Candidate for
State Senator; District 10; Democratic Party

Few members of the State Legislature can point to the ground-breaking legislation that is the hallmark of Johan Klehs' public policy career. In the early 1980's, Klehs was a staunch supporter of the landmark AB 1 and embraced and promoted the United Farmworkers to ensure worker safety in the fields. Later, he authored the Affordable Housing Tax Credit of 1987, guaranteeing thousands of affordable housing units for working families. In 1989, he co-authored the bill to ban assault weapons. And in the 2005 legislative session, Klehs was the leading voice against Governor Schwarzenegger's Special Election.

In 1978, Johan Klehs became the youngest person ever to serve on the San Leandro City Council. A first generation American, Klehs' father was a carpenter and his mother was a homemaker. Growing up in San Leandro, he worked his way through high school and college. Academic scholarships helped him graduate from California State University, Hayward with a BA in Political Science and a Masters in Public Administration.

For the past 20 years, Klehs has been at the center of public policy in California, becoming an expert in budget and tax as well as the author of important progressive reforms. As Chair of the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee in the 1980's and early 1990's and on the Board of Equalization in the mid 1990's, Klehs made a significant contribution to California taxpayers.

In addition to his current term in the Assembly, Klehs served in the California Assembly for 12 years (1982-1994). As Chair of the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee, he carried major tax reform legislation that reduced taxes for 71% of California families and removed 278,000 low-income families from the tax rolls. He cut the corporate tax rate from 9.6% to 9.3%.

Klehs is the author of some of California's most progressive laws including the Hate Crimes package, the ban on assault weapons, and protection of victims of child abuse and domestic violence. Additionally, Klehs eliminated outdated and biased labor restrictions for women in the work force. Klehs was honored as "Legislator of the Year" by many California groups including police officers, the disabled community, credit unions, the California Abortion Rights Action League and the California Teachers Association.

In November 1994, Klehs was elected to the Board of Equalization (BOE) representing the First District and was re-elected in 1998 with the largest vote margin of any constitutional officer in California. As Chair of the BOE, he served as a member of the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) in 1995, 1996, and 1999. In 2002, his East Bay constituents returned him to the Assembly.

Under Klehs' leadership, the BOE became the first public agency in California with a customer services division. This reflects his philosophy that citizens ought to be treated like customers and not just sources of revenue. Klehs dramatically reduced the tax revenues lost in California's huge "underground economy." Through vigorous efforts at the BOE and FTB, more than $3 billion in added revenue was brought into state and local coffers at the expense of tax cheats and evaders since 1995.

In 1999, Klehs helped lead the FTB in its massive effort to collect $9.8 billion in delinquent child support payments owed by deadbeat parents. Both as a legislator and member of the FTB and BOE, Klehs supported programs that resulted in over $435 million in collections from deadbeat parents.