Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Joe Lang

59. Joe Lang

Joe Lang’s lobbying firm – Lang, Hansen, Giroux and Kidane – is well known in the Capitol, the result of advocating successfully, and repeatedly, for big-ticket clients which include the California Business Roundtable, FedEx, the Retailers Association, the Trucking Association, and more. With a top firm like this that has several stars, it’s hard to just pick one person out of the bunch. Partner Bob Giroux has been on this list before, as has Bev Hansen; Awet Kidane has been described to us as a rising star and we’ll see more of him in the future. Lang began his political career at the staff of the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee, a near-legendary panel with authority over gambling, booze and horse racing – and, amazingly, the National Guard. He was principal consultant and oversaw major legislation reorganizing the Health Services Agency, restructuring horseracing in California and improving California’s disaster preparedness. He later served as liaison between the state Assembly and California’s congressional delegation. He launched his lobbying firm in 1984. Lang has also taught politics at San Francisco State – a class we’d like to take.

Updated Aug. 9, 2022