Melissa Fox for California Assembly

Background:

I am a passionate and hard-working advocate for families, the middle class, small businesses, schools, jobs and economic growth.

I am an Orange County native, a small business attorney, a wife and mother, and a dedicated community leader.

I was born in Garden Grove and raised in Westminster. My mother was a registered nurse and a librarian and my father was a police officer and later a compliance officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He is also a Korean War combat veteran.

I attended the Hebrew Academy, where I graduated as valedictorian, and then went to Brandeis University and Tulane University Law School.

After law school, I returned to Orange County, where for the last 17 years I have specialized in providing legal counsel to small businesses. I currently live in Lake Forest with my husband, Michael, and myr 11 year-old son, Max.

Goals:

As a Member of the Assembly, I will be:

·A new legislative voice for majority rule on budget issues.

·A new legislative voice for working families and labor.

·A new legislative voice for students and teachers.

·A new legislative voice for seniors.

·A new legislative voice for a progressive middle class.

·A new legislative voice for choice.

·A new legislative voice for single payer healthcare.

·A new legislative voice for marriage equality.

·A new legislative voice for a change.

Issues:

As a small business attorney for 17 years, I respect the hard work and knows the problems of business owners – problems that have been intensified by the current economic crisis. As a member of the Assembly, I will fight to reignite our Southern California economy and protect and grow the jobs we need.

As a mother with a child in a public school, I know the devastating impact of the budget crisis on our children and our schools. The most important investment we can make is in our children's education because investing in education ensures a stronger economic future for all of us. As a member of the Assembly, I will fight for our students and dedicated teachers, making sure that our schools -- from elementary schools to UCI -- are the very last thing to be cut in a budget crisis, not the first.

As a middle class homeowner and businesswoman, I know the financial burden that California’s unfair tax system – including hidden taxes such as increased vehicle fees, tolls, and college tuition – imposes on middle class families and small businesses. As a member of the Assembly, I will fight for tax fairness, making sure that our economy is stimulated by tax cuts for the middle class.

Grassroots Support:

Grassroots organizing is an essential element of my campaign.

Among the community organizations that I am working with are the National Woman's Political Caucus (endorsed), Women in Leadership, Orange County Progressive Democrats of America, local Democratic clubs, health care advocates, LGBT groups, student groups, and PTAs.

I have also actively created an online presence (with more than 500 supporters on Facebook) that is growing rapidly.

DFA Values:

I am socially progressive in that I support better funding for schools, colleges, and universities, single-payer health care, marriage equality, and strongly oppose the destruction of California's social safety net.

I am fiscally responsible in that I support much needed changes in California's tax system, which relies far too much on regressive taxes and fees (which hit the middle class and hardest) and which provides windfalls for major corporations and large landlords.