Assembly Member Tom Ammiano was recently elected to the California State Assembly in November 2008. He is a long-time San Francisco Democratic leader who has served the city nearly three decades as a teacher, civil rights leader, educator and Supervisor. He is a native of New Jersey where he earned his B.A. from Seton Hall. He is also a product of the CSU, where he earned his Master’s Degree in special education from San Francisco State University.

Assembly Member Ammiano is the Vice Chair of the Assembly Human Resources Committee, a member of Assembly Appropriations Committee, Education Committee, Health Committee and Rules Committee. Additionally, he a member of the Legislature’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual Caucus, the Environmental Caucus and the Assembly Coastal Caucus. He indicates that his legislative interests are progressive issues such as health care, schools, civil rights and the challenges facing working families.

Some of Mr. Ammiano’s accomplishments while on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors include:

• authoring legislation establishing San Francisco as the first city in America to provide universal health care access;
• winning the battle to dramatically increase salaries for the lowest-paid city employees and contract workers;
• authoring measures to increase police accountability and strengthen the Office of Citizen’s Complaints;
• sponsoring the city’s “Great Schools” Charter Amendment adding $300 million to San Francisco public schools;
• establishing a fund that provides millions annually to subsidize child care, health and social services for San Francisco youth;
• passing a pioneering law to extend marriage privileges to domestic partners in the city; and
• creating a fund to assist first-time home buyers as well as develop housing to be available to all San Francisco residents.

He taught English to children in South Vietnam as part of a Quaker program until 1968, when he returned to San Francisco to become a public school teacher shortly after the Tet Offensive. Tom was elected to the San Francisco School Board in 1990, where he served until 1994 and was elected President of the School Board. In 1994, Tom won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He served as President of the Board of Supervisors from 1998 to 2002. In addition to serving on the Board, Tom served on the Golden Gate Bridge Board and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

He represents portions of San Francisco, including the neighborhoods of Bay View, Hunters Point, Bernal Heights, the Mission, Chinatown, the Castro, Diamond Heights, the Marina, South of Market, and Downtown.