And beyond the individual lawmakers, how many state legislative committees — and which ones — deal with technology and related issues? Whether you’re a SLED account executive, a lobbyist or just someone with an interest in tech legislation, this information is a valuable resource.
The five state legislators, all Democrats, who sponsored the most tech-related bills in the 2019-2020 session were:
1. Assemblymember Ed Chau (21). He is the chair of the Privacy and Consumer Protection and Emerging Technologies committees, and a member of the Judiciary, Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy, Natural Resources, Asia/California Trade and Investment Promotion, Cybersecurity, Census, and Appropriations committees.
2. Assemblymember Ian Calderon (18). He is the chair of the Technological Advances committee, and a member of the Elections and Redistricting, Rules, Waste Reduction and Recycling in the 21st Century California, Small Business in the Inland Empire, Insurance, Privacy and Consumer Protection, and Appropriations committees.
3. Assemblymember Bill Quirk (17). He is the chair of the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials and California’s Clean Energy Economy committees, and a member of the Public Safety, Revenue and Taxation, Biotechnology, Utilities and Energy, Sea Level Rise and the California Economy, End of Life Health Care, and Appropriations committees.
4. State Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (16). She is the chair of the Agriculture and Missing and Unidentified Persons committees, and a member of the Defense and Aerospace, California’s Wine Industry, Manufactured Homes and Communities, Transportation and Housing, Business, Professions, and Economic Development, Insurance, Governmental Organization, Emergency Management, and Fairs, Allocation and Classification committees.
5. Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (15). He is the chair of the Biotechnology committee, and a member of the Revenue and Taxation, Elections and Redistricting, Emerging Technologies, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Budget, and Business and Professions committees.
But sponsoring legislation and steering it to approval can be two different things. Here are the top three state officeholders, ranked by the number of tech bills they sponsored that were subsequently signed into law:
1. Assemblymember Ed Chau (11). He works most frequently on Crime and Law Enforcement (53 bills), Law (46 bills), California (45 bills), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (44 bills), and Commerce (43 bills). He has sponsored 144 bills in his last eleven year(s) in office, voting with his party 97.6 percent of the time, getting 88.89 percent of his bills out of committee, and 49.31 percent of his sponsored bills enacted.
2. Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (10). He works most frequently on Economics and Public Finance (80 bills), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (75 bills), California (73 bills), Taxation (65 bills), and Law (57 bills). He has sponsored 156 bills in his last 11 years in office, voting with his party 94.9 percent of the time, getting 83.33 percent of his bills out of committee, and 40.38 percent of his sponsored bills enacted.
3. Assemblymember Bill Quirk (9). He works most frequently on Law (73 bills), Crime and Law Enforcement (52 bills), California (45 bills), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (44 bills), and Environmental Protection (39 bills). He has sponsored 172 bills in his last 11 years in office, voting with his party 96.6 percent of the time, getting 89.53 percent of his bills out of committee, and 38.37 percent of his sponsored bills enacted.
In all, 1,106 pieces of proposed legislation in the 2019-2020 session contained a “technology” reference. Of those, 386 were enacted.
Dustin Haisler, Chief Innovation Officer of eRepublic*, believes that we are in the beginning of a tipping point for technology legislation in California.
"California has led the charge with the regulation of emerging technologies, and over the next legislative cycle we anticipate seeing a significant increase in the number of tech-related bills enacted in California," Haisler told Techwire. "Being able to understand what's on the horizon with technology legislation is vital for government and industry alike."
The California Legislature has eight select committees and subcommittees from which tech bills originate. They are:
Assembly Select Committee on Biotechnology
1303 Tenth St., Sacramento 95814
(916) 319-2022
Chair: Kevin Mullin (D-CA-022)
Assembly Select Committee on California’s High Technology
1303 Tenth St., Sacramento 95814
(916) 319-2022
Chair(s): N/A
Senate Select Committee on Career Technology and the New Economy
Room 2080
1303 Tenth St., Sacramento 95814
(916) 651-4031
Chair: Richard Roth (D-CA-031)
Assembly Select Committee on Technological Advances
1303 Tenth St., Sacramento 95814
(916) 319-2057
Chair: Ian Calderon (D-CA-057)
Assembly Select Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Education
1303 Tenth St., Sacramento 95814
(916) 319-2039
Chair: Luz Rivas (D-CA-039)
Assembly Select Committee on Government Efficiency, Technology, and Innovation
1303 Tenth St., Sacramento 95814
(916) 319-2856
Chair: N/A
Assembly Select Committee on Emerging Technologies and Innovation
1303 Tenth St., Sacramento 95814
(916) 319-2049
Chair: Ed Chau (D-CA-049)
Senate Business, Professions, and Economic Development: Subcommittee on California’s Innovation, Technology and Life Sciences Economy Subcommittee
1303 Tenth St., Sacramento 95814
(916) 651-4014
Chair: N/A
Techwire compiled this information through Quorum, which curates data related to public policy and politics.
*eRepublic is the parent company of Techwire, Government Technology, Governing, the Center for Digital Government and other entities.
