Biography

Elected to the Assembly in 2002, Assemblyman Mark Leno represents the 13th District, which encompasses the eastern portion of San Francisco .  He is one of the first two openly gay men ever elected to the Assembly.  He currently chairs the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which oversees all bills with a fiscal impact on the state. He also serves on the Election & Redistricting and Labor Committees. He was chair of the Public Safety Committee from 2003 to 2006.  Prior to his election to the Assembly, Leno served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from April 1998 to November 2002.

While in the Assembly, Leno has fought for better schools and access to higher education, a cleaner and sustainable environment, universal affordable and quality health care, improved transportation, renewable energy, safer streets and equal rights for all Californians.  In 2007, Leno is continuing his pioneering battle for LGBT couples and their families by authoring AB 43, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act. This historic civil rights legislation would allow same sex couples to marry in California . In 2005, Leno’s nearly identical AB 849 was the first marriage equality bill in United States history to be approved by both houses of a state legislature.

A native of Wisconsin, Leno attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, then went on to become valedictorian of his graduating class at the American College of Jerusalem, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree. Leno also spent two years in Rabbinical Studies at The Hebrew Union College in New York . He is the owner of Budget Signs, Inc., a small business he founded in 1978 and operated with his life partner, Douglas Jackson. Together the two entrepreneurs steadily grew their sign business until Jackson passed away from complications relating to HIV/AIDS in 1990. This deep loss would not deter Leno. Instead, he redoubled his efforts in community service.

LEGISLATION

This year, Leno’s ambitious legislative agenda includes a number of environmental protection measures to prevent toxic chemical exposure, conserve our coastal and ocean resources, help first time home buyers afford solar energy systems, cut paper waste during elections and permit California farmers to grow industrial hemp, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create healthier communities during population growth.

Leno is also working on legislation to make government more accessible to the public through compliance with the California Public Records Act and through unfettered access to electronic documents created by state agencies.  He is also authoring measures that would improve access to higher education for foster youth, protect parking control officers from on the job violence, preserve nurses’ rights to collectively bargain, improve low income families’ access to food stamps and prevent teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

During his second two-year term (2005-2006), Assemblyman Leno was successful in getting 21 bills passed by the legislature and signed into law, including laws that expand solar power generation, provide LGBT seniors with culturally competent services, encourage stores in low income neighborhoods to offer healthy foods, reform the initiative process, provide domestic violence protection, expanded victim’s rights, ensure the continuation of San Francisco’s mobile methadone treatment program and reforms the foster youth system.

During his first two-year term (2003-2004), Assemblyman Leno was successful in getting 28 bills passed by the legislature and signed into law, including laws that protect Californians from gender based discrimination in housing and employment, amend the Ellis Act to preserve affordable housing for seniors and the disabled, streamline the administration of rapid HIV tests to at-risk populations, expand access to food stamps to struggling families and the working poor, and make solar power possible on San Francisco’s public buildings.  He also served as chair of the Select Committees on LGBT Families and Childhood Obesity & Related Diabetes.

While on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Leno authored landmark legislation in the areas of affordable housing, universal health care for children, solar energy, late night entertainment, bond oversight, small business services, City CarShare, medical cannabis, equal access to services, and LGBT civil rights.

AWARDS & HONORS

Leno has been honored for his public service by many organizations.  In 2006 he was honored by the Stonewall Democratic Club in Los Angeles with their Sheila Kuehl Trail Blazer Award, The Lazarus Project’s Lazarus Award for Marriage Equality, The California Young Democrat’s Mentor of the Year, Partners Ending Domestic Abuse’s Kamala Harris Leadership Award and Temple Beth Chayim Chadashim’s 2006 Herman Humanitarian Award.

In 2005, he was honored by the California Attorney’s for Criminal Justice with their “Scales of Justice Award” in recognition to his fair and balanced approach in chairing the Assembly Public Safety Committee.  He also received the “Lifetime Friend and Champion” award from the Harvey Milk Democratic Club and was chosen by OUT Magazine as one of 2005’s “Most Intriguing Gay Men.”

In 2004, Leno received the Award of Courage from American Foundation for AIDS Research and he was honored by the Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association of Los Angeles at their 25th Anniversary Gala for his commitment to marriage equality.  He also served as Chair of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender) Legislative Caucus.

In 2003, he was awarded the Housing Hero of the Year awarded by the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition.  Additionally, Leno was proud to receive honors from the American Heart Association, the California Association of Food Banks and Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays. 

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Outside of his capacity as an elected official, Leno has been a tireless advocate for non-profit organizations in San Francisco , frequently appearing to show support at events and lending a hand wherever possible. He was a statewide spokesman for the No on Prop 22 Campaign (the Knight Initiative) and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles in August 2000 and in Boston in August 2004.

He has served on the boards of many local and national organizations including the LGBT Community Center Project, Haight Ashbury Community Services, the American Jewish Congress, Mobilization Against AIDS, and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.  He is the recipient of the 1995 Small Business Owner of the Year Award from the Small Business Network, the 1995 Hormel Community Service Award from the Human Rights Campaign and the James R. Sylla Award from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.