State of California California State Senate Senator Jerry Hill

A longtime public official, Jerry Hill ended his service as a state senator in 2020, with term limits preventing him from running again. Continually in one local or state elected office since 1991, Hill has accomplished much, with the Sacramento Bee noting in 2017 that Hill had more bills signed into law, 108 at the time, than any other state legislator.

Background

Born in 1947, Hill has a bachelor’s degree from University of California, Berkeley and a master’s from San Francisco State University. Aside from his time as a public official, which began with his election to San Mateo City Council in 1991 and has included stints with the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and California State Assembly, Hill has also worked for his father’s pool cleaning business and as an adjunct professor. The Bee noted in 2017 that he’d been married four times and had two granddaughters.

Committees

Appropriations
Business, Professions and Economic Development
Energy, Utilities and Communications
Environmental Quality
Governmental Organization
Joint Committee, Fisheries and Aquaculture
Joint Committee, Rules
Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee (Chair)
Select Committee, Career Technology and the New Economy
Select Committee, Children with Special Needs
Select Committee, Women, Work and Families
Subcommittee, California's Innovation, Technology and Life Sciences Economy (Chair)
Subcommittee, Gas, Electric and Transportation Safety (Chair)

Select Legislation

SB 20, Vehicles: buses: seatbelts: This bill that Hill authored flew through the state senate and assembly without a single “No” vote. A possible reason? Uncontroversial subject matter. Signed into law in October 2017, SB 20 requires that passengers between the ages of eight and 16 riding in buses equipped with safety belts wear them. Hill’s legislative website described his law as closing an existing loophole in state and federal law. 

SB 464, Firearms dealers: storage and security: Thieves sometimes target gun stores after hours by ramming their cars through store windows or exploiting other gaps in security. Hill’s 2017 bill, which he co-authored with Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), would have required firearms to be stored in secure facilities. However, then-Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the bill, writing that he believed “local authorities are in the best position to determine what, if any additional measures are needed in their jurisdictions.”

District Boundaries and Office Locations

Hill’s district encompassed just shy of 930,000 people in the 2010 district and includes San Mateo County and northern Santa Clara County. As such, he maintained offices in the following locations:

Capitol office: State Capitol, Room 5035, Sacramento, CA, 95814. Phone: (916) 651-4013. Fax: (916) 651-4913

District office: 1528 S. El Camino Real, Suite 303, San Mateo, CA, 94402. Phone: (650) 212-3313. Fax: (650) 212-3320