Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Christy Bouma

20. Christy Bouma

Christy Bouma is Gov. Gavin Newson’s legislative secretary, which means she is the administration’s point person on dealing with an often-balky Legislature – no easy job in the best of times. At the end of the day, a legislative secretary’s job is to persuade lawmakers to go along with the governor’s game plan. Bouma, who spent a decade as a school teacher in math and science, later headed her own lobbying firm, Capitol Connection, from 2008 to March of this year, when she joined Newsom’s team, replacing Angie Wei. Her lobbying activities included principal advocacy for the California Professional Firefighters. She is a former president of the Institute of Governmental Advocates, a group founded in 1974 to “promote and maintain high standards among its State-registered lobbyists-members in the conduct in their profession.” She served two administrations on the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation. Bouma has a Master’s Degree in computer science from Sacramento State.

Updated Aug. 9, 2029