Toni Atkins

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After serving two terms on the San Diego City Council, Toni Atkins wants to take her commitment to her community to another level.  As a member of the California State Assembly, plans to advocate for improved education, adequate and affordable housing and health care for all Californians.



Toni plans to help her state see through the nation’s current economic situation. For three years, Toni chaired San Diego's first-ever Budget and Finance Committee. Under her leadership, San Diego reformed its budget process to provide residents with an increased level of information about how the city spends its money. The committee protected the public’s right to participate in decisions about possible cuts to programming and services.



"I believe that we cannot let our current national and state fiscal crisis keep us from moving ahead on our most vexing problems,” she said. “Now is the time to examine our spending priorities."



In 2005, Toni was chosen by her council colleagues to serve as the Deputy Mayor of the City of San Diego, during a vacancy in the Mayor’s Office.She also chaired the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee for two years. 



As the marriage equality battle continues in California, Toni’s leadership on LGBT issues proves that she will be a great ally in the state legislature. Her leadership allowed the City of San Diego to sign on to the Amicus Brief to the State Supreme Court that overturned the 2002 marriage ban. On a more direct level, as a member of the city’s Transit Board, Atkins successfully expanded domestic partnership benefits to the Transit Agency and other governmental agencies.



Toni’s election would add a crucial fifth openly LGBT person to the California State Legislature and reinstate the LGBT caucus that has effectively passed pro-LGBT legislation over the past 10 years.