Nancy Skinner (California politician)

Nancy Skinner
Member of the California State Assembly from the 14th district
Incumbent
Assumed office December 1, 2008
Preceded by	Loni Hancock
Member of the East Bay Regional Park Board for Ward 1
In office March 21, 2006 – December 1, 2008
Preceded by	Jean Siri
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Environmental activist, politician

Nancy Skinner is a member of the California State Assembly from California's 14th Assembly District. She is a Democrat. She has served as a member of the East Bay Regional Park Board, Ward 1 since 2006. She had previously founded and worked for several non-profit groups on global warming and other issues related to environmental policy. Skinner was a member of the Berkeley City Council from 1984 to 1992.^[1] She ran unopposed in the general election for the California State Assembly seat in the 14th district which was held by incumbent Loni Hancock who was termed out.

Early political career

Skinner attended the University of California, Berkeley and earned a B.S. from the College of Natural Resources. She earned a Masters in Education from the UC Berkeley School of Education. As a student, she was a leader in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and a founder of ASGE, the Union of Graduate Student Employees.^[1] Skinner later taught courses in native California plants and interned at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.^[2]

Skinner served on the Berkeley City Council from 1984-1992. She was elected while she was attending Berkeley and is the last student to be elected to the council.^[1][3] During her time on the council, she helped establish Eastshore State Park. She pushed for Berkeley to become the first city in the United States to have a 50% recycling goal. She authored legislation to ban Styrofoam at fast food businesses, the first such legislation in the United States^[1]

Environmental, education, and political activism

After serving on the City Council, Skinner worked in several non-profit organizations concerning the environment. She founded ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability and Cities for Climate Protection to help cities with environmental and global warming policy respectively. She was the U.S. director of The Climate Group, an international organization that works with businesses to address global warming. She coauthored the best selling book series Fifty Things You Can Do to Save the Earth. She has written a pair of articles concerning global warming for the San Francisco Chronicle. Skinner was an active member in PTA, helping campaign for a parcel tax to fund Berkeley schools. She was Chair of the Berkeley School Enrichment Program Committee at Martin Luther King Jr. High School. She is married with one daughter.^[1]

Skinner coordinated Loni Hancock's 2002 State Assembly campaign and was a Field Manager for Barbara Lee's 2002 Congressional campaign. She has worked for the campaigns of several local, state, and national democratic candidates that include Al Gore and John Kerry.^[1]

Recent political career

Skinner was appointed to the East Bay Regional Park Board of Directors in March 2006 to fill a vacancy caused by the death of incumbent Jean Siri. She was appointed by a 6-0 vote and beat several other candidates for the position that included former Berkeley mayor Shirley Dean.^[4] Skinner was elected to the East Bay Regional Park Board in 2006 with 84% of the vote. Her park district includes parts of Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Emeryville, Kensington, Richmond, San Pablo, part of Pinole & Oakland.^[1]

Skinner was considered a likely candidate for the State Assembly since as early as 2006 and had previously considered a run in 2002.^[5][6] She announced her candidacy in late January 2008. She beat several opponents, the most well-known of which were Richmond Councilmember Tony Thurmond, Berkeley Councilmember Kriss Worthington, and Berkeley resident Dr. Phil Polakoff.^[7]

Legislation

Taxation of online sales

Skinner pushed legislation to tax online sales that was approved in 2009 as part of the state budget. Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger vetoed the legislation.^[8]

On 19 January 2011 Skinner introduced similar legislation in the form of AB153. The bill requires out-of-state online sellers with affiliates in California to collect sales tax on purchases made by state residents. The affiliate provision was included to ensure that only sellers with a California nexus are taxed, as required by federal law.^[9] "This legislation will close the current loophole in tax law which has allowed out-of-state companies to avoid collecting California sales and use tax," stated Skinner. ^[8]Skinner estimated that AB153 could produce between $250 million and $500 million per year in new revenue. She and other supporters of the bill believe that the election of Jerry Brown to the governorship and support from retailers such as Barnes & Noble will help the measure become law.^[10]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Skinner for Assembly Biography". Nancy Skinner for Assembly. April 2008. http://nancyskinnerforassembly.com/biography. Retrieved 2008-04-02. 
2. ^ Nancy Skinner (2006-10-31). "Full Biography for Nancy Skinner". Smart Voter. http://www.smartvoter.org/2006/11/07/ca/cc/vote/skinner_n/bio.html. Retrieved 2008-04-06. 
3. ^ David Scharfenberg (2002-10-10). "Student seeks City Council seat". The Berkeley Daily Planet. http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2002-10-10/article/15233. Retrieved 2008-04-06. 
4. ^ Richard Brenneman (March 2006). "Parks Board Picks Nancy Skinner To Fill Vacancy Caused by Death". The Berkeley Daily Planet. http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2006-03-17/article/23659. Retrieved 2008-04-06. 
5. ^ Judith Scher (2006-12-22). "Hancock to Vie for Senate Seat". The Berkeley Daily Planet. http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2006-12-22/article/25922/print. Retrieved 2008-04-06. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Judith Scher (2001-09-21). "Loni Hancock to run for assembly – maybe". The Berkeley Daily Planet. http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2001-09-21/article/6946/print. Retrieved 2008-04-06. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ Judith Scher (2008-01-29). "Skinner Joins Crowded East Bay Assembly Race". The Berkeley Daily Planet. http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2001-09-21/article/6946/print. Retrieved 2008-04-06. ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ ^{a b} California lawmaker pushes to tax online sales, by Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times, 20 Jaunary 2011
9. ^ Russian investment gives Plastic Logic flexibility, by Andrew S. Ross, The San Francisco Chronicle, 19 January 2011
10. ^ Major retailers back bid for 'Amazon tax', by Kevin Yamamura, Sacremento Bee, 20 January 2011

External links

• Official Assembly Campaign Site
• California, low-carbon leader by Nancy Skinner
• 'Green' work can grow corporate bottom lines by Nancy Skinner and Martin Uden

Persondata
Name	Skinner, Nancy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death