86 Facts About Hilda Solis

Hilda Lucia Solis is an American politician and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 1st district.

Hilda Solis is a member of the Democratic Party and served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009, representing the 31st and 32nd congressional districts of California that include East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley.

Hilda Solis was raised in La Puente, California, by immigrant parents from Nicaragua and Mexico.

Hilda Solis earned degrees from the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and the University of Southern California and worked for two federal agencies in Washington, DC Returning to her native state, she was elected to the Rio Hondo Community College Board of Trustees in 1985, the California State Assembly in 1992, and the California State Senate in 1994.

Hilda Solis was the first Hispanic woman to serve in the State Senate, and was reelected there in 1998.

Hilda Solis was the first female recipient of the John F Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2000.

Hilda Solis defeated a long-time Democratic incumbent as part of getting elected to the US House of Representatives in 2000, where she focused mainly on labor causes and environmental work.

Hilda Solis took office after being confirmed by the United States Senate in February 2009, becoming the first Latina to lead one of the United States federal executive departments.

In January 2013, Hilda Solis stepped down from her post as Labor Secretary.

Hilda Solis was unopposed for re-election as Supervisor, which took place in June 2018.

Hilda Solis served one-year terms as county chair from 2015 to 2016 and again from 2020 to 2021.

Hilda Solis's father was a Teamsters shop steward in Mexico and, after coming to the United States, worked at the Quemetco battery recycling plant in the City of Industry in the San Gabriel Valley.

Hilda Solis stressed the importance of education and was a devout Roman Catholic.

Hilda Solis is the third oldest of seven siblings and grew up in a tract home in La Puente, California.

Hilda Solis took her younger sisters to the library to get them to follow her lead.

Hilda Solis was the first of her family to go to college, being accepted into the Educational Opportunity Program at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and paying for it with the help of government grants and part-time jobs.

Hilda Solis graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science.

Hilda Solis then earned a Master of Public Administration degree at the University of Southern California in 1981.

Hilda Solis owns an automobile repair center in Irwindale, California.

Hilda Solis campaigned hard and overtook an incumbent and one other better established candidate to become the top placer.

Hilda Solis joined several California chambers of commerce, women's organizations, and Latino organizations.

Hilda Solis gained added political visibility in 1991 when she was named to the Los Angeles County Commission on Insurance by Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, a political mentor.

Hilda Solis served as chief of staff for State Senator Art Torres.

Hilda Solis had the opportunity to run for the California State Assembly when, after California's 1991 redistricting, the incumbent Dave Elder in Hilda Solis's 57th State Assembly district was shifted into another district, while her new representative retired.

Hilda Solis had the support of Molina and US Representative Barbara Boxer, in an effort that focused on door-to-door campaigning and featured Hilda Solis's mother making burritos for campaign volunteers.

Hilda Solis was one of seven Latinos who won election to the Assembly in the wake of the redistricting and became collectively known as Los Siete.

Hilda Solis was among the most liberal of this ideologically diverse group.

Hilda Solis backed labor and opposed the tobacco industry in supporting a bill that banned smoking in all workplaces.

Hilda Solis served on committees dealing with education, labor, and environmental issues, including a new committee that dealt with groundwater contamination and landfill leakage.

Hilda Solis became the first Hispanic woman to ever serve in the State Senate and the first woman ever to represent the San Gabriel Valley; she was the Senate's youngest member at that time.

Hilda Solis described herself as "a big believer that government, if done right, can do a lot to improve the quality of people's lives".

Hilda Solis chaired the labor committee and established herself as loyal to labor interests, but made a point of establishing relationships with Republicans on the committee.

Hilda Solis held high-profile hearings on labor law enforcement following a summer 1995 sweatshop raid in El Monte that discovered more than 70 Thai workers existing in slave-like conditions.

Hilda Solis called garment manufacturers to explain themselves and pushed for tougher enforcement of anti-sweatshop laws.

Hilda Solis was an environmental activist in the State Senate, due to concerns that stemmed from a childhood spent within smelling distance of the Puente Hills Landfill and making frequent visits to the San Gabriel Mountains.

Hilda Solis got the bill, SB 1113, approved over the strong opposition of various business interests, water contractors, and some state government agencies, but Wilson vetoed it.

Hilda Solis returned in 1999 with a weakened measure, which was signed by Governor Gray Davis.

Hilda Solis was the first woman to win the award, and gained appearances in George and People magazines and on the Today show.

Art Torres, who had become California Democratic Party chair, said of Hilda Solis, "She's going to be a national star".

Term limits would have prevented Hilda Solis from seeking reelection to the State Senate.

Hilda Solis was criticized for lacking effort and neglecting his district.

Hilda Solis was able to obtain the support of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Emily's List, Handgun Control Incorporation, the Sierra Club and the California League of Conservation Voters.

Hilda Solis subsequently switched to the Republican Party, and urged Latinos to vote against her, to no great effect.

Hilda Solis commissioned for her new office a painting of the United States Capitol with the San Gabriel Mountains behind it, so that she would not forget her roots.

Hilda Solis made the promotion of green-collar jobs a priority and sponsored the Southern California portion of the California Wild Heritage Act, which would create or enlarge many wilderness areas.

Hilda Solis was not a member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, but championed the Employee Free Choice Act and was the only member of Congress on the board of American Rights at Work, a pro-union organization that strongly supports the act, for whom she served as treasurer starting in 2004.

Hilda Solis signed a "Statement of Principles," stating her commitment to her faith as well as her disagreement with the Roman Catholic Church on some issues.

Hilda Solis was reelected for additional terms in 2002,2004, and 2006 by very large margins, twice with no Republican in opposition.

Hilda Solis chaired the Health and the Environment Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus during the 110th Congress.

However, during 2006 and 2007, Hilda Solis was part of a falling out between several female representatives and Joe Baca, leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, arguing there was a "lack of respect afforded to women members of the Hispanic Caucus," which Baca denied.

Hilda Solis had previously broken ties with the caucus' political action committee over its campaign contributions to Baca's sons.

Baca responded that Hilda Solis "was a kiss-up" to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a remark for which he later apologized.

Hilda Solis was indeed considered a close ally of Pelosi, which helped her get a seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Hilda Solis considered running for the position of Democratic Caucus Vice-Chairman for the 110th Congress, but deferred to incumbent John Larson after Rahm Emanuel chose to run for caucus chair, which Larson had been running for.

Hilda Solis was a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential bid; when that fell short, Barack Obama aggressively sought her support, as part of strengthening his appeal to Hispanic voters.

Hilda Solis supported Clinton's effort to establish a US Public Service Academy and was a co-sponsor of a House bill to create one.

Hilda Solis did not become wealthy from her political career; by 2008, she and her husband's main assets consisted of retirement funds and his auto shop, valued at under $100,000.

Hilda Solis's successor was chosen in a special election in California's 32nd congressional district; she declined to endorse a candidate in the primary.

Committee chair Ted Kennedy repeatedly praised her, while, despite examination by Republican members, Hilda Solis declined to discuss specific policy issues, including the Employee Free Choice Act.

Republican Mike Enzi pressed her on whether her unpaid high-level positions at American Rights at Work constituted prohibited lobbying activity; Hilda Solis denied violation of rules of conduct and stated she had not helped lobbying.

Hilda Solis did acknowledge that she had failed to report those positions on her annual House financial disclosure forms at the time, which a White House spokesperson argued was an unintentional oversight.

Sayyad had filed a separate tax return from Hilda Solis, and intended to contest the lien as they were for business taxes he believed to have already paid.

Committee Republicans subsequently indicated they would not blame Hilda Solis, but were still concerned about her ties to American Rights at Work.

Hilda Solis resigned from the House and was sworn into her new position that evening.

Hilda Solis became the first Hispanic woman to serve as a regular US cabinet member and the first cabinet secretary with Central American descent.

In late May 2009, Hilda Solis suspended immigrant guest worker regulations related to H-2A visas adopted in the final days of the Bush administration; the move earned plaudits from the United Farm Workers.

Business groups such as the National Federation of Independent Business complained that Hilda Solis was forging a less cooperative relationship, one that departed from the Bush administration's "compliance assistance" approach; the Labor Department said that compliance assistance was still an important part of the new strategy.

For 2010, Hilda Solis's agenda was to enact some ninety new rules and regulations intended to grant more power to unions and to workers.

Whether Hilda Solis would try to revive Clinton administration ergonomics rules that had been discarded in the early days of the Bush administration, and that business groups continued to oppose, was unclear.

Hilda Solis requested that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health provide an independent analysis of that review.

The year additionally saw Hilda Solis leading an administration campaign against farmers who employed children or underpaid workers.

In October 2012, Hilda Solis defended the work of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after the Current Population Survey it puts out monthly reported that unemployment in the United States had fallen below eight percent for this first time since Obama took office.

On January 9,2013, Hilda Solis tendered her resignation as Secretary of Labor, becoming one of several Cabinet members deciding not to stay on for Obama's second term.

Hilda Solis, who had never become part of the inner circle of presidential advisors, said it had been a difficult decision and Obama praised her work as secretary.

Allegations were made that Hilda Solis solicited subordinates for funds for the 2012 re-election campaign of President Obama.

In November 2013, Hilda Solis became a scholar-in-residence at her alma mater of Cal Poly Pomona.

Hilda Solis's duties were to include guest lecturing in classes, mentoring students, and assisting in curriculum development, with a focus in political science.

The Supervisors allocated some county money for cleanup, with Hilda Solis saying, "the state continues to drag its feet".

In May 2017, Hilda Solis voted in favor of retaining designation of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, created in 2014 but under review, along with other recently created national monuments, by new US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke for possible revocation.

Hilda Solis favored a parcel tax to increase the number of parks and playgrounds in Los Angeles.

Hilda Solis said that the services provided by some positions could only be done in person, but following newspaper inquiries on the matter, remote work was opened up to more county workers.

In December 2020, Hilda Solis became rotating chair of the board again, and by then the entire board was women, a first for the county and something that Hilda Solis said was a historic accomplishment.

The pandemic subsequently ebbed for a while, but then by mid-2021 the highly infectious Delta variant had become a significant threat, and in July 2021 Hilda Solis issued an executive order reimposing an indoors mask mandate within the county.

Hilda Solis's action gave no option for regular testing and thus went further than most such mandates elsewhere in California and the rest of the country.

Hilda Solis gave the commencement address at Rio Hondo College in 2014, where she had once been on the board of trustees.

In 2019, Hilda Solis received the Leadership Award at the annual American Latino Influencer Awards.