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Headshot of Marc Berman

Marc Berman

Democrat, State Assembly
District 23, Palo Alto
Time in office:
  • Assembly: 2016-present

News coverage of Marc Berman

Bio

Marc Berman, 45, made Californians who hate getting woken up by leaf blowers happy. He was the author of a law that bans the sale of new gas-powered small engines starting in 2024. He was the author of a bill that made California a permanent vote-by-mail state. Berman graduated from Georgetown University and received a law degree from USC. He worked for the prominent law firm Latham & Watkins and was a member of the Palo Alto City Council. Berman and his wife have a dog named Maven.

Leader Badges

Higher Education Badge

Ideology

Left

Moderate

Right

Bill Activity

0

Of 27 bills:
15 Passed
0 Failed
12 Pending

For this session year, this legislator initiated 27 bills: 15 passed, 0 failed, and 12 are currently pending.

Alignment Meter

See all-time percentage of this legislator’s alignment with any organization based on total votes.

xx%votes: xx

Financials

This feature tracks three sources of money intended to help a candidate win election: 1-Money given directly to a candidate’s committee, 2-Money given to an Independent Expenditure Committee, 3-Money given to a political party. (NOTE: Senators are elected every four years. Twenty of the 40 Senators are on the ballot in even-numbered years, so Senators may do little or no fundraising in the first two-year session of their Senate term).

Election

This display shows money given directly to the incumbent’s campaign committee (NOTE: The industry categories for donors come from Open Secrets, a nonpartisan research organization for campaign finance. Some contributions are “uncoded,” meaning they have not been assigned to an industry sector. As a result, the total for each sector is also an estimate).

Agriculture

$15.0K

Candidate Contributions

$3.1K

Communications & Electronics

$40.0K

Construction

$12.0K

Defense

$1.0K

Energy & Natural Resources

$18.5K

Finance, Insurance & Real Estate

$164.3K

General Business

$78.8K

Government Agencies/Education/Other

$74.2K

Health

$135.3K

Ideology/Single Issue

$21.5K

Labor

$261.4K

Lawyers & Lobbyists

$28.6K

Party

$281.1K

Transportation

$32.5K

Uncoded

$357.6K

Unitemized Contributions

$215.3K

Candidate Donations

Individuals, corporations, organizations and committees are limited to a maximum donation to candidates of $5,500 for the primary and for the general elections.

Total
$1.7M

267.0% higher than the average legislators

Independent Expenditures

Money from Independent Expenditure Committees (IEC) for advertising or grassroots activity targeting a candidates run for office is unlimited, but it cannot be spent in coordination with the candidate or the candidate's campaign.

Total
$294.6K

226.0% higher than the average legislators

Grand Total for Elections

$2.0M

260.0% higher than the average legislators

This is a total of the money targeting this legislator's campaign(s) including direct donations to the candidate, money spent by Independent Expenditure Committees and money from political parties.


Influence

There are three categories of donations to legislators after they are elected that encourage a working relationship between the donor and the legislator. The three categories are: 1-Gifts, 2-Travel, 3-Behests.

Giver
Value
Date
Description
Rich Gordon$300Oct 24, 202149ers Game
California Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation$175.48Jan 29, 2021Patagonia Jacket
Evan Low for Assembly 2022$117.65Jun 16, 2021Dinner
California Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation$67.43Jan 28, 2021Tzedakah Box and Engravers
California Democratic Party$60.99Aug 24, 2021lunch
California Democratic Party$56.93May 4, 2021lunch
California Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation$33.15Jan 28, 2021Food and Beverages: Solomon's Deli
California Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation$32.41Jan 28, 2021Yeti Mug
California Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation$26.6Jan 28, 2021Gift Bag

Gifts

Legislators are not allowed to accept gifts of more than $10 per month from registered lobbyists. Gifts from any other single source are limited to $590 in a calendar year.

Gift Received Rating
#33/120

This legislator is ranked 33rd highest for the amount of personal gifts received.

Policy

Bills Authored by Marc Berman

AB 621
Deepfake pornography.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection

Passed
Deepfake pornography.Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection
AB 538
Public works: payroll records.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Labor and Employment

Passed
Public works: payroll records.Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Labor and Employment
AB 1078
Firearms.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Public Safety

Passed
Firearms.Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Public Safety
View All Bills

Committees

Most of the policy work in the state Capitol is done in “Standing” committees. Legislators also work on budget subcommittees. There are also “Special” and “Select” committees with a more narrow topic focus. And there are “Joint” committees with members from the Senate and Assembly.

Hearings

Featured Comments

Below are links to the video and transcript of recent, substantive comments by this legislator in committee hearings or floor sessions.

Preview image for AB 10781MIN
Sep 11, 2025

AB 1078

Firearms.

Preview image for AB 11672MIN
Sep 10, 2025

AB 1167

Electrical corporations and gas corporations: rate recovery: political activities and promotional advertising.

Preview image for AB 8271MIN
Sep 10, 2025

AB 827

Voting: signature verification.

Preview image for AB 38240SEC
Sep 10, 2025

AB 382

Pedestrian safety: school zones: speed limits.

Preview image for AB 15041MIN
Sep 10, 2025

AB 1504

California Massage Therapy Council.

Preview image for AB 15036MIN
Sep 10, 2025

AB 1503

Pharmacy.

Preview image for AB 15021MIN
Sep 10, 2025

AB 1502

Veterinary medicine: California Veterinary Medical Board.

Preview image for AB 15011MIN
Sep 10, 2025

AB 1501

Physician assistants and podiatrists.

Preview image for AB 51MIN
Sep 9, 2025

AB 5

Elections: official canvass.

Preview image for AB 137453SEC
Sep 8, 2025

AB 1374

Rental passenger vehicle transactions: third parties.

Preview image for AB 51957SEC
Sep 8, 2025

AB 519

Pet broker sales.

Preview image for HR 622MIN
Aug 25, 2025

HR 62

No Bills Identified

View All Hearings

District

View of map with yellow overlay for Assembly District 23 boundaries.
District 23 is a Safe Democratic District
Democratic Party candidate has a very high likelihood of winning in an election

Previous Election (2024):

Lydia Kou
40.2%
Marc Berman
59.8%
WON

Party Registration

Census Data

Median age010203040

Median age