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Life and career
Betty T. Yee, Vice Chairwoman of the California State Board of Equalization, represents the First Equalization District and its 21 counties in northern and central California. Ms. Yee served as Chairwoman of the Board from January 2007 to January 2008. Ms. Yee has over 20 years of experience in public service, specializing in state and local finance. Ms. Yee previously served as Chief Deputy Director for Budget with the California Department of Finance where she led the development of the Governor's Budget, negotiations with the Legislature and key budget stakeholders, and fiscal analyses of legislation on behalf of the Administration. Earlier, she held senior staff positions on several fiscal and policy committees in both houses of the California State Legislature.

Throughout her career, Ms. Yee has been an advocate for underserved and underrepresented communities, including the Asian Pacific Islander American community where she secured state funding for projects in San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and Los Angeles and ensured the establishment of the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs.

Preceding her legislative service, Ms. Yee served as a county public health commissioner and worked in the public and non-profit sectors, developing and implementing health and social services programs for women, older adults, and low-income individuals and families. She also served as the first Executive Director of the California Governance Consensus Project, a long-term mediation project under the auspices of California State University, Sacramento, and McGeorge School of Law, involving 34 statewide interests focused on state and local governance and fiscal reform.

Ms. Yee has demonstrated a strong commitment to mentoring and supporting Asian Pacific Islander Americans, women, and youth seeking to enter or pursuing promotional opportunities in the California State Legislature or other public service. She co-founded the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Project, which exposes high school youth to the legislative process and encourages leadership and participation in public and community service.

Noted for her work on state and local finance issues, Ms. Yee received the 2002 Distinguished Service Award from the California State Association of Counties and an award of recognition from the California Assessors' Association for her work in establishing the State-County Property Tax Administration Program.

Ms. Yee is a native and resident of San Francisco where her immigrant parents owned and operated a laundry and dry cleaning business for 30 years. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and her Master's degree in Public Administration from Golden Gate University, San Francisco.