Hispanics and labor advocates applauded the move, while Republicans and business leaders remained worried about her pro-labor slant. On December 19, 2008, Obama named Solis, then 51, to be his labor secretary. In 2007 Solis was appointed to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Two years later she became the first such person elected co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues. In 2003 Solis became the first Latina appointed to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Solis's 32nd House district includes East Los Angeles, El Monte, and several other communities in the San Gabriel Valley. Martinez switched his affiliation to Republican shortly thereafter. She kept the other portion, a silver lantern valued at $10,000, after a state commission ruled it would not violate ethics laws.Īlso that year, she was elected to Congress after defeating incumbent Matthew Martinez in an acrimonious Democratic primary. Solis donated the $25,000 cash prize to local environmental groups. Solis in 2000 became the first woman to win the Profiles in Courage Award from the John F. A Democrat, she frequently visited the offices of Republicans, and many who disagreed with her positions respected her diligence and candor. After her proposal to raise the minimum hourly wage from $4.25 to $5.75 per hour stalled following the hearings, Solis and labor lawyer Barry Broad huddled to organize a ballot measure, which passed in 1996, thanks to union support. She summoned garment manufacturers to the Sacramento capital and urged stronger enforcement of laws against sweatshops. After authorities in 1995 raided a garment sweatshop in El Monte-where Solis lives-she held headline-generating hearings on worker abuse. Two years later, Solis became the first Latina elected to the state Senate.Īs a young assemblywoman, Solis voted for legislation that banned smoking in all workplaces, and after her election to the Senate, she chaired the labor committee, building a reputation as an activist. In 1992 she won election to the state Assembly. Solis launched her political career in 1985, at age 28, when she won a seat on the board of trustees at Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier, California, defeating two longtime incumbents. Sayyad, owner of Sam's Foreign & Domestic Auto Center in Irwindale, California. Also while in Washington, she met her future husband, Sam H. During her graduate studies in Washington, D.C., Solis got a job as President Jimmy Carter's special assistant for Hispanic affairs and later worked in the Office of Management and Budget, and these appointments fueled her interest in politics. Solis received a bachelor of arts degree from California State University, Pomona, and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Southern California. During the 1970s, she always made time to take her younger sisters to the library, encouraging them to study. Grant money helped Solis become the first member of her family to graduate from college.
When the wind blew the wrong way, the family could smell the Puente Hills Landfill. Her father, Raul, worked at a battery plant in the City of Industry and was a steward for the Teamsters union he met her mother, Juana, a Nicaragua native, in citizenship class.
Solis, born in Los Angeles, was the third oldest of seven children and grew up in a tract home in nearby La Puente. Secretary of Labor, she will be responsible for the Labor Department's nearly $11 billion budget. Solis is a four-term congresswoman from Southern California with a strong pro-labor voting record. Hilda Solis was the choice of President Barack Obama to be his labor secretary. Solis) born Octoin Los Angeles, California, United States is an American politician and congresswoman. Hilda Solis (also known as: Hilda Lucia Solis, Hilda L.
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