By Kimberly Holtzinger
Assembly Member Buffy Wicks discussed key issues for 2025, including climate resiliency, wildfire prevention, and affordability. She emphasized the need for renewable energy permitting reform, housing affordability, and tech regulation to protect children online. Wicks highlighted her ongoing efforts in violence prevention, public safety, and food insecurity. She also addressed the challenges of wildfire insurance and the impact of the new federal administration on California. Wicks supports public financing for elections and granting 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote. The meeting concluded with plans for further engagement with the League of Women Voters.
Major Issues in 2025
Kimberly Holtzinger: Hi, I'm Kimberly Holtzinger. I'm from the League of Women Voters of Oakland. Pleasure to be here. Assembly member Wicks, thank you so much for being with us today. Our first question is, what are the major issues the legislature must deal with in 2025?
Buffy Wicks: There's so many. I mean, I have CNN on here in the background, looking at the wildfires in LA right now, which is a very sad reminder of the climate change issues that our state is faced with. So I think wildfires, climate resiliency is going to be a big issue. Cap and trade reauthorization conversations are beginning in Sacramento, which is obviously a piece of that conversation. And so I think more broadly, there's a body of work that's going to be in that space. I'm chairing a select committee on permitting reform to try to permit renewable energy projects more quickly and get those onboarded, among other things as well. So I think that's going to be a big issue for the state.
Another big issue that we're faced with is really just broader affordability, the cost of housing, the cost of energy, the cost of things, is out of control. People are upset, and they should be. And so how do we make all of these things more affordable? So I think you're going to see a lot of conversations around affordability and that that's going to take front and center. You know, I think policy and politically here in Sacramento, so I think those are the two kinds of probably broader things. And then within that, there's a whole body of work, some of which I'm working on, some of which I'm helping assist on. You know, the one thing I've realized in the legislature is I can't know and do everything. You know, it's a team sport. And you know, I focus on a certain subset of issues, and then I help my colleagues who focus on other subsets of issues, but I think broadly, those are probably two of the bigger issues that we'll be confronted with here in the legislature.
Personal Legislative Priorities
Kimberly Holtzinger: Thank you. And can you describe some of your personal legislative priorities for the coming year?
Buffy Wicks: Yeah, so, you know, I do a ton of work in housing. I've been working on housing for the last six years, since I've been here. I ran on a pretty aggressive housing agenda. When I first ran in 2018 I was housing chair for a couple years before I became the appropriations chair, and still plan to do a lot of work in the housing space. Because I do think it's an underpinning issue, foundationally, in our state, and it's a main reason why you have older folks who are staying in their 3000 square foot homes because they can't afford to downsize to a condo. It's also why you have young families leaving California because they can't afford to buy homes here. And it's also why we have upwards of 200,000 homeless folks in our streets because they can't afford the rent. And so it's sort of at all levels, there's an issue as it pertains to housing, and so that will continue to be my top priority in the legislature, and that's going to take shape in many forms. You know, if there was one thing to fix the problem, we would have done it a long time ago. It's not that simple. It's actually pretty complicated. So we're looking at a whole body of work right now around making it easier to build housing, to build infill housing in particular, and also more funding for housing.
I am planning on putting a housing bond on the ballot. In two years. We've run out of money for affordable housing, and that is housing that's going specifically to our lowest income folks who need it the most. We have no more money in the budget in California for low income housing. It is gone. Out of money. And right when our communities need it most, particularly our low income communities. So there's a bunch in that space that I will continue to do.
The other big portfolio of work I do is around tech regulation when it comes to keeping our kids safe online. I'm a mom of an eight year old and a four year old, and my eight year old this year asked on her letter to Santa for an iPhone Pro 16, and I said, maybe when you're in college, if you're lucky, you can get an iPhone, but the issue of technology and children and how to keep them safe is very different than how I grew up, and so I'm a big supporter of getting cell phones out of schools, kids don't need to be on their phones during recess. They should be actually having human to human interaction and actually talking to each other and learning how to be people, and learning social and emotional cues and all that other stuff, you know, and then also requiring tech companies to keep kids safer. These companies have 1000s of highly trained engineers whose sole mission is to keep eyeballs on their product, but when it comes to our kids, they need to keep our kids safe. And we've seen far too many dangerous situations as it pertains to social media and other technologies when it comes to kids. So I do a lot of work in that space as well, and we'll continue to do a body of work there.
I've also always done something in the food insecurity space. Every year I've been in the legislature, because I think food insecurity is, you know, we're one of the wealthiest places in the world, and yet we have people living in poverty and experiencing hunger, and it's just morally not okay. So those are, those tend to be some of the areas of focus that I have honed in on in the legislature, but obviously will assist as needed and will lend myself and my office on things like wildfires as I look at CNN on the TV. You know, with the Trump administration coming in, who knows what we're going to need to do there in terms of the budget. So there's stuff that always comes up that, you know, we'll be mindful of in terms of what we need to do to make sure our communities, and particularly our most vulnerable community members, are safe, whether it be wildfires or the Trump administration or whatever else is coming at them.
Public Safety and Community Investment
Kimberly Holtzinger: I'm going to pivot to a public safety question and your conversation with the League last year. You mentioned how witnessing break ins affected you personally, and mentioned in your response that working with local leaders to break the cycle of violence through investment in community based organizations and getting more resources to parts of your district most affected by public safety issues. Is there an update you can share on these efforts?
Buffy Wicks: Yeah, I live in Oakland. You know, it's been challenging the last year or two or so. I know that it's been challenging for many communities across the state, and I think, you know, one of my biggest responses as a lawmaker is to keep our communities safe. There's a lot that goes into the question of public safety, right? And there's a lot of reasons why we are where we are. And with those challenges, I think, also come opportunities. So I've been a big supporter of our violence intervention and prevention programs. I have carried that budget ask for a number of years. I was able to be a part of the team that helped get the gun tax off the floor last year. So that's going into implementation, and our hope is that the resources and revenues that come from that tax will become a permanent source of funding for our violence intervention and prevention programs. We know that those programs work. We know that when we really provide real resources for the communities to partner with law enforcement and to really wrap our arms around folks who are the potential perpetrators of gun violence, that we can significantly reduce that gun violence in a community. And so I remain a big supporter of those programs, and we've seen it in Oakland, and we've seen it in Richmond, and we've seen it in other parts of the country and other parts of the state. There's really clear data that shows that those programs work, but it takes money. It takes resources. And like looking at Oakland right now, knowing where the budget is, we have to figure out additional revenue and resources so that those programs can succeed. So that remains, you know, a priority of mine, and one that I think is an important way to to approach that.
You know, there was obviously Prop 36 on the ballot this year. I did not support that. Despite the fact that I do think we need to keep our community safe. I don't want to go so far overreaching that, for instance, we're sending folks to jail for mere possession of drugs. Things like that we also know don't work and, in fact, exacerbate the problem longer term. So figuring out how we address the issue while we keep our communities safe, while at the same time not over reaching.
I was, and continue to be, a supporter of the governor's initiative to keep CHP in Oakland. You know, I think that presence is critical. And I think again, we've seen data that has showed that it has been successful. Another thing I think is really, really important in terms of building the necessary programs when folks are coming out of institutions that they have the support system that they need so that they don't re enter. 99% of people that go into our system are going to come out. And so we want to make sure those folks have the resources they need so that they don't return to resorting to violence or other measures that would put them back into the system again.
Public Financing for Elections
Kimberly Holtzinger: As an Oakland resident, you may be aware of some of the efforts for limited public financing, particularly the Democracy Dollars effort to help shift some of the resourcing for public financing where the current state is about 99% of those who donate are from about 1% of the population. And I'm curious what is your position on public financing for elections.
Buffy Wicks: I think anything we can do to get money out of politics is the right thing to do. I mean, I live and breathe it every day as a politician. It's the worst part of this job. And you end up in this environment where it's part of the system that you're in, it's this necessary evil, and the time that I'm spending doing that means that it's literally my own time that I'm not spending on talking about and fixing the things that we just discussed on the policy side, whether it's housing or whatever the issue is that I actually really care about. I don't think any of us who ran for office ran so that we can raise more money. It's honestly the worst part of this job. So I would support any and all efforts to figure out ways, within the confines of the law, with Citizens United, that enable us to be free from the shackles that is raising money for politics, because it's a pretty terrible part of this that I genuinely hate being a part of.
Youth Voting and Civic Engagement
Kimberly Holtzinger: On perhaps a bit of a lighter topic, the nexus for the movement to grant 16- and 17-year-olds the vote is in the Bay Area, with Oaklanders and residents of Berkeley being able to vote for the first time for school board elections, and Albany passing its measure to allow youth to vote in municipal elections. Can you share your position?
Buffy Wicks: I think it's great, we're a little bit of the tip of the spear. I know Maryland has also done some similar work in this space, but I think it's a really creative, innovative way to try to create life long habits of civic engagement and civic participation. I would have been one of those 16 year olds who would have taken full advantage, but because someone asked me to, right? And so I think that's what this does, it's asking young folks to be a part of the process and to be at the table and to be engaged in a real way. So I think it's exciting. I think obviously, given the state of our democracy right now, in particular, it's warranted now more than ever. The common refrain is, the conventional wisdom is: "people don't care," and I don't find that to be the case at all. I think young people care a lot. I think they need the right avenues to engage in, and voting is certainly one of those. And I think they see more clearly than many, they need to be active. And so that gives me hope. Actually, I talk to young people all the time who give me hope and inspiration in, you know, saving us from ourselves. And sometimes that comes with an apology, of like, I'm sorry that we've messed it all up for you, but God bless you, and whatever I can do to support you, to help be a leader, a future leader, in this country, we need it. So I'm a big supporter and a big fan of this, and glad that to see the East Bay leading the way yet again on what I hope to be a transformative policy that will ignite more civic engagement in our communities.
Wildfire Prevention and Insurance Issues
Kimberly Holtzinger: Our last question has to do with fire. Wildfire prevention is particularly timely right now, as you mentioned. What are some kinds of policies or positions that the state assembly could support to encourage wildfire prevention in California and specifically Alameda County?
Buffy Wicks: I've just been obsessed with the news and watching what's been happening in LA, all the while knowing that in a heartbeat, that could be us again, like that. Could be our Berkeley hills, our Oakland Hills. You know this wildlife interface corridor, where we have housing encroachment in these areas. It's by the grace of God that right now we are not experiencing that. But my heart goes out. I've been on text threads all day. I've got colleagues down in Los Angeles who've lost homes, whose parents have lost homes. The devastation is very, very real, and they don't even know the true scope of the devastation right now. It's been devastating to watch, and it's also a critical reminder of the new reality that we are living in. In California, I think wildfires have burned about 2 million acres just in recent years. Numbers are huge. I supported Prop 4, which was a first of its kind statewide climate bond. It's going to raise $10 billion of really urgent investments that I think will be proven strategies to protect our communities and our health and our economy. I think $1.5B of those dollars are going to be spent to detect and prevent and reduce the intensity and spread of wildfires in every region, including assembly district 14. So I think that's going to be really important. That's a big piece of this, in terms of addressing high risk areas, with targeted solutions. I've advocated for PG&E to underground power lines in the Montclair neighborhood, which is obviously a designated very high fire severity zone, to reduce ignition risks in densely populated, limited access areas with significant fire history, which is a lot of the eastern part of my district. I'll continue to push for wildfire mitigation strategies that really match the severity of the vulnerability of high risk areas, because we really want to make sure we're ensuring comprehensive fire safety measures. I think we need to put a big priority in a kind of a collaborative regional planning for wildfires.
I've strongly supported the Diablo fire safe Council efforts to secure funding for a multi- organizational regional planning process that really prioritizes wildfire mitigation projects in both Alameda and Contra Costa counties. I think this collaborative approach really helps to identify viable projects and ensures technical readiness and contact with local efforts, with critical funding resources to reduce the wildfire risk across the region. And you know, like a special shout out to this regional coalition that's been trying to address wildfire is the East Bay wildfire coalition. My office has started to attend those meetings. So there's a lot of work that I think needs to be done on the coordination piece, direct support for local wildfire prevention efforts. I was a big supporter of Berkeley fire department's application for the CAL FIRE wildfire prevention Grant Program, which is important. So there's a number of different things I think that we need to continue to do.
I will continue to advocate for increased state resources to support our local fire prevention strategies. This is work that's critical. It's got to be collaborative. Fire knows no boundaries. It doesn't care if you're in Berkeley or Oakland or Piedmont, it's going to go. So we have to be prepared. And there's all of us, it's got to be the utilities, the cities, the counties, the state, our federal government, which Lord knows what the hell is going to happen there. But that's going to be an important piece of this too, you know? And as an aside, my dad was in wildfires for 35 years for the US Forest Service. My husband now works in wildfire. He said there's a tech startup that does AI enabled early wildfire detection. So it’s in my family, in my blood and in my marriage. So I'm a big supporter of doing everything we can, because it's a huge issue for our state.
Home Insurance Crisis
Jennifer Trainor: I wonder if I could ask a couple of follow up questions on the fire situation, which is about the home insurance problem. I wonder if you could speak to that, because we have neighbors who are getting denied.
Buffy Wicks: This issue is big on both the fire issue as well as the housing issue. And we're seeing it across the board. And I'm sure all of us have personal experiences, or friends who have. I had a really close personal friend who just bought a place in downtown Lafayette and couldn't get insurance. Where are you supposed to buy if you can't even buy in a downtown corridor because of fire risk? That's very concerning. You know, I'll be honest with you, I don't think we've addressed this issue in the way that we need to, to date, in the legislature or in government at the state level. I know that Ricardo Lara has a new plan out that is hopeful to mitigate some of the issues and challenges. One of the things that I've discovered as we've learned about this is it's not just California, it's across the country, our insurance systems and networks and framework are fundamentally broken. It's going to take a big collaborative effort with vision to figure out how we actually address the issue. My parents still live in the Sierra Nevadas. My dad worked for the US Forest Service for 35 years, so they're up in Tahoe National Forest, and they're experiencing it firsthand, and I'm worried with the Palisades fire here, that the FAIR Plan is going to be broken. We'll see what comes out of this.
And we've got folks here, the chair of the Insurance Committee is a colleague of mine Assembly Member Lisa Calderon, who have been diving in on this, trying to figure out what are the potential solutions to how we can really address this issue. But I do think it's going to take some imaginative vision and thinking to figure out how we address it, because it's impacting so many people across the board.
Impact of New Federal Administration
Jennifer Trainor: Looking ahead to the new administration in Washington, do you have thoughts on that? Hope, despair, anything you could share with us that might shed some light on what's coming down the pike for California, and what we can do to protect ourselves?
Buffy Wicks: We're lucky to be in California. We are very lucky to be in this state, because we've done a lot. We did a lot after 2016, we did a lot after Roe fell. We've done a lot to Trump proof, if you will, the state. We've enshrined access to abortion in our Constitution, for instance, not just abortion, contraception as well. That's one example. We had a 30 bill package ready to go on day one to ensure that women would have access to safe and legal abortion in California, no matter where they are from, that doctors would not be criminalized, etc. We've done a lot of the work, I think, in as much as we can as a state to push back on values that don't represent ours. Having said that, I think the big concern is going to be, we get a lot of money from the federal government. Does that get weaponized against us because we're California? I think that's a very real concern. So what does that mean for our budgets? And I think time will tell. The Governor and the Speaker and the pro tem called a special session to provide more resources for our attorney general to fight back legally through the mechanisms that we have in the courts to advocate for ourselves, which obviously is important. We'll be voting on that soon. So we're trying to use whatever tools we have in the toolbox.
I'm in this job, though, because I'm ultimately an optimist. I think it's important to have that kind of mindset in these types of roles. And it is my hope that we come out of this stronger than when we started, and that we learn from the moment and allow ourselves to reflect and say, okay, what happened here and why and so what does this mean? And from my perspective, when I see what happened in the election results and the response of the country and the nation, and even in my own district and in California, what it says to me is I need to do better for my constituents. We have to do better for our constituents. We have to make sure that we do bring down the cost of housing, that we do bring down the cost of energy, that we do make California an easier state to live in, that we make sure our streets are safe, that we have good educational opportunities, that we have these things. And so for me, it doubles down my commitment to do everything I can to make sure that I'm being a responsive public servant. That's what I have control of, or ability or agency or access to do. So that's what I'm choosing to do in this moment. And I think by doing that and demonstrating strong progressive governance, that's how we ultimately win the broader fight for the things that we believe in.
Jennifer Trainor: Well, thank you so much. We so appreciate your time. Any parting questions for us, or anything you'd like to tell our Alameda County leagues.
Buffy Wicks: I mean, just always huge appreciation for you all. I always love coming on and giving you all a briefing, and hearing from you and knowing what issues you all care about the most. You all are societal referees out there, holding the torch of democracy and freedom, and I know the flame burns strong in you all, and we need it too, especially in these times. So just huge appreciation.