Bill Monning

Bill Monning was born and raised in Southern California. He attended Flintridge Preparatory School from fifth to twelfth grade and participated in athletics including football, basketball, baseball and swimming. His college years were spent in the San Francisco Bay Area where he attended the University of California, Berkeley from 1969 to 1972 and the University of San Francisco School of Law from 1973 to 1976. During this time he also did volunteer work for the United Farm Workers legal department and participated in marches and other activities with farm workers' movements in Delano, Salinas and Modesto, meeting other activists including Jerry Cohen, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. These experiences with the UFW were influential, "working with the legal department as a volunteer . . . really solidified my interest and purpose in attending law school." [3][4]

Monning received a B.A. at the University of California, Berkeley and a law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. He served as a Senior Fulbright Specialist, receiving Fulbright scholarships to teach and research in Peru and Chile. Additionally, he was a member of the Monterey County Court-directed mediation panel and served for four years as Executive Director of the Nobel Peace Prize winning organization, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.[5][6][7]

After entering the California State Bar, Monning first worked as a staff attorney for the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO (1976 – 1978). He then became Directing Attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance, Migrant Farm Worker Project (1978 -1982). From 1982 through 1987 Monning was the Director of the Salvadoran Medical Relief Fund, and from 1987 through 1991 he was Executive Director for the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). From 1993 until his election to the State Assembly in 2008 he worked in private practice (Labor and Employment law) and taught at both the Monterey Institute of International Studies (currently Middlebury Institute of International Studies) as professor of International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution and as a professor at the Monterey College of Law.[8][9] Monning is also the former president and co-founder of Global Majority, Inc.[10]

Our advocacy is more critical now than ever before. I've heard people talk about (California) secession ... I counter that, I get the sentiment, but no, we should take our country back.

— People's Rally for Unity and Equality in Carmel, CA January 21, 2017[11]

In 2008 Bill Monning ran for and won the California State District 27 Assembly seat being vacated by termed out John Laird.[12] When asked in an interview with the National Lawyers Guild about why he decided to run for the Assembly in 2008, Monning cited California's structural budget limitations saying California was, "only one of three states in the union that require a 2/3 vote in both houses to pass a budget." This limitation made it difficult to secure adequate funding for such needs as healthcare and education. Monning hoped to work with community groups and other legislators to effect reform in this and other areas including electoral, campaign finance and economic justice.[2]

In 2012 Monning was elected to the California State Senate after the incumbent, Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, chose not to run in the newly drawn 17th Senate district. Monning became Senate Majority leader in 2014 when he was appointed by then State Senate President pro tempore Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles.[13] Monning was reelected to the Senate in 2016 for a second and final term.[1]

In 2016 Monning seriously considered running to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Congressmen Sam Farr but felt he could be more effective in working on climate policy and other important issues as a leader in Sacramento as opposed to being a member of the minority party in Washington.[14]

In 2019 Monning was appointed to the California Coastal Conservancy by California Senate President pro tempore Toni Atkins.[15]

He and his wife, Dana T. Kent, a family physician, reside in Carmel, California and have two daughters: Laura and Alexandra.[3]

• Vision for a Healthy California, Foreword by Mike Farrell, Gui Mundo Publishing Company, 2010, ISBN 978-0983030805
• Voices of Change: The People's Oral History Project Interviews with Monterey County Activists and Organizers 1934-2015, Author Gary Karnes, Foreword by Senator Bill Monning, Co-authors Karen Araujo and Juan Martinez, Park Place Publications, January 15, 2016, ISBN 978-1943887002