Sheila Kuehl

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Sheila Kuehl
Sheila Kuehl
Member of the California State Senate
from the 23rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office 
2000
Preceded by Tom Hayden
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 41st district
In office
1994 – 2000
Preceded by Terry Friedman
Succeeded by Fran Pavley
Born February 9, 1941
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Nationality Flag of the United States United States
Political party Democratic
Residence Los Angeles, California
Alma mater Harvard Law School
Profession Attorney
Website dist23.casen.govoffice.com
Sheila Kuehl
Born Sheila James Kuehl
Other name(s) Sheila James; Sheila Ann Kuehl
Years active 1950s – 1980s

Sheila James Kuehl (born February 9, 1941 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American politician, and a former child actress. She is currently a Democratic member of the California State Senate, representing the highly urbanized 23rd district in Los Angeles County and parts of southern Ventura County. A former member of the California State Assembly, she was elected to the Senate in 2000. Term limits will prevent her seeking a third Senate term in 2008.

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[edit] Biography

As a young actress with the stage name Sheila James, she played Jackie, Stuart Erwin's tomboy daughter, in the television show Trouble With Father, which was later retitled The Stu Erwin Show. She is better known for her portrayal of the "irrepressible" Zelda Gilroy in the long-running 1950s TV show The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. The running gag was Zelda's roaring crush on Dobie, and his resistance to her advances. The program spawned two sequels, the pilot Whatever Happened to Dobie Gillis (1978) and TV movie Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis (1988). In these, Dobie had married Zelda and had a son named Georgie, who was like Dobie had been at his age. Kuehl reprised her Zelda role in both updates.

James co-starred in the short-lived television series Broadside, a female version of the hit show McHale's Navy during the 1964-65 season. After the show's cancellation, she changed her focus to academics and, as Sheila Kuehl, was accepted into Harvard Law School. She graduated in 1978. In 1975, during her first year at the law school, she chaired the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the first group of women to be admitted to Harvard Law School, in 1950.

[edit] Politics

Kuehl was first elected to the California State Assembly in 1994, becoming the first openly gay person elected to the California legislature. She was later a founder member of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus. She served as Speaker pro tempore during the 1997–98 legislative session, becoming the first woman in California history to hold the position. After three terms in the Assembly, she was elected to the California State Senate in 2000, beating Assemblyman Wally Knox in the Democratic primary. Re-elected in 2004 with 65.7% of the vote, she has repeatedly been voted the "smartest" member of the California Legislature.[1]

In 2006, she sponsored a bill that would prohibit the adoption by any school district in California of any instructional material that discriminates against persons based on their gender or sexual orientation.[2]

Throughout her career as a legislator, Kuehl has taken a leadership role on health care policy. Her foremost objective has been securing passage of legislation to establish a single-payer health care system in California.[3] SB 840 passed both houses of the legislature in 2006, but was vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; it was reintroduced in 2007 and again passed the state Senate, with a vote pending in the Assembly.[4]

Kuehl has been criticized by some for regressing reform of California paternity law.[5][6]

[edit] Announced intention to kill healthcare plan

On January 28, 2008, The New York Times reported that Kuehl planned to vote against a health care plan sponsored by Governor Schwarzenegger and supported by a majority of Democrats in the Assembly, while opposed by a majority of Republicans. Her opposition along with the opposition of Senator Leland Yee led the Times to predict that California's widely touted healthcare bill -- widely but inaccurately called "universal" coverage -- would be effectively killed.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Out's Power 50: Sheila Kuehl. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  2. ^ Christie, Jim (April 7, 2006). California braced for battle over gays in textbooks. The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
  3. ^ SB 840 The California Universal Healthcare Act (June 12, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
  4. ^ SB 840 Passes Senate Floor, Heads to Assembly Health (June 7, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
  5. ^ Welch, Matt. "Injustice by Default - How the effort to catch "deadbeat dads" ruins innocent men's lives", Reason, February 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-29. 
  6. ^ Sealey, Geraldine (October 2, 2002). Duped Dads - Men Fight Centuries-Old Paternity Laws. ABC News, U.S.A at Canadian Children's Rights Council. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
  7. ^ California Governor’s Plan for Health Care in Trouble (2008-01-28). Retrieved on 2008-01-28.

[edit] External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Terry Friedman		 California State Assemblymember,
41st District
1994-2000		 Succeeded by
Fran Pavley
Preceded by
Tom Hayden		 California State Senator,
23rd District
2000-present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent