ON THE ISSUES
Addressing the Housing Affordability Crisis
Giselle has made addressing our housing crisis a top priority and made a difference for thousands in our community. She has created more affordable housing and developed programs that are helping those experiencing homelessness get a real path to permanent housing.
On the Redwood City Council and Planning Commission, she helped approve housing affordability programs, as well as encouraged smart growth measures. She has approved multiple housing policies that continue to produce new housing units at all income levels and encourage the development of housing that seniors, young families, veterans, and disabled residents can call home despite the high cost of housing in the area.
On homelessness, Giselle spent a year working to establish the largest Safe Parking program in San Mateo County, securing a parking facility for people living in RVs, getting them off the streets and onto a path to permanent housing with access to mental health services, clean water and disposal services provided onsite. She did this by listening to and bringing together residents, business owners and even the members of the community experiencing homelessness together to find a solution. She worked with Assemblymember Phil Ting to change a state law that would allow the vehicles to park 24/7, getting them off neighborhood streets which now every city in California can leverage (AB2553).
Expanding Childcare
and Family Leave
As a working mother, expanding accessible, quality childcare programs has long been a top priority for Giselle. In Redwood City she held developers accountable for not just paying impact fees but also producing new child care seats in their developments. She was previously a national leader with the National Partnership for Women and Families, helping to secure sick days and parental leave for workers across the country.
During the pandemic, Giselle focused on childcare recovery. She joined forces with childcare advocates across San Mateo County to champion the San Mateo County COVID Childcare Relief Fund. The program provided $5M in funding to nearly 300 childcare programs in San Mateo County, ensuring thousands of kids had proper care in these difficult times – and their parents could keep their jobs.
In the Assembly, she will be a leader on childcare and sick and family leave, championing new legislation to expand programs that help families and workers.
Improving Education
Giselle became involved in our local public schools before her first child was born, working to pass local ballot measures, supporting our education foundation and helping found a Mandarin Immersion program. Giselle knows that without a quality education and the support of their teachers and community, she and her husband both would have been left behind. But a quality education was their path to success. It's why she led efforts to make Redwood City the only San Mateo city with "Children and Youth" as a top three priority. In the Assembly, she will work to ensure every child has the same opportunity to succeed that she and her husband had.
Education gave Giselle the chance to be successful - she wants to make sure her own kids and every student in California have the same opportunity. That's why our public schools will be one of her top priorities in the Assembly. California ranks near the bottom among all states for per pupil spending on education. But Giselle will advocate for increasing overall funding to make California among the top for per pupil spending. She also knows how systemic funding inequities hit kids in the most need the hardest, so she will also fight for policies that ensure equity - every student deserves a top-quality education, no matter who they are or where they live. That includes programs that give kids an early start, such as free, universal pre-K and making higher education more affordable. Finally, she’ll help vulnerable, supporting programs that provide mental health services.
Protecting
Reproductive Freedoms
With reproductive justice under attack around the country, it is essential that we stand together to protect these rights - not just in California, but around the country. Giselle won’t just be a reliable vote for access to reproductive care, but will be an active and effective champion and partner for the reproductive justice movement.
That includes protecting health care clinics and providers that provide reproductive services and their patients, strengthening confidentiality laws, protecting Prop 56 funding, stopping the use of fake clinics meant to “counsel” patients and more. And she will be committed to protecting reproductive freedoms for those around the country and ensuring essential medical services remain open to them in California.
But that’s not enough. Reproductive freedoms mean nothing without access to care. Giselle knows that we must ensure reproductive care is part of all health care programs and available at all relevant facilities in every corner of the state. She will work to expand access, affordability and equity, and defend access to care in community clinics, while systematically addressing the barriers to women rising up to succeed.
Giselle has always been a committed advocate on issues that impact women and families, including working with Planned Parenthood Mar Monte to protect their clinics in San Mateo County. And she was an advisor with the National Partnership for Women and Families, helping to secure sick days and parental leave for workers across the country.
Mental Health
Our state is facing a major mental health crisis, that has been worsened by the struggles of a long pandemic. Giselle Hale brought together 11 other San Mateo County mayors to secure $200,000 in funding for a proven mental health first aid training program, increase awareness for mental health needs and improve access to care. As Assemblymember, she’ll also fund much-needed mental health programs in our schools.
Gun Violence Prevention
Giselle has been a vocal advocate for gun violence prevention and stronger, common sense gun laws to make our communities safer. On the Redwood City Council, she partnered with local advocates to pass a “safe storage” ordinance in January 2020.
In the Assembly, Giselle will work to pass common-sense gun safety and gun violence prevention legislation like stronger background checks, protecting victims of domestic violence, prohibiting “ghost guns” and stronger safe storage policies. She will also work to keep guns out of our schools and hold gun manufacturers accountable. Giselle is proud to be a 2022 Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate.
Reducing Wildfires and
Battling Climate Change
Giselle is already a regional leader on addressing our climate emergency and protecting the environment for future generations. She worked to update Redwood City’s climate action plan, created a green purchasing policy, championed new construction policies to reduce gas usage, and serves on the Executive Board of Peninsula Clean Energy where they are ambitiously tackling a 24/7 clean energy goal.
She will continue to fight for smarter environmental policies, working for clean air and water, addressing drought conditions with water conservation programs, helping lead the equitable transition to a green economy and clean energy and addressing climate change.
Creating Healthy
and Safe Communities
Giselle has been focused on issues that impact our local quality of life, including reducing traffic congestion and increasing safety for bicyclists and pedestrians; programs to keep seniors, youth and residents active and healthy; important services like libraries, parks & recreation, public safety; and a strong local economy. In Sacramento, she’ll make these core issues that affect San Mateo County families a priority.
She will continue to fight for smarter environmental policies, working for clean air and water, addressing drought conditions with water conservation programs, helping lead the equitable transition to a green economy and clean energy and addressing climate change.
Leading COVID Response
Giselle was one of the first leaders in the County to call for a strong local response to the pandemic together with health care experts. Giselle helped lead Redwood City and the County’s response to COVID-19, focusing on health and safety measures, maintaining essential government services and programs, Safe Streets for pedestrians and bicyclists, funding to keep childcare programs open, securing funding for small business pandemic grants and restaurant parklets, as well as getting the local economy back on track.
Giselle knows countless families face similar or even more difficult challenges as her own family did and need help – especially related to equity, housing and food insecurity, and access to programs and services.
Creating Jobs and Strengthening the Economy
When the pandemic hit, Giselle took action to help local small businesses survive. She helped secure $600,000 in private funds to support small businesses as part of the San Mateo County Strong Fund’s Small Business Grant Program. On the Council, she has supported policies to allow local businesses to succeed and work to create well-paying local jobs.
As a successful businesswoman and former small business owner herself, Giselle knows the important role small businesses play in our local economy and believes that we can both help workers and help businesses succeed. That’s why, in the Assembly, she’ll support policies that encourage economic growth and help small businesses thrive and stay in California.
Protecting Consumers and Online Privacy
In the Assembly, Giselle will stand up for consumers, defend our right to online privacy and ensure the safety of children online. An accomplished businesswoman with a deep understanding of social media and evolving technology, Giselle is uniquely positioned to regulate the tech industry in an effective manner.
While California has the strongest online privacy regulations of any state in the country, the ever-changing nature of technology means we must continue to adapt and update our laws to continue to protect Californians. Giselle will ensure these laws change to keep up to date with new technology and expand regulations to better protect consumer information including medical and mental health data, protecting consumers from fraudulent practices and scams, and create more transparency around data breaches.
As a mother of young children, Giselle knows that children are especially vulnerable to exploitation, predatory behavior and other online dangers. She will protect children by supporting the creation of an Office for the Protection of Children Online, which will focus their privacy and well-being, and requiring tech companies to change their systems to avoid overuse and exploitation from strangers. She’ll also work to stop cyberbullying by requiring better reporting mechanisms from social media companies.
Improving Government Transparency and Communication
Giselle worked with Assemblymember Kevin Mullin to pass a bill in the legislature to modernize how local elected officials can communicate with the public online (AB 992) so that officials can be more accessible to residents. The bill was signed into law by Governor Newsom in 2020. As our Assemblymember, she will hold the government accountable, reduce waste and increase transparency.