Betty Yee

A champion for working families, Betty Yee was elected as California’s Controller in November 2014, following two terms on the California Board of Equalization (BOE). Reelected Controller in 2018, Betty earned the highest number of votes of any candidate on the ballot that year nationwide and in the history of California — over 8 million votes.

As Controller of then the world’s fifth-largest economy, Betty most notably chaired the Franchise Tax Board and served as a member of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System boards. The nation’s largest public pension funds, these two boards reached a combined portfolio of more than $800 billion. While on these boards, Betty ensured the compliance of responsible contractor policies on projects in which the pension funds had majority ownership interests, as well as led the work towards achieving net-zero portfolios in both funds. As chair and member of the State Lands Commission, she led the shuttering of the last state oil platform in the Santa Barbara Channel. Also during her tenure as Controller, Betty and her audit team uncovered $7.5 billion in misspending.

While on the BOE, Betty spearheaded initiatives to tackle the underground economy and illegal activities by unscrupulous contractors, working in collaboration with other state enforcement agencies; and took on multinational corporations that attempted to skirt paying their fair share of taxes. Her work on the BOE also resulted in Amazon now collecting and remitting sales tax to the state and our recognition of marriage equality as the law of the land when the courts looked to California’s then-property and income tax parity laws for same-sex couples.

As Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Finance, Betty led the development of the Governor’s Budget, negotiations with the Legislature and key budget stakeholders, and fiscal analyses of legislation. Prior to serving as the state’s budget director, Betty served as senior staff to several fiscal and policy committees in both houses of the California Legislature.

A native of San Francisco and the second oldest of six children of immigrant parents, Betty has more than 40 years of experience in public service, specializing in state and local finance and tax policy. She earned a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley; and she holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Golden Gate University, San Francisco. In Fall 2023, Betty was a fellow with the University of Southern California Dornsife Center for the Political Future, facilitating discussion in study groups on the relationship of good governance on the health of our democracy. She was elected and served as Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party from 2021 to 2025.

Betty currently serves on the nonprofit boards of: Ceres, a national sustainability organization; the College Futures Foundation (on leave); and the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, a national leadership development organization. Betty is currently serving as an academic program advisor to faculty at San Francisco State University.