Addressing important issues with the Honorable Joan P. Weber (center) and Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.

Ensuring a fair and accessible system of justice is one of the most important responsibilities we have in our society. During the past few weeks, I've had the pleasure of taking part in several events that focused on ways we can make our justice system better.

One event I was excited to be involved in was a summit between leaders of the Legislature and leaders of the courts, including Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. It was the first time such a summit has taken place.

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It was a beautiful day beside San Diego Bay to show unity behind Senate Bill 1.

March is always a busy month in Sacramento as the Legislature springs forward with the season. The budget subcommittees are hard at work vetting funding proposals, and the policy committees are considering hundreds of bills.

As the Senate President pro Tempore, I'm responsible for the legislative process as my colleagues' bills move through our chamber - and I'm also carrying a few measures of my own. This year, I've introduced legislation to address some of the challenges facing San Diego and California as a whole, from environmental protection, to healthcare and higher education.

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On March 21, the California Department of Housing and Community Development announced that it had awarded $40.7 million to San Diego County to build permanent housing with supportive services for people who live with severe mental illness and are experiencing homelessness or chronic homelessness, or are at-risk of chronic homelessness.

The funding comes thanks to California voters, who last November approved Proposition 2, allowing the No Place Like Home program to move forward. San Diego County received more than 13% of the funding in the first round of awards, which is great for a county that is home to roughly 8% of the state's population.

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All through March, I celebrated Women's History Month by posting on social media about a different San Diego-area woman or group of women every day - 48 women in total, who make a huge difference in their communities (please check my Twitter (twitter.com/SenToniAtkins) and Facebook (facebook.com/SDToni) pages to see them all). On March 16, I gathered them all together for what turned out to be a wonderful brunch at Fruitcraft in Hillcrest. We had such a good time that I might just do this again next year!

The wonderful women of District 39.

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My district staff is always available to help constituents navigate a complex web of state agencies.

Recently, a constituent who's having issues receiving his nurse's assistant certification renewal contacted my office for help. The nurse's assistant certification originally issued to him was for less than a year - instead of a typical two-year certification. He had been in contact with the California Department of Health (CDPH) since January and was originally told that there was a clerical error made but still hadn't received his certification. My staff reached out to CDPH and arranged for a duplicate copy to be sent to the constituent that expires in two years.

If you're having trouble working out an issue with any state agency, please call my office at 619-645-3133, and my staff will do everything in their power to help.

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What an honor to receive the San Diego History Center's Makers of San Diego History award along with my friend and mentor, Christine Kehoe. During the past year, the History Center has done an amazing job of highlighting the struggles and successes of our LGBTQ community.

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