Candidate for
State Senator; District 13; Democratic Party

As a community activist, local city council member, and current two-term Member of the California State Assembly, Manny Diaz has been a champion for children, working families, seniors and Silicon Valley's business community.for over 20 years.

The son of a single mother who worked two jobs to support her five children, Manny learned the value and dignity of hard work. Manny delivered papers at age nine and worked his way through high school and college. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from San Francisco State University and worked as an engineering manager in the area for seventeen years.

Manny Diaz has spent the last twenty years fighting for the Valley:

• In the 1980s, as the President of the Silicon Valley Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, he lead the fight to create private/public partnerships to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars of scholarship funds for hundreds of disadvantaged students to attend college.

• As a San Jose Planning Commissioner from 1986-1993, Manny co-authored legislation to protect our foothills and other natural resources while working to revive the local economy and create more affordable housing.

• As a San Jose City Council Member from 1995-2000, Manny created after school homework centers in 19 school districts by forging local partnerships between the public and private sector.

• He worked to provide health care insurance for children across the Santa Clara County through the first of its kind Children's Health Insurance Program that now serves as a model for the rest of the state. The program has enrolled over 50,000 children to date.

• He successfully promoted smart growth policies working to control urban sprawl and served as a founding board member of the Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority.

Assemblymember Diaz has written and passed laws that focused on the region's most pressing issues: access to affordable health care and housing, improving public schools, creating more job opportunities and relieving the transportation problems that create gridlock on the Valley's roads.

In his first term, he authored a law that provides incentives for counties to create a Children's Health Insurance Program, replicating the successful "Healthy Kids" model in Santa Clara County. He also worked to secure over $200 million in federal funds to help fund children's health programs statewide..

As chair of the State Assembly's Select Committee on Housing in the Silicon Valley, Manny successfully authored legislation providing state funds for low-income rental housing and affordable first-time home buyer programs, directly benefiting groups like the Housing Trust Fund of Santa Clara County. He was recently honored as Legislator of the Year by the local ACORN chapter for his lifetime achievements in creating affordable housing opportunities for working families and seniors.

During this year's budget crisis, Manny made the tough choices necessary to balance the budget while working protect funding for our public schools. He fought back proposals to cut funds for basic aid school districts that would include schools in Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Mountain View areas. He also worked to protect smaller class sizes.

Manny has been a tireless leader for diverse communities and immigrants throughout the Valley and California. Over the past 10 years, he has successfully worked to create more naturalization services, ESL classes, youth and senior programs, health care programs, job training programs, and small business development in economically disadvantaged areas.

Manny has received numerous awards for his leadership in the Assembly, including "Legislator of the Year" awards from the Professional Engineers in California Government and the local chapter of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), and the California State Students Association. Manny has also earned a 100% voting record from the Children's Advocacy Institute, Planned Parenthood, the Congress of California Seniors, and has an outstanding record from the California League of Conservation Voters. He also received the "Vote the Coast" Award.

Manny and his wife Sandra live in downtown San Jose with their macaw Cha-Cha and cockatoo Tutti. Manny has three grown children: Lito, Raquel and Marcos.