Inventory of the Teresa P. Hughes Papers

Processed by Ann Sullivan

California State Archives

1020 "O" Street

Sacramento, California 95814

Phone: (916) 653-2246

Fax: (916) 653-7363

Email: ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov

URL: http://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/

Inventory of the Teresa P. Hughes Papers

Collection number: See series descriptions.

California State Archives

Office of the Secretary of State

Sacramento, California

Processed by:: Ann Sullivan
Date Completed:: December 2007
Encoded by:: Jessica Knox

Descriptive Summary

Title: Teresa P. Hughes Papers

Dates: 1975-2000

Collection number: See series descriptions.

Creator: Teresa P. Hughes, California Legislator

Collection Size: 14 cubic feet

Repository: California State Archives

Sacramento, California

Abstract: Teresa P. Hughes, Democrat, was both a State Assembly Member, 1975-1992 and a State Senator, 1993-2000. She represented cities in Los Angeles County in the 47thth Assembly District and the 25th Senate District. The Teresa P. Hughes Papers consist of 14 cubic feet of textual records reflecting Hughes's activities during her 25-year career in the Assembly and Senate. The records contain Bill Files, 1975-2000.

Physical location: California State Archives

Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives collections.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Teresa P. Hughes Papers, LP[number]:[folder number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.

Acquisition and Custodial History

The California State Archives acquired the Teresa P. Hughes Papers following her final term in the State Legislature.

Biography

Teresa P. Hughes, Democrat, was both a State Assembly Member, 1975-1992 and a State Senator, 1993-2000. She represented cities in Los Angeles County in the 47thth Assembly District and the 25th Senate District.

Hughes was born October 3, 1932 in New York City. Hughes received a bachelor's degree in physiology and public health from Hunter College in New York, where she also did graduate work in sociology. She earned two degrees in education administration, a master's from New York University and a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate School. After completing her education, Hughes worked as a social worker, teacher, school administrator, and professor of education at California State University, Los Angeles. Prior to being elected to the State Assembly, Hughes had been a legislative consultant and administrative assistant to Senator Mervyn Dymally, a legislation and education consultant to the state Commission for Teacher Preparation and Licensing, a student coordinator of the Urban Affairs Institute, and a consultant to the Senate Select Committee on Children and Youth. Hughes has two children: Vincent and Deirdre Hughes, and is married to Frank E. Staggers, M.D.

Elected to represent the 47th Assembly District in 1975 in a special-election, Hughes served for seventeen years before successfully running for the 25th Senate District in 1992. When Hughes took office in 1975, she was the 16th woman to have ever served in the Legislature. During Hughes's term in the Assembly, the 47th District included a large part of south central Los Angeles, including the University of Southern California and the cities of Bell, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Downey, and Compton. Cities in the 25th Senate District also included much of south central Los Angeles County, such as Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Lynwood, Compton, and Paramount. Some of her main interests included education reform, unemployment, early childhood and bilingual education, and consumer issues. She once gave this statement, which gave insight to her governmental and political philosophy, "If we are to improve the quality of life in California, we must work hard to ensure better services for senior citizens, improve education opportunities, improve transportation, housing programs, and better health care treatment for all." (Members of the California Legislature and Other State Officials, 1977-1978)

While Hughes represented her Assembly and Senate districts in the Legislature in Sacramento, she found time to stay involved with other civic activities as well. Her interest in education was evident with membership in the California Teacher's Association as well as sitting on the Board of Directors of the California Museum of Afro-American History and Culture (1977-1992), Board of Councilors of the USC School of Public Administration (1983-1992), and the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles County High Schooled for the Arts (1993-2000). Her membership in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Mexican-American Political Association (MAPA), and Board Memberships with the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (1993-2000) and the Black Agenda (1993-2000) also expressed her commitment to cultural interests. Additionally, she was affiliated with the California State Employees Association, AFL-CIO and the Coalition of Labor Union Women (1981-2000). Her Corporate Membership in Blue Shield of California (1985-2000) also showed her commitment to health care in California. She also founded Aware Women of California and was a member of the Democratic Women's Forum and the California Democratic Women's Caucus.

According to the California Legislature at Sacramento (Handbooks) and the Assembly Final History, Hughes served on the following legislative committees:

State Assembly, 1975-1992

Standing and Interim Committees
Business and Professions, 1981-1982
Economic Development and Planning, 1979-1980
Education, 1975-1990
*Chair, 1983-1990
Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments, 1991-1992
Finance and Insurance, 1985-1988
Health, 1981-1982
Housing and Community Development, 1975-1982, 1989-1990
*Vice Chair, 1977-1978
*Chair, 1979-1980
Human Resources, 1975-1978
*Chair, 1977-1978
Local Government, 1991-1992
Public Employees and Retirement, 1983-1986
Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security, 1987-1990
Utilities and Commerce, 1983-1988, 1991-1992
Ways and Means, 1977-1978, 1991-1992
Subcommittees
Higher Education, 1985-1990
Housing Production, 1979-1980
Interstate Banking, 1985-1986
Postsecondary Education, 1975-1982
*Chair, 1981-1982
Medi-Cal Reform, 1981-1982
Workers' Compensation, 1985-1986
Select Committees
Accreditation, 1989-1990
California-Mexico Affairs, 1989-1990
Genetic Diseases, 1977-1980, 1989-1990
*Chair, 1996
Olympic Oversight, 1983-1984
Review of State Mandates on School Districts, 1981-1982
Special Committees
Los Angeles Crisis, 1991-1992
Ad Hoc Subcommittee
Adult Vocational Education, 1977-1978
Boards, Commissions, Etc.
Consumer Advisory Council, 1975-1980
Education Commission of the States, 1983-1992
Lieutenant Governor's Advisory Committee, 1975-1976, 1989-1992
*Co-Chair 1975-1976
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, 1981-1992
National Student Loan Marketing Association(by Appointment of President Carter), 1979-1980
Review of the Master Plan for Higher Education, 1985-1988
State's Economy, 1979-1990
State Allocation, 1981-1982, 1985-1990

State Senate, 1993-2000

Standing and Interim Committees
Appropriations, 1995-1998
Education, 1995-2000
Energy and Public Utilities, 1993-1996
Energy, Utilities, and Communications, 1995-2000
Governmental Organization, 1993-2000
Health and Human Services, 1993-2000
Insurance, 1995-2000
Local Government, 1993-1996
Public Employment and Retirement, 1993-1998
*Chair, 1993-1998
Rules, 1997-2000
Subcommittees
School Safety Chair, 1993-1996
Horseracing, 1995-2000
Aging, 1997-1998
Aging and Long Term Care, 1999-2000
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, 1997-1998
*Chair, 1997-1998
Morbidity and Mortality Disparities, 1997-1998
Health Care Reform, 1995-1996
Select Committees
Alameda Corridor, 1997-1998
California's Business Climate, 1995-1996
*Chair, 1995-1996
Community Development, 1997-2000
*Chair, 1997-2000
Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health, 1997-2000
Family Preservation and Teenage Pregnancy Prevention, 1993-1996
*Chair, 1993-1996
Higher Education Admission and Outreach, 1997-2000
*Chair, 1997-2000
Northridge Earthquake, 1995-1996
School Safety, 1997-2000
*Chair, 1997-2000
Urban Economic Development, 1999-2000
*Chair, 1999-2000
Women in the Workforce, 1993-2000
Special Committees
Entertainment Industry, 1993-1996
Legislative Black Caucus, 1993-2000
Legislative Women's Caucus, 1993-2000
Local Government Investments, 1995-1996
Joint Committees
Arts, 1993-2000
Rules, 1997-2000
Workers' Compensation, 1997-1998
Boards, Commissions, and Councils
Task Force on School Violence, 1993-2000

Biography/Organization History

Senator Hughes did not run for re-election in 2000 due to term limits. In July of 2000, Hughes was given a formal tribute by the Honorable Julian C. Dixon in the House of Representatives for her distinguished public service to the citizens of California. The renaming of an elementary school in Cudahy, California as the "Teresa P. Hughes Elementary School" was another tribute that Hughes received in 1988. This commemorated Hughes's longtime public and personal commitment to ensuring quality education for California's school children. Hughes served as a California Assembly Member and State Senator for 25 years.

Following a brief retirement, Hughes continued her commitment to fair housing for all Californians. She became a board member of the Nehemiah Corporation of America in 2005. Nehemiah Corporation of America is a non-profit organization specializing in homeownership, affordable housing and community development.

Scope and Content

The Teresa P. Hughes Papers consist of 14 cubic feet of textual records reflecting Hughes's activities during her 25-year career in the Assembly and Senate. The records contain Bill Files, 1975-2000.

The bill files document Hughes's legislative activity during her tenure as a member of the California State Legislature. The bills introduced by Teresa Hughes include a wide array of subjects. She authored bills concerning education, public health, housing, and community development. Hughes's primary concern while in the Legislature was education. She regularly introduced and supported legislation to improve all levels of California's public education. She introduced numerous pieces of legislation intended to improve the quality of education received by pre-school through post-secondary students. After working as an educator herself, Hughes recognized that improvement of students relied on a well educated, respected, and rewarded pool of teachers. Her legislation reflected this by requiring continued education for teachers and more equitable salaries. One of Hughes's most notable pieces of legislation in the Assembly was AB70 of 1983. This bill intended to strengthen high school graduation standards, improve high school course offerings, and to attract and retain high quality teachers and administrators. Along with SB 813 (Hart) these bills became known as the Hughes-Hart Education Reform Act. Other legislation she introduced mandated affirmative-action reporting in admissions for institutions of higher education and also implemented a race and ethnic relations course requirement for students in California colleges and universities. (ACR 28, 1977-1978; AB 383, 1983-1984; AB3207, 1982)

Teresa Hughes also introduced legislation to improve the public health programs for Californians. She legislated research grants for lupus and high blood pressure, two illnesses that disproportionately affected her African American constituents. She was instrumental in reforming sexual education taught in schools in order that material would include AIDS prevention in junior high schools as well as high schools. She also introduced legislation that allowed a physician to inform a patient's spouse of a positive AIDS test. (AB 2170, AB2688; 1988)

While in the Senate, Hughes focused on many of the same issues she pursued in the Assembly. Additional interests that she advocated for included elder abuse prevention and anti-predatory lending policies. After the Los Angeles Riots of 1992, Hughes introduced many bills reflecting violence prevention in schools and the community such as SB1729 in 1993 and SB355 in 1999.

Related Material at the California State Archives

Assembly Committee on Education Committee Records

Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development Committee Records

Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce Committee Records

Legislative Black Caucus Records

Senate Committee on Health and Human Services Committee Records

Senate Committee on Public Employment and Retirement Committee Records

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Hughes, Teresa P.

Education

Public health

See LP Numbers below.

Series 1 Bill Files 1975-2000

Physical Description: 274 file folders

Arrangement

Bill files are arranged chronologically by legislative session and then numerically by bill number.

Scope and Content Note

Bill files created by Teresa P. Hughes document legislation she authored while serving as Assembly member, 1975-1992 and Senator, 1993-2000. An average file may contain drafts of bills, analyses by committees and state agencies, comments by constituents or other interested parties, notes by Hughes and her staff, relevant background reports or newspaper articles, correspondence in support of or opposed to legislation, veto messages, notices from the legislative counsel about related bills, and other miscellaneous materials. Depending on the extent of the bill file, they may help reveal the legislator's intent for the measure. Topics found throughout the series include education reform and modernization, housing and community development, public health reform, and elder abuse prevention.

Among her significant legislation was AB70 of 1983. This bill was intended to strengthen high school graduation standards, improve high school course offerings, and to attract and retain high quality teachers and administrators. Along with SB813 (Hart) these bills became known as the Hughes-Hart Education Reform Act. AB2225 of 1982 developed an experimental program, which extended the school year program for poorly performing schools in the Compton Unified School District in order to bring the students closer to the state average. AB733 of 1987 allocated special grant funding to reconstruct school buildings damaged in earthquakes. This piece of legislation became known as the Hughes Earthquake Safety Act of 1987. Hughes continued to express her concern over the safety of students inside school with SB1729 of 1993, which instituted a violence prevention program. This piece of legislation's timing was important because it was introduced after the Los Angeles Riots of 1992 as a solution to rising youth crime rates and it provided alternative programs on violence-plagued campuses.

The protection of senior citizens rights was another topic for which Hughes regularly authored legislation. Hughes authored SB163 of 1999, which allowed law enforcement to intervene when there was a suspected case of elder abuse, similar to suspected child abuse cases. Hughes introduced SB1203 in 1995 that would make predatory home loans issued to senior citizens punishable by law. She also introduced a series of bills that protected the retirement plans of public employees, teachers, and judges (SB107, 1993; SB860, SB1527, 1994; SB791, 1995; and SB2163, 1998).

State Assembly, 1975-1992

1975-1976: AB2740, AB37 (1ff) LP379:1

1975-1976: AB2593-AB4493, ACR110-ACR234 (9ff) LP197:36-44

1977-1978: AB53-AB3821, ACA22, ACR3-ACR100 (1ff) LP379:2

1979-1980: AB10-AB3439, ACR25-ACR104, AJR83 (1ff) LP379:3

1981-1982: AB55-AB3208, AJR 30 (18ff) LP379:4-21

1983-1984: Legislative Recaps, AB70-AB3985, ACA8,ACR10-ACR162, AJR6-AJR116 (33ff) LP379:22-54

1985-1986: AB5-AB4380, ACR30-ACR150, AJR25 (28ff) LP379:55-82

1987-1988: AB9-AB4378, ACA28, ACR19-ACR135 (21ff) LP379:83-103

1989-1990: AB11-AB4338, AB55X, ACR70-ACR141 (29ff) LP379:104-132

1991-1992: AB11-AB3821, ACA4, ACR58-ACR129,HR18 (23ff) LP379:133-155

State Senate, 1993-2000

1993-1994: Legislative Recaps, SB107-SB2046, SB42X,SCR16-SCR35, SJR39, SR23 (44ff) LP379:156-199

1995-1996: SB101-SB2151, SCR22-SCR65, SJR34 (27ff) LP379:200-226

1997-1998: SB179-SB2163, SCA7, SCR10-SCR83 (29ff) LP379:227-255

1999-2000: SB53-SB2087, SCA2, SCR11-SCR77 (19ff) LP379:256-274