Fran Pavley
Frances J. "Fran" Pavley is an American politician who served two terms in the California State Senate and three terms in the California State Assembly. A Democrat, she last represented the 27th Senate District, which encompasses the Conejo Valley, and portions of the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys. Due to term limits in California, Senator Pavley completed her legislative career in 2016. She is currently working as the Environmental Policy Director for the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.
Before being elected to the State Senate in 2008, Pavley served in the California State Assembly, representing the 41st Assembly District. She was also the first Mayor of Agoura Hills. She was a middle school teacher for 29 years.
Pavley is known for her pioneering work on environmental and climate change legislation. She was an author of AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which created a multi-sector emissions reduction target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and a cap and trade system. In 2016, she cemented her legacy by authoring and passing SB 32, which extended California's emissions reduction goals to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.
Background
Pavley is a native Angeleno and grew up in Sherman Oaks. She has lived in Agoura Hills with her husband, Andy, for over 40 years, where they raised their two children, as well as four guide dogs.She received her master's degree in Environmental Planning at CSU Northridge, taught middle school for 29 years and completed her teaching career in Moorpark. In 1982, Pavley became the first mayor of the City of Agoura Hills, and served four terms on the city council. In 2000, she was elected to the California State Assembly where she served three terms.
Local politics
During Pavley's time as Mayor, she founded the "Disaster Response Team," authored the city's "Transit Needs Study," and helped her city establish a new community center and gym as well as an equestrian facility. In 1997, she was awarded the "Distinguished Leadership Award" by the American Planning Association for her efforts.Pavley was appointed to be a member of the California Coastal Commission from 1995 to 2000. She was a member of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Committee and was President of the LA County Division League of California Cities in 1996.
State Assembly
Pavley was elected to represent the 41st District in the California State Assembly for the maximum of three 2-year terms, from 2000 to 2006. Pavley was a member of the Assembly Budget Committee, the Education Committee, the Transportation Committee, and the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. She was the Chair of the Budget Committee on Resources.Legislation
During her 14 years as a legislator, Pavley authored three major climate-change bills to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California. In 2016, Governor Jerry Brown signed Pavley's SB 32, establishing a target to reduce GHG emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The law extended and expanded upon AB 32, which Pavley co-authored in 2006 and was signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, that required a reduction in GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. During her first term in the Assembly, Pavley authored AB 1493, requiring a reduction in GHG emissions from vehicle tailpipes, signed by Governor Gray Davis in 2002. In 2010 President Barack Obama implemented national clean car standards, modeled on AB 1493, also widely known as the "Pavley law." During a special ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, the President personally thanked Senator Pavley for her work on creating a clean, safe, secure energy future for California and the United States.Some of Pavley's legislative victories in the Senate included authoring laws establishing California's first statewide regulation of groundwater basins and SB 1425, the water-energy nexus law that measures the carbon intensity in the movement and treating of water; stiffening penalties for mortgage fraud; banning lead and cadmium in children's jewelry; implementing California's first regulations for oil and gas well stimulation techniques like fracking and acidizing; and setting new safety standards for gas storage wells in response to the massive gas leak at Porter Ranch, Los Angeles in her district.