John L. Burton

John Lowell Burton (born December 15 1932 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American politician who served as a Democratic California State Senator from 1996 until 2004, representing the 3rd district. From 1998 until he was forced out of office by term limits in 2004, he served as the President pro tempore of the State Senate. Prior to his time in the Senate, he served in the California State Assembly from 1965 until 1974, and again from 1988 until 1997. He was originally elected to the Assembly to succeed his brother Phillip Burton, who had been elected to Congress. He was returned to the Assembly in a 1988 special election to succeed Art Agnos, who had been elected Mayor of San Francisco. Burton also served in the U.S. House of Representatives, alongside his brother, from 1974 until 1982, when he resigned, citing addictions to cocaine and alcohol.

As a legislator, Burton was known for expanding the [http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?ID=20 Cal Grant] scholarship program, and passing a law (subsequently defeated in a referendum) that would have required California businesses to pay for health coverage for their workers. The magazine "California Journal" said about Burton's departure from the Senate in 2005: "Gone will be the Senate's most vehement partisan for social services for the poor, the Senate's angriest voice against tax breaks for businesses and the wealthy, its loudest voice for protection of workers, its fiercest pro-labor advocate and its disciplinarian." [cite news|url=http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=15770|title=Term limits mean pink slip for Californias Burton|first=Kathleen|last=Murphy|date=September 15, 2004|publisher=stateline.org]

After leaving the Senate, Burton formed the [http://www.johnburtonfoundation.org/ John Burton Foundation] , an organization that, according to its web site, is "dedicated to improving the quality of life for California’s homeless children and developing policy solutions to prevent homelessness."

On September 23, 2008, it was reported that Burton intends to run in April 2009 for chair of the California Democratic Party, to succeed Art Torres. [cite news|url=http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?issueId=xeylg4ns6ql3ki&xid=xffk1190qc9a3p|title=John Burton set to announce candidacy for Democratic Party chairmanship|first=Anthony|last=York|date=September 23, 2008|publisher=Capitol Weekly: The Newspaper of California State Government and Politics]

Burton is a graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law.

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External links

*CongBio|B001153
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/09/01/IN82970.DTL "Our Man in Sacramento": "San Francisco Chronicle" article on Burton from 2002]
* [http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041205/news_1n5burton.html San Diego Tribune article on Burton from 2004]
* [http://www.johnburtonfoundation.org/ John Burton Foundation]
* [http://www.clintreilly.com/?p=115#more-115 Clint Reilly on John L. Burton]
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/24/BAQ3UKEEQ.DTL John Burton faces sexual harassment suit]