2024 in Review: What's Ahead for 2025

Dear Community Members,

I want to take a moment to reflect on my first term serving as your Assemblywoman in the state legislature. These past two years, we faced many challenges but by working hard and more importantly, working together we were able to make a real positive change in our communities of Madera, Merced, and Fresno Counties. We heard your concerns, listened to your voices across the district, and rolled up our sleeves to deliver results.

Madera Community Hospital to Re-Open in 2025

In 2022, when it was announced that Madera Community Hospital would be closing, the news was felt throughout our district. Instead of allowing the hospital to permanently close and eliminate healthcare access to over 150,000 people in the heart of California —we took immediate action and led the effort to secure state resources to re-open the hospital. I was the proud author of AB 112 which led to the establishment of the Distressed Hospital Loan Program and provided $300 million dollars for struggling hospitals across the state.

$57 million of those dollars were awarded to re-open our Madera Community Hospital. This was such a huge win for our community. Now, thanks to the $57 million, residents in our community will no longer have to travel up to 1 hour to the nearest hospital to receive lifesaving medical care.

Over 80% of people who sought care at Madera Community Hospital were Medi-Cal and Medicare patients, including patients who visited the hospital’s rural health clinics in Chowchilla and Mendota. These patients were mostly farmworkers, low-income working people, seniors and essential workers.

Flood Relief Resources for Planada

In 2023, one of our hardworking farmworker communities, Planada, suffered the worst flood in recent history. I was less than a month into my first term in office when water from nearby Mill Creek overflowed and flooded homes, cars, and schools throughout the town. I immediately traveled to Planada to meet with residents and to see first-hand the flood damage which forced many of the 4,000 residents to leave their homes and seek temporary shelter. Our office and the office of Senator Ana Caballero worked together and requested that the Governor declare a state of emergency. The state of emergency allowed flood relief efforts to begin immediately providing residents with temporary shelter, food and supplies. Soon after, I successfully secured $20 million in state support for long-term flood recovery efforts in Planada and together we have begun the process of rebuilding homes, replacing vehicles and returning families to their homes.

The $20 million Planada Flood Relief Plan includes:

$8,000,000: Home Repairs
$4,000,000: Direct Assistance
$3,000,000 Infrastructure
$500,000 Business Assistance
$2,500,000 Additional Program Areas
$2,000,000 Program Administration

District Highlights

Our district team hit the ground running on day one engaging all corners of our district through community outreach events throughout the year.

Assemblywoman Soria and Binational of Central California hosted 15 community events, providing free backpacks, assistance and awareness of resources to over 8,700 Central Valley residents.

Operation Gobble

2,500 turkeys were given out to families across the district during our annual Operation Gobble Turkey Giveaway

Chance Dobbins Senior Charity recognized as 2024 Non-Profit of the Year

Assemblywoman Soria recognizing Dobbins Senior Charity as Assembly District 27’s 2024 California Non-Profit of the Year

Valley Onward recognized as 2023 Non-Profit of the Year

Assemblywoman Soria recognizing Valley Onward as Assembly District 27’s 2023 California Non-Profit of the Year

Madera Unified School District MadTown Robotics

Madera Unified School District MadTown Robotics receives resolution on Assembly floor

Bras for a Cause

Awarding $2,500 for “Bras for a Cause”, a non-profit organization educating women about breast cancer awareness

Young Legislators Program

We launched our first Young Legislators Program cohort. These are the future leaders of Assembly District 27.

Law Enforcement Roundtable

Central Valley law enforcement officials meet with Assemblywoman Soria to discuss public safety issues in the district.

Informational Hearing on Groundwater Recharge

Joint Hearing Agriculture Water Parks and Wildlife 09-17-24-1001

Assemblywoman Soria Co-Chairs the Joint Informational Hearing on Groundwater Recharge with the Assembly Committee on Agriculture and the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife.

Assembly District 27: 2023-24 by the Numbers

Total number of constituent cases closed: 356
Total amount of dollars returned or helping constituents secure: $402,723.17
Total number of tours Assemblywoman Soria participated in: 105

District and Capitol Office Interns

Swetha Bala - Asian Pacific American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) (UC Merced)
Ben Endsley – Sacramento Semester Program (CSU Sacramento)
Kayode Giwa – Summer Intern (UC Riverside)
Alondra Jimenez - Young Legislator Program (Pacheco High School, Los Banos)
Julianna Madrigal – Maddy Institute Legislative Internship Program (CSU Fresno)
Meadow Moore - Center for Analytic Political Engagement (CAPE) Program (UC Merced)
Kenya Ochoa – Summer Intern (UC San Diego School of Medicine)
Jevon Peavey - Assembly Community College Corps Program (Sacramento City College)
Natalia Sanchez - Maddy Institute Legislative Internship Program (CSU Fresno)
Nick Tapio – Fall Intern (St. Joseph’s University)
Lorraine Mireles Vega - Maddy Institute Legislative Internship Program (CSU Fresno)
Verania Vizcarra – Maddy Institute Legislative Internship Program (UC Merced)

Legislative and Budget Victories

Budget Wins

$300 million for the Distressed Hospital Loan Program - Madera Community Hospital receiving $57 million
$100 million for the Promise Housing Project between UC Merced and Merced College
$20 million for flood recovery in the community of Planada
$8 million for a Community Center in the City of Mendota
$4 million for a Fire Station and Emergency Operations Center in the City of Merced
$3.5 million for a Public Park in the Franklin-Beachwood unincorporated community in Merced County
$3 million for street repairs and maintenance in the small agricultural community of Tranquility in Fresno County
$1 million for Colorado Ballpark renovations and ADA upgrades in the City of Los Banos
$500,000 for the Madera County Foodbank to build a new food storage warehouse
$500,000 for Clean Drinking Water Dispensing Facility and Community Center project in the City of San Joaquin
$77 million for Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions (FARMER) Program

Legislative Wins

AB 112 – Financially Distressed Hospital Emergency Loan Program: Creates an emergency loan program to re-open closed hospitals and to prevent hospitals from closing. Signed into law on 5/15/23.
AB 1259 - City of Merced Economic Development: Authorizes the City of Merced to establish an Enhanced Infrastructure & Financing District (EIFD). Signed into law on 10/10/23.
AB 1311 - Allied Health Programs: Requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to evaluate programs in allied health, including nursing programs offered jointly between campuses of the California Community Colleges, CSU, and UC systems. Signed into law on 7/27/23.
AB 1350 - Capitol Park Veterans Memorial Fund: Establishes a donation fund for the maintenance and rehabilitation of Capitol Park’s veteran memorials. Signed into law on 10/10/23.
AB 1566 - County Veterans Services Officers (CVSOs): Improves the detail and usefulness of annual reports required by CVSO program participants. Signed into law on 10/10/23.
AB 1745 - Veterans College Fee Waiver Program: Expands the College Fee Waiver for Veteran Dependents program to serve dependent spouses of partially disabled veterans, and expands eligibility for children of partially disabled veterans. Signed into law on 10/10/23.
AB 1752 – Protecting Bees from Pesticides: Authorizes a county agricultural commissioner to issue a penalty against a person violating regulations to minimize pesticide damage to bees. Signed into law on 10/13/23.
AB 1763 – Climate Smart Agriculture: Increases the maximum amount of technical assistance grant funding of Climate Smart Agriculture program, in order to ensure that California farms and ranches continue to thrive. Signed in to law on 9/22/23.
AB 2900 - Toxic Air Contaminants: Requires the California Air Resources Board to provide technical assistance to help small agricultural truck owners upgrade their truck fleets to comply with the state’s clean air goals. Signed into law on 9/30/24.
AB 2661 - Central Valley Clean Energy: Authorizes projects to convert fallowed farmland to solar farms which will create jobs, help farmworkers retrain and transition into skilled trades and spur economic development. Signed into law on 9/25/24.
AB 3275 - Small Hospital Assistance: Streamlines prompt payments to small hospitals who serve a large percentage of Medi-Cal and Medicare patients to reduce financial vulnerability and operate efficiently. Signed into law on 9/27/24

billsigning-ab112-3 — **Governor Newsom signs AB 112 into law to re-open Madera Community Hospital**

In this first term, we’ve come a long way, but there is always more work to do. Now, thanks to the constituents of District 27—I have the honor and privilege of serving a second term and building on our collective successes of 2023-2024. Together we will continue serving the needs of our community by listening, taking notes, and taking action on issues that are the most important.