Alberto Torrico

Alberto Torrico
Member of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board
In office May 13, 2008 – March 18, 2010
Appointed by	Karen Bass
Preceded by	Karen Bass
Succeeded by	Charles Calderon
Member of the California State Assembly from the 20th district
In office December 6, 2004 – November 30, 2010
Preceded by	John Dutra
Personal details
Political party	Democratic

Alberto Osvaldo Torrico (born March 18, 1969) is a member of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. He formerly represented the 20th Assembly District which includes Fremont, Newark, Union City and Milpitas among other cities in the East Bay. A Democrat, former Assemblyman Torrico served in both the Hispanic Caucus as his father is from Bolivia and the Asian Pacific Island Caucus as his mother is Japanese. This made him the first California state assemblyman to serve in two different ethnic caucuses.

Alberto Torrico currently sat on the governmental organization committee,Utilities and Commerce committee, and Public Employees, Retirement & Social Securtity committee. He is also the chair of the Select Committee on Safety and Protection.

Torrico ran unsuccessfully for California's Attorney General in 2010.

Early life and education

Torrico attended Irvington High School in Fremont, California where he was one of the Mission Valley Athletic League’s best soccer players. Upon graduation from high school, Torrico was an assistant coach to the varisty Boy's soccer team. Bill Sinnot was the head coach. Torrico became the first member of his family to graduate from college when he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Santa Clara University. He went on to earn a J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of Law.

Legal career

Torrico was admitted to the California State Bar in 1996. His career in public service began as a policy aide for Santa Clara County Supervisor Ron Gonzales. He specialized in labor law at Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfield in Oakland and Los Angeles, taught labor and employment law at San Jose City College, and served as assistant general counsel at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority in San Jose. In 2001, he opened a private law practice in Fremont where he worked with unions, took individual employee-rights cases and did criminal defense work, incorporations for small business, wills and trusts.

Early Public Service

An incident in law school inspired him to focus on public service and civil rights. As a volunteer at a legal clinic, he represented a Central American immigrant who had been denied more than $10,000 in overtime pay. The client wanted to settle the case for $3,000, but Torrico persuaded him to hold out and won a $10,000 settlement. The grateful client thanked him and called him a role model for other young Latinos.

Public service

Newark City Council

Torrico was elected to the Newark City Council in 2001 and was subsequently elected by his colleagues on the City Council as the new Vice-Mayor of Newark. Even in tough economic times, Torrico worked to keep the city budget balanced while still fighting for his top priorities. He championed the creation of affordable housing and the development of regional solutions to the area's traffic problems. Torrico is proudest of his work to expand city-sponsored educational programs that give teens a chance to "drop-in," instead of dropping out. The son of immigrants, Torrico worked hard to give children opportunities they may not have had.

California State Assembly

Torrico was elected to the California state Assembly in 2004 to succeed term-limited John Dutra. Torrico is the first legislator to join two ethnic caucuses: the Legislative Latino Caucus and the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus. In his first term 17 of his bills were signed into law, an extraordinary feat for a freshman legislator. As Chair of the Assembly Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security (PERSS) he led the battle to defeat Gov. Schwarzenegger’s drive to privatize public pensions and to eliminate benefits to the widows of fallen police officers and firefighters.

In his second term Torrico was appointed Chair of the Governmental Organization Committee. Torrico was later named Director for Majority Affairs. In this role Torrico was responsible for major Democratic legislative initiatives and for Democratic Caucus development. In May 2008, Torrico was tapped by Speaker Bass to become Assembly Majority Leader. He successfully authored legislation to increase public safety by establishing statewide standards for EMT certifications, disciplinary orders and conditions of probation. Since being elected to the Assembly, Torrico has authored 47 measures that were passed by the Legislature and 32 of them were signed into law by California's Republican Governor, Schwarzenegger.

Torrico's legislative priorities in his third and final term in the assembly included passing the safe surrender bill which allows parents, within 30 days of giving birth, to safely surrender their child over to a designated safe surrender location. Other legislation ranged from good government reform bills to oil extraction fees to fund higher education.

A bill he authored, AB 656 – Fair Share for Fair Tuition – proposes to raise funds for California’s public higher education system by charging a 12.5% tax on oil extracted within California. AB 656 is estimated to raise $2 billion annually for the University of California, California State University and California Community College systems.

Torrico also co-authored a bill to bypass environmental quality regulations to build a stadium in Los Angeles. The bill, benefiting the efforts of developer Edward P. Roskito get the National Football League was controversial with many environmentalists and legislators. Further controversy ensued when it was announced that Roski had given over $500,000 to political campaigns, including $5,000 to Assemblyman Torrico.

Non-Voting Controversy

During his tenure in the Assembly, Torrico was criticized by the press and advocacy groups for being a non-voter (known as "taking a walk") on an important consumer protection bill that would have banned the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in products aimed at young children. Once a high-profile supporter of Senate Bill 797, Torrico refused to vote even though he was present during the roll call, after manufacturers of BPA and the products that use it spent $5 million against the bill. Torrico also took a walk and did not vote on a gay marriage bill in 2005, which needed only 6 more votes to pass. Despite his work in civil rights, Torrico stated But it's all about what I think God wants for us, and I can't get around that."

California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board

After Torrico left the Assembly due to term limits after his third term, Assembly Speaker John Perez appointed him to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.

Personal life

Torrico and his wife, Raquel, have an 8-year-old son, Mateo, and 4-year-old daughter, Amy-Elyzabeth.

References

California Assembly
Preceded by John Dutra	Assemblymember, 20th District 2004–present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Karen Bass	Assembly Majority Leader May 13, 2008–present	Incumbent