Phil Ting
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Philip Yu-Li Ting (born February 9, 1969) is an American politician who served in the
California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...
from 2012 to 2024. He is a Democrat who represented the 19th Assembly District, which encompasses western
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and northwestern
San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...
. Prior to being elected to the Assembly, he was the Assessor-Recorder of San Francisco.


Career

Ting began his career as a real estate
financial adviser A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...
at
Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen LLP was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corpo ...
and CBRE. He also previously served as the executive director of the Asian Law Caucus, as the president of the Bay Area Assessors Association, and on the board of Equality California.


Assessor-Recorder

In 2005, Ting was appointed San Francisco Assessor-Recorder by Mayor
Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...
, becoming San Francisco’s highest-ranking
Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...
official at the time. He was then elected to the post in November 2005, garnering 58 percent of the vote. As Assessor-Recorder, Ting cleared a five-year assessment backlog, which resulted in the collection of more than $200 million in unpaid property taxes. In February 2012, Ting commissioned the country’s first real study of mortgage fraud that spurred national action, uncovering "widespread mortgage industry irregularity" in San Francisco foreclosures. Specifically, Ting commissioned an audit of nearly 400 homes in the city that had been foreclosed upon in 2009–2011. The results of the audit, which demonstrated that more than 80% of the sampled foreclosures contained at least one clear legal violation, provided documented support for the state legislature to push for increased oversight of the mortgage industry. Ting was re-elected Assessor-Recorder in 2006 and 2010.


California State Assembly

A Democrat, Ting represents the state's 19th District, which includes the west side of San Francisco, in addition to Broadmoor, Colma, Daly City, and
South San Francisco South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is colloquially termed "South City". The population was 66,105 at the 2020 census. History P ...
. Ting was chair of the Assembly Committee on Budget and was the first Asian-American to hold the position. He is the chair of Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 6 on Budget Process, Oversight and Program Evaluation, chair of the Select Committee on Asia/California Trade and Investment Promotion, and is a member of the Committee on Business and Professions, the Committee on Utilities and Energy. He previously served as chair of the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation and Chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus. Ting is a member of the California Legislative Progressive Caucus.


2013–2014 session

On his first day in office Ting was appointed to the Assembly Leadership, being named the Democratic Caucus chair by Speaker John Perez. During his first term in the Assembly, Ting authored a law that helped set into motion the transformation of Piers 30–32 into what would become
Chase Center Chase Center is an indoor arena in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It is the home of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball A ...
the home of the
Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...
. He also helped protect seniors by enabling local governments access to state funds to make pedestrian crossing safer near senior centers. In 2014 Speaker
Toni Atkins Toni Gayle Atkins (born August 1, 1962) is an American politician who served as the 51st president pro tempore of the California State Senate from 2018 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 69th speaker of the ...
appointed Ting to chair the Revenue and Taxation Committee. In 2014, Ting announced his support for a $100 million property tax-break for large corporations in San Francisco's Mid-Market District.


2015–2016 session

In 2015 Ting authored legislation that was signed into law which ensured free pedestrian and bicycle crossing of the
Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...
, and a created an incentive program to double the amount of food assistance benefits Californians receive if they purchase California grown fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables. In 2016 Ting was appointed Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee by Speaker Rendon. Ting’s appointment was historic as he was the first Asian Pacific Islander to chair the Assembly’s Budget Committee. He also successfully authored a number of new laws including; requiring single occupancy restrooms to be designated as gender neutral restrooms. This received praise and condemnation from around the country as transgender individuals' use of public facilities including restrooms and locker rooms became a partisan issue. Ting also authored a bill to expand the list of individuals who could petition for a Gun Violence Restraining Order, to help increase their use, however it was vetoed by Governor Brown.


2017-2018 session

In 2017 Ting helped secure $10 million in the State Budget to create an additional Homeless Navigation Center in San Francisco. In 2018 Ting passed legislation to protect minority communities by setting minimum standards for law enforcement hate crime policies, protected renters by requiring landlords to accept payments by third-parties, gave hope to inmates serving long sentences by allowing prosecutors an avenue to recommend the re-sentencing of inmates who have been rehabilitated, increased accountability of law enforcement by requiring public disclosure of body camera footage, and supported California’s transition to EV’s by requiring the
California Energy Commission The California Energy Commission, formally the Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, is the primary energy policy and energy planning, planning Government agency, agency for California. Created in 1974 and headquartered in S ...
to study EV infrastructure needs. Ting also reintroduced his bill to expand the list of individuals who could petition for a Gun Violence Restraining Order, however it was again vetoed by Governor Brown.


2019–2020 session

In 2019 Ting also took action when the California Redemption Value (CRV) program virtually shuttered around the state, first by securing $5 million in the State Budget to support 400 low-volume recycling centers, and then by creating a mobile recycling pilot program to replace the hundreds of closed redemption sites around the state. Ting also responded to the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal by authoring a law to require colleges to disclose preferential admissions practices to the State. In 2020 Ting wrote laws which increased housing across California. One law prevents Homeowner’s Association from prohibiting rentals, while another allows cities and counties to declare “shelter crisis” to suspend regulatory hurdles to building emergency housing and safe parking programs. He also authored a law directed at creating green jobs in the state, by redirecting state budget funds to help public schools replace HVAC and plumbing, and requiring the
California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or PUC) is a regulatory agency that regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies. In addition ...
to act on pending electronic vehicle infrastructure applications.


2021–2022 session

In 2021, Ting as the Assembly Budget Chair partnered with legislators and the Governor to take early budget action in February designed to help renters/small businesses and send qualified Californians $600 in relief checks to respond to the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Ting and the AAPI Legislative Caucus successfully got the $166.5 million API Equity Budget included in the state spending plan, bolstering resources and services for victims of hate against Asian American/Pacific Islander communities, while also investing in cultural institutions that promote greater understanding. Ting was able to get numerous pieces of legislation enacted include banning harmful
PFAS Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (also PFAS, PFASs, and informally referred to as "forever chemicals") are a group of synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain; there are 7 millio ...
chemicals from food packaging and authorizing a pilot program for San Francisco to pay jurors more to see if that resulted in more diverse juries. In 2022, Ting led the Assembly Budget Committee through another budget surplus, crafting a historic state budget; with the centerpiece of the spending plan was tax rebates to fight inflation. Because of the mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde and Highland Park, the Legislature acted early to pass Ting’s AB 1594, which holds the gun industry accountable for the harm their products cause, allowing private citizens, the state Attorney General and local governments to sue firearms manufacturers and retailers when break California’s strict gun laws. Under Ting and
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Budget Chair Nancy Skinner, lawmakers also took quick action when faced with an enrollment freeze at UC Berkeley, after neighbors sued under CEQA to stop enrollment growth authorized and funded under the state budget. Phil Ting's "Freedom to Walk" bill to decriminalize jaywalking was signed into law by Governor Newsom. In 2023, Ting spearheaded the effort in the California Senate to pass AB 1633, which prevents use of the California Environmental Quality Act to block new housing developments that already comply with local and state land use and environmental regulations.


Electoral history


Mayoral Election

Ting ran in the San Francisco Mayoral election of 2011 but was defeated by incumbent Mayor Ed Lee. Ting set a California record for highest campaign expenditures per vote after spending $500,000 on his 2011 campaign for
San Francisco Mayor The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by t ...
only to finish in 12th place. The majority of the money came from the city's public campaign financing system which provided Ting's campaign with over $300,000.


2012 California State Assembly

In 2012, he was elected to the California State Assembly, defeating fellow Democrat Michael Breyer, son of
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
Justice
Stephen Breyer Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is an American lawyer and retired jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and r ...
.


2014 California State Assembly


2016 California State Assembly


2018 California State Assembly


2020 California State Assembly


2022 California State Assembly


Personal life

Ting lives in San Francisco's Sunset District with his wife and their two daughters. His parents are immigrants from Taiwan. On June 20, 2020, Ting admitted to having a "years-long" affair with a domestic worker whom he had met through a dating website. The worker had previously testified before the California State Assembly in favor of AB-5, a bill which Ting supported. Ting later released a statement denying that the affair had any influence on his voting record.


References


External links

*
Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ting, Phil 1969 births Living people 21st-century members of the California State Legislature Asian American and Pacific Islander state legislators in California California local politicians California politicians of Chinese descent Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Harvard Kennedy School alumni Politicians from San Francisco University of California, Berkeley alumni