American politician

Malia M. Cohen (born December 16, 1977) is an American politician serving as the Chair of the California State Board of Equalization from the 2nd district, which covers 23 counties in California and a population of approximately 9.5 million people. A member of the Democratic Party, Cohen previously served as President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing District 10, and is a candidate for California State Controller in the 2022 election.

Contents

• 1 Early life and education
• 2 Career
• 3 Personal life
• 4 References
• 5 External links

Early life and education

Born in the Richmond District and a graduate of Lowell High School, she resides in the Potrero Hill neighborhood. Cohen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Fisk University and a Master of Science in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Career

In the 2010 election, she initially finished third out of a field of 22, but eventually won the election based on ranked choice voting.

In October 2013, Cohen introduced legislation that expanded an existing San Francisco law making it illegal to sell firearms with magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. The gun-control legislation p*ed unanimously.

In 2013, Cohen and Jane Kim aut*d the Fair Chance ordinance, a "ban the box" legislation barring employers and landlords from asking applicants to state their criminal history on applications, which p*ed the Board of Supervisors unanimously.

In 2014, Cohen was re-elected for a second term to represent District 10 after being challenged by Marlene Tran and Tony Kelly.

In 2015, Cohen publicly defended San Francisco's sanctuary city Laws, which drew the attention of Fox News Host Bill O'Reilly. After the shooting death of Kathryn Steinle by an undo*ented immigrant, O'Reilly had been critical of San Francisco and its elected officials. O'Reilly said that Cohen should be placed under arrest for her comments defending San Francisco's Sanctuary City Policy.

In 2016, Cohen introduced legislation, in reaction to lobbying by sitting judges, that could result in pension boosts for some of those judges or for other individuals who become judges after working for the city government. The San Francisco Examiner reported that according to *ysis by the San Francisco Employees Retirement System (SFERS), the proposal would increase the pensions of four current judges, with an average expected additional lifetime benefit of $147,000 per judge affected. The SFERS report did not name those judges, and SFERS spokesman Norm Nickens said the agency does not release the names of active members.

Cohen succeeded London Breed as president of the Board of Supervisors on June 26, 2018, following Breed's election as mayor of San Francisco.

Personal life

She married workers' compensation attorney Warren Pulley in May 2016.

References

External links

• Office of Chair Malia Cohen
• Campaign website