The California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) will honor Assemblymember Gil Cedillo on Saturday January 7, 2012. He will be awarded the 2012 Legislative Champion Award.

Cedillo was cited for his work in the passage of AB 130 and 131, known together as the California DREAM Act, and AB 353 which strives to avoid the unnecessary impoundment of unlicensed driver’s vehicles.

AB 130 became law on January 1, 2012 and permits students who meet in-state tuition requirements to receive non-state funded scholarships. AB 131 takes effect on January 1, 2013, and allows those students to receive financial aid from California state funds at public colleges and universities.

AB 131 recently withstood an effort to repeal it. Assemblymember Tim Donnelly failed to garner enough signatures to put the issue to a public vote. Cedillo, in a statement, said that ““I am elated that the voters did not provide sufficient signatures to repeal the California Dream Act. The lesson is clear. California is a state that leads our nation forward not backwards. We are a state that prides itself on reconciling our differences rather than exacerbating them.”

The CPIC is a non-profit and non-partisan organization that was founded in 1996. CPIC, in the words of its web site, “advances inclusive policies that build a prosperous future for all Californians using policy analysis, advocacy and capacity building to unlock the power of immigrants in California.”

Cedillo has served in both the state Senate and the Assembly for a combined total of 14 years. He recently announced his candidacy to represent the 1^st District on the Los Angeles City Council.