Jim Beall
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James T. "Jim" Beall, Jr. (born 1952) is an American Democratic politician. He was elected to the California State Assembly in 2006 and represents the 24th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Campbell and Saratoga and parts of the cities of Santa Clara, San Jose, Cupertino, and Los Gatos.

Beall has lived in the 24th District his entire life. He attended San Jose State University, where he focused on Urban Planning and Public Finance, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

On July 9, 1983, he and Patricia F. "Pat" Lafkas were married. He has two stepsons, Gregory B. Chubb (born November 7, 1967) and Mark J. Chubb (born June 16, 1970).

Local government

Beall served on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors from 1994 until 2006, prior to which he served 14 years on the San Jose City Council. He was chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission from 1998 to 2000 and served as an ex-officio board member of the Valley Transportation Authority. Beall also chaired the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors’ Children, Seniors and Families Committee and was vice chair of the board’s Public Safety and Justice Committee and Legislative Committee.

State Assembly

On November 7, 2006, Jim Beall, Jr. was elected by 65% of the electorate to represent the 24th Assembly District. Beall was appointed Chair of the Assembly Committee on Human Services. In addition, he is a member of the Committee on Budget, Committee on Higher Education, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and Budget Sub Committee #1 - Health and Human Services. As Chair State Assembly Human Services Committee, Beall plans to revamp the Lanterman Act, develop a strategy to combat hunger, and develop strategies and recommendations to help reduce the overrepresentation of children of color in the child welfare system.

Assemblymember Beall is also Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, a committee charged with developing policy to end the crisis of drug and alcohol addiction in California. Currently, the committee is conducting an in-depth review of substance abuse prevention, treatment practices, delivery of services, and coordination between state agencies. Assemblymember Beall has convened a series of statewide hearings to explore how scientific advances over the past decade have dispelled unfair social stigmas and changed the way we look at addiction. These advances have shown drug and alcohol addictions are a chronic health disease that physically change the brain and merit on-going medical treatment. Untreated substance abuse -- often coupled with mental illness -- costs California upwards of $44 billion per year. He strongly believes both substance abuse and mental illness deserve professional medical treatment on par with that provided for all other chronic health illnesses. Assemblymember Beall believes this complicated issue can no longer be ignored, and he is committed to pushing the issue to the top of California’s agenda.

Assemblymember Beall has recently been appointed Chair of the Foster Care Select Committee by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.

Proposed beer tax raise

Beall has proposed raising tax on beer in California from the current 2¢ to 30¢ per bottle. The proposed tax increase would not raise the tax on wines and other alcoholic beverages. ^[1]

Notes

1. ^ Mike, Zapler (2008-04-11). "Higher state tax on beer? Assemblyman Beall Proposes Big Increase", San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved on 2008-04-13. 

References

• California State Assembly Member Jim Beall, Jr.
• California State Assembly District 24 - Jim Beall, Jr.
• Project Vote Smart - Assembly Member Beall