Sen. Blakespear to Remain Chair of Environmental Quality Committee, Get More Assignments, Senate Leader Announces
Sen. Blakespear will serve on the Emergency Management Committee and the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls
SACRAMENTO – Sen. Catherine S. Blakespear, D-Encinitas, will continue as Chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and in her current legislative assignments but will also join a committee focused on emergency management and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
The assignments, announced on Tuesday by Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón, are for the coming calendar year.
Sen. Blakespear, who has served as Chair of Senate Environmental Quality since last January, is the first women to ever hold the position. In 2025, the committee evaluated over 120 pieces of legislation directly affecting the air, water and products Californians use and consume.
In her role, she also helped craft landmark legislation that renewed California's largest climate program, now called cap-and-invest. The program will continue to require California's largest polluters to pay for their carbon emissions, and it will put the proceeds towards cleaner, greener investments all across the state.
“Across the board, California faces environmental challenges, as we work to reduce plastic pollution, transition to green power and protect our state’s majestic beauty and natural resources,” Sen. Blakespear said. “I am excited to lead a committee that is not only crucially important to our state and its future, but also to the rest of the world, as California sets the standards for environmental policymaking and stewardship in the 21st century.”
Sen. Blakespear will continue as a member of Senate committees on Budget and Fiscal Review, Government Organization and Transportation. She will also remain on Budget Subcommittee #2, Chair of the Senate Transportation Subcommittee on LOSSAN Rail Corridor Resiliency and on the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies.
The Senate is creating a new standing Emergency Management Committee, and Sen. Blakespear will serve on that as well as the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management.
In addition, Sen. Blakespear will be appointed to the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, which has worked since 1965 to improve the lives of women and girls throughout the state.
In her first three years in the Senate, Sen. Blakespear has focused on reducing homelessness, curbing the cost of living, strengthening the economy and making communities safer. She has worked to prevent gun violence, protect the environment and natural wildlife habitat, improve public transportation and counter climate change.
Blakespear represents Senate District 38, which covers coastal and northern San Diego County and south Orange County. To learn more about the district and Sen. Blakespear, visit her Senate website.