Mr. Becerra also created a first-of-its kind state-level environmental justice bureau, focused on the unequal effect that pollution and other forms of environmental damage have on health in the most vulnerable communities.
The lawsuit originally filed by a grocery workers’ union health plan claimed that Sutter’s anticompetitive behavior was driving up health costs.
They married at 18 and moved to California, where the elder Mr. Becerra worked picking vegetables and laboring in construction — experience that friends say will shape how Mr. Becerra inhabits his job as health secretary.
“I think that it gives him a certain perspective and humility and an appreciation for working people, for ordinary people,” said Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who said Mr. Becerra mentored him and other Latino newcomers on Capitol Hill.
He was the first in his family to attend college, graduating from Stanford University in 1980 and Stanford Law School in 1984.
Persons:
Becerra, Matt Cantor, Constantine Cannon, Mr, “, ”, Joaquin Castro, Xavier, Karen Skelton, Carolina Reyes
Organizations:
Sutter Health, Mr, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Capitol, McClatchy High School, Stanford University, Stanford Law School
Locations:
Northern California, New York, Sacramento, Mexico, Tijuana, California, Joaquin Castro of Texas, Palo Alto