Elected to the California State Senate in November 2020, Josh Becker represents the 13th District, which comprises most of San Mateo County and the northern part of Santa Clara County. An environmental leader, Becker has spent much of his first two years in office authoring bills that deal with climate, justice, and economic opportunity issues. In late 2022, he launched a district-wide contest called “There Oughta Be A Law,” which invites constituents to submit their ideas for needed legislation. The winner, announced in late March, was Jill Grey Ferguson, a doctoral student in environment and resources at the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. She is also a Shultz energy fellow at the California Public Utilities Commission. Her idea: To create a one-stop online energy portal for Californians to apply for incentives through the California Energy Commission. Her idea will be carried into Senate Bill 755, titled “California’s Layered Energy Application for Residents.” The portal would require the CEC to streamline the application process for energy incentives, increasing access for low-income residents in particular.

Becker also chairs the state senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources, Environmental Protection, and Energy and is a member of the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, the Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee, the Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, the Transportation Committee, and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. He was previously Vice-Chair of the Joint Legislative Climate Change Committee.