Fiona Ma was elected to represent the people of California’s 12th Assembly District from November 2006 to November 2012, serving three consecutive terms. Fiona was the 112th woman elected to the California Legislature and the first Asian woman to serve as Speaker pro Tempore since 1850.

The 12th Assembly District represented 450,000 and included the cities of San Francisco, Daly City, Colma, and Broadmoor.

Interests in Business and Politics

Assemblywoman Ma first became interested in politics as a small business owner and a Certified Public Accountant advocating on behalf of small businesses. She was an elected delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business under President Bill Clinton, which produced a report to Congress on the 60 top policy recommendations to help small businesses grow and prosper in the 21st century.

She formally entered the field of politics in 1995, serving as a part-time district representative for the former President pro Tempore of the California Senate, John Burton. It was a position that would last for seven years, after which she was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where she served for four years until 2006. During her tenure on the Board of Supervisors, she authored the landmark Local Business Enterprise ordinance on behalf of women and minority business owners and passed legislation to tackle human trafficking.

Groundbreaking Toxic Legislation

Building on her work combating toxic chemicals in San Francisco, Assemblywoman Ma authored groundbreaking legislation to ban toxic chemicals, known as phthalates, in baby products statewide. AB 1108 was a first such law in the nation and was signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2007. It became the model for the federal amendment on the same subject, authored by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, which was signed into law as part of the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

Key Committee Assignments

Assemblywoman Ma served on key Assembly committees, including Agriculture; Business and Professions; Governmental Organization, Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security; and Utilities and Commerce. She also served on the following Select Committees: Domestic Violence; Alcohol and Drug Abuse; Foster Care; Preservation of California’s Entertainment Industry; Rail Transportation; Regional Approaches to Addressing the State’s Water Crisis; and Safety and Protection of At-Risk Communities in CA; and the Joint Committee on Fairs, Allocation and Classification and the Joint Committee for the Protection of Lake Tahoe.

As Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Domestic Violence, Fiona penned legislation protecting victims of domestic violence. She authored groundbreaking legislation to protect consumers, help California’s working families pay the bills, prevent the spread of Hepatitis B, increase access to quality health care, and provide equal rights for all Californians. She was a strong advocate for better neighborhoods, authoring laws to combat graffiti, recycling theft, and disabled placard abuse. As a joint author of Proposition 1-A, which was approved by voters in November, 2008, she was the legislature’s leading advocate to bring high-speed trains to California.

State, National, and International Outreach

Assemblywoman Ma took a lead in promoting trade and fostering relationships between California and Asia. For the past 10 years, she has led legislative delegations to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan.

She focused on improving California’s bottom line and authored legislation to create jobs in California and grow the state’s economy. As an Executive Board Member of the National Conference of State Legislators, she worked to keep California competitive with other states.

While serving in the Assembly, in addition to NCSL, Fiona served as Western States Chair of Women in Government; was an Executive Board Member of the California Democratic Party; and is Member of the Aspen Institute's 2009 Class of Aspen-Rodel Fellows.

She is currently on the Board of CA Women Lead; Board of Directors for Curry Without Worry; Board of Directors of Asian Inc; President of the Asian American Donor Program Honorary Chair and Spokesperson of the San Francisco Hep B Free Campaign; and Honorary California Chair of the New Leaders Council. She serves on the Advisory Boards of the James L. Brady Riding Program for Children with Disabilities, Family Connections, Alliance for Girls, and the SF Ethnic Dance Festival. She is also a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Helping Youth

Fiona believes strongly in the need to nurture our next generation and expose them to public service and happily accepted many interns in her Capitol and District Offices. From 2006-2012, under the tutelage of District Director Bob Twomey, MaSquadCA has mentored over 1,000 young volunteers from throughout the SF Bay Area and as far as Chicago, New York, China, Chile, Argentina, and Africa, ranging in age from 13-32, and have accomplished a variety of projects for and with various communities in and around San Francisco and throughout the State of California.

Education

Assemblywoman Ma received her B.S. from the Rochester Institute of Technology (NY), her M.S. in Taxation from Golden Gate University (SF), and an MBA from Pepperdine University. She has been licensed in California as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) since 1992. She is a Member of CalCPA and CalCPA's Public Policy Task Force.