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New Technology Caucus Shows Power of Industry, Young Lawmakers

The first-of-its-kind caucus, announced on Tuesday, features a group of legislators from the Assembly and Senate who are tech-savvy and several who are from Generation X and millennial generations.

Eleven state lawmakers have formed a new Legislative Technology and Innovation Caucus that will begin meeting in 2016.

The first-of-its-kind caucus, announced on Tuesday, features a group of legislators from the Assembly and Senate who are tech-savvy and several who are from Generation X and millennial generations.

Co-chair Evan Low, an Assemblymember from the Bay Area, is 32 years old. The other co-chair, Assemblymember Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, is 29.

The 40-something “older” legislators in the group, such as Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, and Assemblymember Autumn Burke, D-Inglewood, bring their own tech acumen. During the past session, Ting sponsored a bill that would’ve created a chief data officer position for the state of California; Burke sponsored legislation on IT vendor accountability.

“I am proud to help launch the California Tech Caucus,” Low said in a statement released Tuesday. “As the representative from Silicon Valley, where creativity and innovation are constantly making dreams a reality, this caucus will allow us to continue to create policies that will foster the innovation that makes California the Golden State.”

In a joint announcement, Low and Calderon said the new caucus “is committed to learning about, protecting and promoting California's technology and innovation sector. The Caucus seeks to foster and promote technology and innovation, support legislation that creates jobs, improve the use of technology to improve the lives of people, promote the technology and innovation climate in California, and engage on emerging policy issues.”

Calderon added his remarks: "California is the technology hub of the world. Our state thrives in large part because of our creative economy and the tech sector. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that California continues to lead the way for innovation and make sure our next generation receives the proper training and education to be competitive in this new world economy."

The technology sector, via organizations like CompTIA and The Internet Association, reacted positively to Tuesday’s news.

“We applaud the creation of the California Technology Caucus and the recognition these members place on the importance of the tech sector. We look forward to working with Assemblymembers Low, Calderon and the entire caucus to boost technology and innovation,” CompTIA said.

Andrea Deveau, executive director for California at TechNet, tweeted on Tuesday that’s she’s “thrilled” to work with the new caucus on tech policy.

The Technology and Innovation Caucus could complement the California Future Caucus launched last month. Low and Ling Ling Chang, R-Diamond Bar, formed that caucus to help young state legislators forge pragmatic cooperation on future-oriented challenges.

The Technology and Innovation Caucus members are:

Co-Chair: Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Whittier)
Co-Chair: Assemblymember Ian Calderon (D-Whittier)
Senator Ben Allen – (D-Santa Monica)
Assemblymember Autumn Burke – (D-Inglewood)
Senator Jim Beall – (D-San Jose)
Senator Anthony Canella – (R-Ceres)
Assemblymember Ling Ling Chang (R-Diamond Bar)
Assemblymember Matt Dababneh – (D-Los Angeles)
Assemblymember Kevin Mullin – (D-San Mateo)
Senator Ricardo Lara – (D-Bell Gardens)
Assemblymember Phil Ting – (D-San Francisco)

Matt Williams was Managing Editor of Techwire from June 2014 through May 2017.