1. James Franklin Battin was born on July 28,1962 and is a former California State Senator for District 37, which includes much of Riverside County in the inland part of Southern California.
22 Facts About Jim Battin
1. 2.
Jim Battin gained appreciation and respect for nature and the wilderness during his childhood in Montana.
3.
Jim Battin spent some of the early years of his life in Washington, DC where he was introduced to politics at a very young age.
4.
Jim Battin often played in then-Congressman Gerald Ford's backyard, and Jim Battin knew Bob Dole as one of his father's congressional freshman classmates.
5.
When Jim Battin was just six, he accompanied his father to brunch at the White House, where he met President Richard Nixon.
6.
In high school, Jim Battin competed on the school's debate team - ranking third in the state his junior year and winning the state championship his senior year, qualifying him for the national championship, in which he competed.
7.
Jim Battin attended the University of Oregon, where he earned a degree in psychology.
8.
Jim Battin worked as a television executive for 10 years with KMIR-TV, the NBC television affiliate in Palm Desert.
9.
Jim Battin was elected to the California State Assembly, District 80, in 1994.
10.
Jim Battin defeated one term incumbent Julie Bornstein who, according to the California Political Almanac, was on the fast track to be Assembly Speaker Willie Brown's successor.
11.
Jim Battin ran on a platform that included government reform and accountability.
12.
In 1994, Jim Battin was named Caucus Whip for the new Republican majority in the Assembly.
13.
Jim Battin supported measures to increase the number of computers in California classrooms.
14.
Jim Battin's goals were to streamline government regulations and to reduce taxes to improve the competitiveness of California businesses.
15.
Jim Battin advocated allowing federal-reformulated gasoline into California to reduce gas prices.
16.
Jim Battin helped craft a long-term solutions to our energy supply.
17.
Jim Battin is pushing to add other categories of criminals, like child pornographers, to the database.
18.
Jim Battin authored legislation to prohibit convicted child molesters from being paroled near elementary schools.
19.
Jim Battin introduced SB 33 to ensure that the state's incest loophole is closed and that family members who molest children are treated under the law the same as other predators.
20.
Jim Battin authored legislation to expand California's class size reduction program into the 7th and 8th grades.
21.
Jim Battin helped bring $4 million in ADA "equalization" funds to local schools and $600,000 for a community college library.
22.
Jim Battin even received the "Golden Apple Award" from a local school district for his work on behalf of "small school" funding.