Veteran California lawmaker Toni Atkins was among California's new state legislators sworn into office in Sacramento in December. Sen. Atkins, a Democrat, now represents the 39th District. She was elected to the State Assembly in 2010, serving as speaker of the Assembly until 2016.
Atkins' first term in the Senate is expected to be a busy one as California legislators grapple with homegrown problems like affordable housing and infrastructure repair, along with national issues like health care and immigration.
Atkins, who is a member of the Senate Committee on Health, said expanding California's version of Medicaid, called Medi-Cal, is a big priority for the governor and the legislature. But she said the concern that millions of Californians who now have health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act could lose their coverage is valid.
"Which is why you see the legislature and the governor responded almost immediately after the election that we will look at issues related to health care, immigration, climate change," she said. "So you can see in addition to the list of issues we were already going to be tackling this year, we're going to be paying very close attention to this because it has worked in California. We don't want millions of Californians to lose the health coverage they finally got."
Atkins discusses her legislative priorities for San Diego Tuesday on KPBS Midday Edition.
