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Biography

Assemblymember Jesse GabrielJESSE GABRIEL proudly represents the San Fernando Valley in the California State Assembly. As Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, he works closely with legislative leadership and the Governor to craft the state budget, advance key policy priorities, and oversee hundreds of billions of dollars in state spending. Recognized as a “California Influencer” by The Sacramento Bee, Jesse has authored more than thirty new laws and has been a champion for children, working families, small businesses, reproductive freedom, gun safety, and the environment.

  • Jesse authored the Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act, a first-in-the-nation measure which taxes gun industry profits to fund gun violence prevention and school safety in communities across California. He is also the Co-Founder of California’s Gun Violence Working Group and has partnered with Gabby Giffords, Moms Demand Action, and March for Our Lives to help make California a national leader in commonsense gun safety laws.
     
  • Jesse authored the California Food Safety Act, which bans the use of several toxic food additives linked to cancer, reproductive harm, and developmental issues in children. The fight to make California the first state to prohibit these dangerous chemicals drew significant national and international attention and was described by food safety experts as a “truly historic win for consumers.
     
  • Jesse previously served as Chair of the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee where he helped shepherd major reforms to enhance the safety and wellbeing of children on the Internet. In the face of fierce opposition from Big Tech, he successfully passed first-in-the-nation legislation requiring major social media companies to disclose how they address hate speech, racism, and conspiracy theories on their platforms.
     
  • Jesse is consistently ranked as one of the Legislature’s most committed environmentalists. A former Board Member of the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters, he has championed efforts to address climate change, expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure, encourage water conservation, and protect California’s precious natural resources.
     
  • Jesse has pushed local governments to act with much greater urgency to address our housing and homelessness crisis. He has authored legislation to help renters, support homeless veterans, and deliver more affordable housing and mental health services while requiring stronger accountability.
     
  • Jesse helped lead the fight to protect small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, authoring several bipartisan measures to cut red tape and help struggling neighborhood restaurants safely expand outdoor dining.
     
  • Jesse serves as Co-Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, where he has brought together diverse leaders to combat hate and bigotry of all forms. As part of this effort, he has authored new laws to strengthen hate crimes protections, defend undocumented Californians, and protect vulnerable communities targeted by hate.

Prior to his service in the Legislature, Jesse worked as a constitutional rights attorney, representing clients in state and federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. In 2017, Jesse was part of a team of leading constitutional attorneys who sued the Trump Administration to protect young people promised protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. As of 2023, more than 600,000 Dreamers have been able to renew their DACA status because of this litigation. During his time in private practice, Jesse also represented Holocaust survivors, victims of domestic abuse, and communities facing targeted violence. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School.

Jesse lives in the San Fernando Valley with his wife, Rachel Rosner—an affordable housing attorney—and their sons Ethan, Joshua, and Noah. He is an enthusiastic youth soccer coach and a long-suffering Cal sports fan.