Assemblymember Matt Haney proudly represents California’s 17th Assembly District encompassing the Eastern side of San Francisco and serves as the Assembly’s Majority Whip; the chair of the Fentanyl, Opioid Addiction, and Overdose Protection select committee; Renters Caucus; and Downtown Recovery select committee, as well as the co-chair of the Irish Caucus. In addition, he serves on the Local Government, Government Organization, Health, Judiciary, and Appropriations committees.
In his first full year in the State Legislature, Assemblymember Haney successfully sent 12 bills to the governor's desk to be signed into law. Several of these bills worked to tackle the addiction and opioid crisis. Assemblymember Haney authored legislation that allows mobile pharmacies to dispense opioid addiction treatment medication. Additionally, he authored legislation that will enable physicians to prescribe buprenorphine, an opioid addiction treatment medication, to youth 16-18 years old without parental consent.
Prioritizing housing, he created the “Rental Deposit Fairness Act”, limiting security deposits to a maximum of one month's rent. Limiting security deposits will increase housing accessibility to renters across California. In addition, he authored the “Strengthening California’s Housing Law Enforcement bill,” granting the Attorney General the right to represent the state’s interests in lawsuits brought against local governments for violating housing laws. This bill will strengthen the Attorney General’s ability to advance Californians’ access to housing by granting them the statutory right to enforce housing law.
Looking to help California families, Assemblymember Haney wrote the Keep Families Close Act, requiring the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to place incarcerated parents in the facility closest to their minor children. Addressing the issue of recidivism, Assemblymember Haney knows that keeping family close to inmates is critical to success while incarcerated and after release.
Passing several pieces of legislation that were the first of their kind across the nation, the “Stop Dangerous Pharmacies Act” created regulations for corporate chain pharmacies, such as CVS and Walgreens, to crack down on the nationwide problem of understaffed chain pharmacies making dangerous medication errors. Similarly the first of its kind, the “Mixed Martial Arts Retirement Benefit Fund” created the first MMA Pension Fund, allowing Mixed Martial Arts fighters to access retirement benefits, funded by a percentage of fighters' ticket sales.
Representing the San Francisco Transgender District, Assemblymember Haney wanted to highlight transgender history and raise awareness about the attacks on this community. Passing this historic piece of legislation, Assemblymember Haney created the first statewide declaration of Transgender History Month, declaring August as a month to celebrate Transgender history and communities.