Supervisor Solis, a longtime environmental justice advocate, represents the County of Los Angeles on the SCAQMD Board.
Prior to becoming Supervisor, she served as Secretary of Labor for President Barack Obama. She was confirmed on Feb. 24, 2009, becoming the first Latina to serve in the United States Cabinet.
Her priorities included expanding access to affordable health care, protecting the environment and improving the lives of working families. As a recognized leader on clean-energy jobs, she authored the Green Jobs Act which provided funding for “green collar” job training for veterans, displaced workers, at risk youth, and individuals in families under 200 percent of the federal poverty line. She helped kick-start the study that would eventually lead to the San Gabriel Mountains being named as a national monument. As a supervisor, she has supported funding for parks and “parklets” in urban neighborhoods and other initiatives that promote sustainability.
During her tenure in the California State Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, she worked to reduce emissions from highways, trains, gravel operations, refineries, and other harmful sources in order to protect public health. She believes that such measures can meet the needs of both businesses and local communities, and that positive workable solutions can be found for the air quality issues currently impacting her district. Solis also served two years in the state Assembly.
Solis received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2000 for her pioneering work on environmental justice issues. Her California environmental justice legislation, enacted in 1999, was the first of its kind in the nation to become law.
