Capitol Spotlight: Sen. Scott Wiener

Nobody can ever accuse Sen. Scott Wiener of only taking on the easy fights. The San Francisco Democrat has in fact developed a reputation as someone almost allergic to tackling any bill – from housing to health care, from psychedelics to artificial intelligence – that doesn’t promise a bare-knuckles brawl to get passed.

Just don’t tell him that.

“I do smaller bills, too,” he says. “I actually do a whole range of bills that are very impactful.”

That is undoubtedly true. It’s just that those measures can be easily lost in the high profile nature of so many of his other efforts. And while Wiener says he doesn’t choose big battles just for the sake of doing so, he doesn’t shy away from them either.

“I don’t sit down and say, ‘Hey, what’s the biggest fight I can pick this year?’” he says. “Anyone who knows me personally knows I’m not an inherently a confrontational person. I look for issues that are going to actually make people’s lives better and improve things for the state of California and for San Francisco and San Mateo County. But sometimes making big change means a big fight.”

That is pressure enough, but Wiener says he also feels the burden of time, specifically the shelf life lawmakers live with under term limits. First elected in 2016, he is now in his third and final term in the Senate.

“It’s such a deep privilege to be in this role,” he says. “And when you’re in a role like this, you can get things done. You can make change if you’re willing to break glass.”

Which he has repeatedly shown he is more than willing to do without regret.

“Wouldn’t it be a shame to look back and say, ‘wow, I was scared about fighting with big industry or with NIMBYs or whoever. And so I didn’t get done as much as I could have gotten done for people.’ I want to leave the state and my community in a better position than when I started. And if that means fights, then so be it.”

The most significant of those fights have been focused on his many efforts to address get more housing built in this state. More housing for students. More high density infill housing near transit. More affordable housing. More housing, period.

“It’s such a deep privilege to be in this role,” he says. “And when you’re in a role like this, you can get things done. You can make change if you’re willing to break glass.”

“Scott has become well known for so many different reasons, but I think his trademark is the fact that he has become the leading voice for more housing in California,” says Dan Dunmoyer, president and CEO of the California Building Industry Association.

“Scott recognizes that our housing crisis is actually a housing policy crisis,” Dunmoyer says. “We have all these policies we’ve put in place over the last 40 years that make it impossible to build anything, whether it’s urban infill or suburban or affordable or market rate. And so he has really called that out.”

Wiener has at times been criticized by some environmentalists for a “build at all costs” mentality they say is merely a giveaway to big developers. He has also been one of the one of the few Democrats – at least until late – to be consistently willing to gore the sacred cow that is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Many of his proposals over the years have sought to alter the landmark law in ways big and small, including this year’s SB 607, which passed in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on April 24^th and the Senate Local Government Committee a few days later on its way to the Appropriations Committee. (Another Wiener housing bill, SB79, which would allow homes up to seven stories if near major transit stops, is also heading to Appropriations).

SB 607, one of almost two dozen housing bills introduced by mostly-Democratic lawmakers this session, would dramatically speed up CEQA-mandated environmental reviews “for environmentally friendly and environmentally neutral projects while maintaining existing processes for potentially environmentally destructive projects like fossil fuel facilities.”

The proposal has predictably drawn praise from developers and criticism from environmental advocates.

All of which can contradict Wiener’s reputation as one of the most progressive members of the Democratic caucus. But Dunmoyer thinks Wiener’s efforts are anything but anti-progressive.

“There really are two camps in the progressive world,” Dunmoyer says. “One doesn’t want any new housing because for them everything is secondary to the environment. But he is in the camp that says if you’re a real progressive, you are very mindful that if people can’t afford to live somewhere, they’re going to be on the street. So being a good progressive is to actually be good on housing.”

Not that Wiener has ever really surrendered his liberal bona fides. Some of his other more notable bills include a wide-ranging effort to regulate artificial intelligence, legalize the use of certain therapeutic psychedelic treatments and strengthen or implement more protections and health care access for the LGBTQ community.

Some have failed, some have succeeded. But many have made him a constant target for some of society’s more unbalanced people. He regularly endures death threats and angry protests, usually on the job but even at his home back in the Bay Area. He acknowledges it can be difficult to manage on a daily basis, but he refuses to let it deter him from his mission.

“I’ll be honest, it’s hard,” he says. “I’ve definitely gone through periods of time over the last five years where I’ll get thousands of death threats, where the SFPD bomb dog has become a regular fixture in my home, or where my staff has to deal with just unending abuse.”

Wiener, who is gay, honed his coping skills in the world of testy San Francisco politics, which he calls “not for the faint of heart.”

That experience has helped him deal with all the negativity that comes his way.

“I’ve developed very thick skin,” he says. “It’s hard to compartmentalize, but you have to be able to or it’ll eat you alive.”

His skin clearly remains rhinoceros tough. Much of his 2025 legislative package reads like a progressive wish list: Capping insulin prices at $35, protecting transgender privacy rights and throwing a financial lifeline to Bay Area transit agencies. Pushing to make permanent a law that has fast-tracked nearly 100 transit projects across California and a bill to crack down on illegal street vendors in San Francisco, a nod to voters’ desire to clean up the streets.

“I’ve definitely gone through periods of time over the last five years where I’ll get thousands of death threats, where the SFPD bomb dog has become a regular fixture in my home, or where my staff has to deal with just unending abuse.”

It can be a lot for his staff, which he unfailingly calls “the best staff imaginable.” Which is only fair, given how hard they work for him, often under conditions most offices never experience.

“When new staffers come to my office, part of their training is, ‘You work in Scott Wiener’s office. Here are the threats that you’re going to see. Here are the kinds of things you’re going to hear. Here are the communications you’re going to get, some of which are going to be really toxic.’ It’s just getting people ready for that. It’s an unfortunate kind of training to have to do with people, but that’s what we have to do,” he says.

Chief of staff Krista Pfefferkorn notes how hard working for him can be on the staff, and not just because of the threats and obnoxious behavior of his critics. Carrying so many high profile bills across so many issue areas means a lot of work for everyone. But while some lawmakers are notorious for letting someone else sweat the details of their legislation, Pfefferkorn says Wiener is definitely more of the “hands-on” type.

“Everyone here knows they’re going to have to work really hard,” she says. “But the staff really likes and respects him because he is always working as hard as they are. He really doesn’t ask anything from anyone that he doesn’t ask of himself.”

Legislative director Seve Christian agrees.

“Every bill, but particularly the really big ones, becomes a mini campaign of sorts,” he says. “And that can be a little bit pressurizing, but it really does give you more of a bird’s eye perspective of the politics at play and the different types of players within those politics. And he works just as hard and is really in the trenches with us. So while it might be a little intimidating at times, never have I once felt unsupported because I know he is right there in lockstep with me and the rest of the staff.”

“Whenever Nancy steps down, I’ll be running for that seat. Full stop.”

Of course big swings often include big misses, and Wiener has had his share. Maybe more than his share when taken collectively. His AI regulation bill from last year (SB 1047) drew a veto by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as did his 2023 measure to legalize psychedelic therapies (SB 58). But neither of those hurt the way Newsom’s veto of another bill did last year.

“I was not even disappointed by his veto of the AI legislation,” he says. “We knew that that was going to be a really, really tough sell with him. So I was disappointed, but I also was not stuck. But I was just floored when he vetoed the PBM bill (SB 966, 2024) because PBMs [pharmacy benefit managers] are absolutely undermining the healthcare system on so many levels. It was jaw dropping that he would veto that.”

But in a move that should surprise absolutely nobody, Wiener brought forth a new version of the PBM regulation bill this year. That proposal (SB 41) unanimously passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee and now joins his other bills in Senate Appropriations.

Whether that bill or any of his others become law this time around is yet to be determined. What is not in doubt are his plans for when his time in the California Legislature comes to a close. He has long-noted his desire to seek the Congressional seat of U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who he calls “my hero on so many levels.” That effort, however, will come with another massive challenge, this time from Pelosi’s daughter Christine, a longtime Democratic activist who is also widely expected to run for the office.

As with most such obstacles, Wiener appears unfazed.

“Whenever Nancy steps down, I’ll be running for that seat. Full stop.”

Reporter Juliet Williams, now with CalMatters, contributed to this story.