The History, Development, and Policy Influence of the California Latino Legislative Caucus Prepared by the Center for Southern California Studies, California State University, Northridge as part of the Faculty Research Fellows Program for the Center for California Studies, California State University, Sacramento Lawrence C. Becker, Ph.D.1 Tyler Hughes, Ph.D.2 Jason L. Morin, Ph.D.2 Abstract: The California Latino Legislative Caucus (CLLC) was established in 1973 to advance the policy interests of both Latinos and the general population in California. As one of the largest legislative caucuses in the Legislature, the CLLC wields a great deal of influence over legislative committees, leadership positions, and policy outcomes. The CLLC expanded its own institutional capacity as its processes and structures became more formalized. Based on interviews with current and former Caucus members and staff as well as various other sources of data, this report examines the history, growth, development, and policy influence of the Caucus. Part I of the report provides a historical overview of the development of the CLLC. Part II explores various aspects of the growth and institutionalization of the Caucus including the development of key sub-networks, sources of Caucus unity, the routinization of Caucus procedures, and the role of leadership within the Caucus. Part III outlines the Caucus’s policy agenda, roll call voting patterns, and influence on the policymaking process. Finally, the report concludes with a summary of findings and a brief discussion of the Caucus’s role in the future. 1 Director, Center for Southern California Studies and Chair, Department of Political Science, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330 2Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330 Acknowledgements This research would not have been possible without the assistance of many individuals who generously gave of their time so that this report could be more complete. The staff of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, Willie Guerrero, Armando Chavez, and Cesar Anda, arranged most of the interviews we conducted and graciously hosted us in Sacramento for 3 days at the height of the legislative session when they surely had more pressing obligations. The Principal Consultant for the Caucus, Willie Guerrero, was especially generous with his time by being constantly available to us by phone, email, and even text to help us fill in details, arrange logistics for interviews, and to provide ideas on additional data sources. David Deis, the Staff Cartographer in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at California State University, Northridge spent hours of his own time to put together all of the wonderful figures and maps throughout the report. We thank him for helping us make the data in the report “sing.” George Tsouloufas, our Graduate Research Assistant, took on some of the more tedious and time-consuming data gathering tasks and he did it with professionalism and an amazing can-do attitude. Francesca Vega, Director of Government and Community Relations at California State University, Northridge was a wonderful source of ideas and offered a wealth of background information all along the way. The Research Fellows Program in the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento generously funded this work and we thank them not only for providing the necessary financial support but for developing the inspiration for this kind of important work. The Center for Southern California Studies in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at CSUN provided staff and logistical support as well. Finally, we have to thank the many current and former members of the Caucus and current and former legislative staff for taking the time to sit down for interviews with us. In addition to their insights and experience, most every person we interviewed offered to follow up with more information, to help us get access to others they knew could be helpful, and were eager to learn how else they could help. Most importantly, they were all willing to provide remarkable access to a group of political scientists they had never met before. Many thanks to you all. 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................................... 2 Tables and Figures ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 5 Part I: Historical Overview of the California Latino Legislative Caucus ........................................................ 9 Laying the Foundation (1973-1990) ....................................................................................................... 10 An Era of Growth (1991-2002) ............................................................................................................... 14 An Era of Political Influence (2003-Current) .......................................................................................... 21 Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 25 Part II – The Growth, Organization, and Institutional Development of the CLLC ....................................... 27 Sub-networks ......................................................................................................................................... 27 Caucus Leadership ................................................................................................................................. 33 Building Out the Caucus ......................................................................................................................... 40 Caucus Cohesion and Unity .................................................................................................................... 46 Formalizing and Professionalizing the Caucus ....................................................................................... 50 Latino Caucus Members as Legislative Leaders ..................................................................................... 56 Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 58 Part III – The Policy Influence of the California Latino Legislative Caucus ................................................. 59 The Policy Agenda .................................................................................................................................. 59 Ideological Voting of CLLC Members ..................................................................................................... 67 Policy Case Studies ................................................................................................................................. 72 Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 80 Part 4 – Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 82 References .................................................................................................................................................. 85 2 Appendices ................................................................................................................................................. 89 Appendix A: Interviews with Current and Former CLLC Members and Staff, by Date ........................... 89 Appendix B: Significant Chaptered Legislation Authored by Members of the CLLC, 1975 - 2012 ......... 90 3 Tables and Figures Figure A: Membership Totals in California Legislative Caucuses from Under-Represented Groups ........... 6 Figure 1.1: CLLC Membership Over Time, 1963-2016 ............................................................................... 10 Figure 1.2: Latinos as Percent of Total California Population, by Decade 1950-2010 ............................... 18 Figure 1.3: Latino Legislative Caucus in the California Assembly, 1991-1992 ........................................... 22 Figure 1.4: Latino Legislative Caucus in the California Senate, 2005-2006 ............................................... 23 Figure 2.1: Percent of CLLC Senators with Previous Services in the Assembly .......................................... 41 Figure 2.2: CLLC Latina Members, 1983-2016 ........................................................................................... 42 Figure 2.3: CLLC Assembly Membership, by District 1973-2016 ............................................................... 44 Figure 2.4: CLLC Senate Membership, by District 1973-2016 ................................................................... 45 Figure 2.5: Total Contributions to the California Latino Caucus PAC, 2009-2016 ..................................... 54 Figure 2.6: CLLC Membership