Assemblymember Haney named as Assistant Majority Leader of Policy and Research

Sacramento – Matt Haney, the newly elected Assemblymember for San Francisco, has been appointed by Speaker Anthony Rendon as the Assistant Majority Leader of Policy and Research. Assemblymember Haney will lead the Assembly Office of Research and Policy and will oversee a staff of experienced policy experts to do a deep-dive actionable analysis of the pressing issues California is facing, including housing, homelessness, and post-COVID recovery.

“Assemblymember Haney is a great fit to guide our Policy and Research Office. He brings a strong commitment and passion for policy to the job,” said Assembly Speaker Rendon. “We’re looking forward to seeing him lead research on some of the big ideas he’s known for.”

“I’m thankful to the Speaker for entrusting a new Assemblymember with such an important leadership position,” said Assemblymember Haney. “I represent a district known for innovation, and I plan to bring that spirit to the Research and Policy Office.”

Haney has extensive experience in policy and research, having served as an Adjunct Faculty member at Stanford’s prestigious Design School, one of the most lauded academic programs in the country. The Design school is famous for using an engineering framework to research issues like law, medicine, humanities, and social sciences to create actionable public policy. Assemblymember Haney also taught Education Law at the JFK School of Law and Sociology at Palo Alto University, where he led students in research and policy creation.

Before being elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Haney worked as the former National Political Director at The Dream Corps, where he led the organization’s broader policy strategy to end the school to prison pipeline. He is also the co-founder—along with Van Jones and Jessica Jackson—of #cut50, an organization working to create policy solutions to keep communities safe and end mass incarceration.

Haney has also been assigned seats on the Judiciary, Labor, Jobs and Economic Development, and Aging Committees. He plans to use his role on these committees to forward his work on the issues that are important to San Francisco, such as ending homelessness, building housing, and stopping the opioid crisis.

“San Francisco needs a lot of help right now. The people of our city are dealing with problems on our streets that have been building up for decades,” said Assemblymember Haney. “The only way we’re going to solve these issues is with the State and City working together. I’m ready to get to work on these committees and deliver results for our city and for all of California.”