for the early identification and appropriate interventions to support a licensee in his or her rehabilitation from substance abuse.

SB 704 (2017) Senator Galgiani authored SB 704 to protect the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, while providing additional educational and work opportunities for young adults who seek to improve and protect California’s natural resources.  SB 704 established a partnership between the Division of Boating and Waterways and the California Conservation Corps (CCC) in order to implement control programs for invasive aquatic plants within the Delta, the Suisun Marsh, and its tributaries. 

SB 1249 (2018), Senator Galgiani authored the “California Animal Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act” legislation to prohibit the sale or marketing in California, of cosmetics tested on animals for any purpose.  SB 1249 brings California’s humane standards for animals in line with the world’s highest.  

SB 632 (2019) Following a record year of catastrophic wildfires, Senator Galgiani passed SB 632 to require the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to expedite implementation of forest vegetation management projects that reduce fire fuels and improve protection from wildfires in vulnerable areas.