ABOUT DR. JUDY CHU, PH.D.
Congresswoman Judy Chu has dedicated her life to improving the quality of life in the San Gabriel Valley. For the past 26 years, Dr. Chu has represented San Gabriel Valley neighborhoods as a local School Board member, Mayor and City Council member, State Assembly Member, as a member of the California State Board of Equalization and currently, as the Representative for the 27th U.S. Congressional District.
U.S. House of Representatives, 2009 to Present
Dr. Chu was sworn in as the Representative for the 32nd Congressional District, which stretches from East Los Angeles to Covina through the southern San Gabriel Valley, on July 16, 2009. She immediately began working to represent the interests of her constituents, voting on several environmental bills and working through the night on her first day in office, during a marathon debate on important healthcare reform legislation as part of her first assignment on the House Education and Labor Committee, where she served on the Subcommittees on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and Healthy Families and Communities.
In the 112th Congress, Rep. Chu serves on the House Judiciary Committee, where she is a member of the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security and the Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet subcommittees. She is also a member of the House Small Business Committee, where she is leading the Contracting and Workforce Subcommittee as the Ranking Democrat and serves on the Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access and Agriculture, Energy and Trade Subcommittees. In 2011, she was elected as the Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC).
In addition to her vote in favor of passage of the historic health care reform bill, Rep. Chu has championed a number of causes in Congress. She has used her extensive experience as a legislator and educator to help improve our nation's education system, helping pass a landmark college affordability bill to boost federal college grants and keep student loan interest rates low. Last year, she also introduced a bill that would maintain adequate federal funding for much needed school lunch programs. She has also unveiled a new framework for awarding School Improvement Grants called Strengthening Our Schools (SOS), which provides a more holistic and research-based alternative to the more punitive and overly restrictive guidelines currently used.
She has continued to work hard to help Americans emerge from the Great Recession, co-sponsoring a bill that would extend and expand the enormously successful Jobs NOW program, which uses federal stimulus funds to subsidize jobs at the local level and has already resulted in more than 11,000 jobs in Los Angeles County alone.
Congresswoman Chu is also a supporter of effective and fair immigration reform, and was an original co-sponsor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR-ASAP) bill.
California State Board of Equalization, 2007 to 2009
As a member of the nation’s only elected tax authority, Dr. Chu works to close special interest tax loopholes, protect small businesses and to administer the collection of $53 billion in state taxes and fees.
California State Assembly, 2001-2006
Representing the Western San Gabriel Valley, Dr. Chu was appointed chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee. She passed legislation to protect victims of domestic violence, to crack down on hate crimes, to promote environmental justice and to modernize aging schools. Her tax amnesty bill brought in over $4.8 billion in revenues to the state without raising taxes.
Monterey Park City Council and Mayor, 1988 – 2001
Judy Chu served 3 terms as Mayor.
Garvey School District Board member, 1985- 1988
Serving portions of Monterey Park, San Gabriel and Rosemead.
Educator and Community College Professor
Dr. Chu taught Psychology for 20 years in the Los Angeles Community College system, including the last 13 years at East Los Angeles Community College.
Education and Personal
Holds a B.A. in Math from UCLA, and a PhD in Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology. Judy and her husband, Assembly Member Mike Eng, reside in Monterey Park.
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