By Francis Taylor, Executive Editor, South Bay Black Journal
Senator Steven Bradford brings a lifetime of experience to the California Legislature. In over two decades of public service, first as a Gardena City Councilmember, then as a State Assemblymember and now as a State Senator. He has distinguished himself among his peers and is known as the legislator who always shows up and is proud of the fact that he has never missed an important vote as a member of the Gardena City Council, as an Assemblymember or State Senator.
Bradford made history when he became the first African American elected to the Gardena City Council. During his 12 years on the Council, he helped create robust job and economic growth, and stabilized the city’s budget when the City of Gardena was on the brink of bankruptcy and was $27 million in debt. When he left the council, the debt had been eliminated, $8.5 million had been placed in reserve, employee salaries had been increased without raising taxes or cutting essential services, and, with his leadership, the council had secured millions of federal dollars for various improvement projects for North Gardena.
Bradford was elected to the State Assembly in a Special Election in 2009, reelected in 2010, and again in 2012. While serving in the Assembly, he rose to prominence as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce and garnered national attention by presiding over hearings investigating the devastating power outages across California.
In 2017, Bradford was elected to the California State Senate and will term-out of his present assignment in 2024. During his tenure, Bradford secured millions of dollars to support projects and programs in the district including Compton Community College, Watts Rising for affordable housing, green space, and local workforce development. He has obtained funding for community-based organizations to provide transformative rehabilitative programs, to support the Charles Drew University, and for the Mental Health Education Practitioner Fund for former foster youth and improving innovative rehabilitation programs at California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) facilities.
In 2018, Bradford authored and had signed into law the California Cannabis Equity Act, a first-in-the-nation bill that encouraged equitable participation in the cannabis industry and fostered business opportunities for individuals who have been negatively impacted by the War on Drugs. He was successful in securing over $40 million in critical funding for the support of cannabis equity programs to address the lack of inclusivity and equity within the cannabis industry by providing social equity applicants with application or licensing fee waivers and deferrals.
In his continued pursuit to enact policies that provide for equity and fairness, Bradford authored a first-in-the-nation bill which allows college athletes, who generate billions of dollars for corporate sponsors and their universities using their name and images, to also benefit from their skills and talents. “This legislation,” he noted, “is among the most significant and important pieces of legislation I authored that changed the lives of athletes throughout the nation.” With the approval of this legislation, other states introduced bills to enact the same policy, resulting in the NCAA also supporting the rule change, which allows student-athletes to be paid for the use of their name, image, and likeness, aka NIL.
As Chair of the Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, Bradford helped financially empower underserved communities with funding generated from bad actors in the lending industry.
In 2020, Bradford was named Chair of the Senate Committee on Public Safety. In that capacity, he authored another piece of legislation of which he is very proud that increased law enforcement transparency and accountability. Senate Bill 3 is arguably the most significant police reform bill California has seen in the last decade. The Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act of 2021 created the first statewide process to allow for the decertification of police officers who abuse the public trust and commit serious acts of misconduct. He has also authored legislation that allows children to consult with legal counsel prior to interrogation and before waiving their Miranda rights.
Bradford can also be credited with the passage of legislation to assist consumers and businesses in maintaining and recovering during the Pandemic, including legislation to protect struggling tenants and small landlords by providing eviction relief and foreclosure protection and funding for small business hiring tax credit programs. He also successfully advocated for $72 million for revitalization projects in underserved communities in his district.
In 2021, Bradford was elected by his peers to serve as the Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC). With his leadership the CLBC has passed legislation to improve the lives of Californians in the areas of health, public safety, education, and economic development, including a grant of $40 million in funding to begin the revitalization of the Allensworth State Park and Township. and legislation to address the return of land stolen from the Bruce family – Bruce’s Beach. His legislation authorized the County of Los Angeles to return Bruce’s Beach back to the descendants of the Bruce family.
Also in 2021, Bradford was appointed as a member to California’s Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans. The Reparations Task Force is charged with conducting an examination of the lasting consequences of slavery in the United States and make recommendations on how California can potentially make reparations for those affected. The report was completed in July 2023, and Bradford indicated that in his last year as a member of the California Senate, he plans to put “some meat on the bones” leading to a determination that reparations are in order, while indicating that reparations are not likely to be in the form of cash but in a manner that may provide generational wealth, i.e., land or business development.
In 2022, Bradford had bills signed into law which encourage water conservation, guarantee public health care employees meal breaks and protect the personal information of sellers. Most recently, he has been nominated to receive the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) Lifetime Achievement Award. This award goes to legislators whose work has distinguished them from their peers, and whose contributions will continue to have lasting positive effects on the African American community and our nation as well as add value to the NBCSL organization itself.
Bradford’s most recent legislative victory is the Ebony Alert which was signed by the governor and will become law as a measure that will help locate missing Black youth and women. SB 673 gives police another tool and raises public awareness.
Bradford grew up in Gardena, where he continues to reside. In addition to his civic and public services commitments in the 35th Senate District, he continues to be directly engaged with programs he began as a member of the Gardena City Council – the Junior Golf program and the Gardena Jazz Festival, for which he serves as the Founder and Chair. “I am passionate about golf and have been playing since high School,” Bradford explained. “I knew Maggie Hathaway, for whom the 9-hole, 3-par course in Los Angeles is named and was proud to support the announcement that the course would receive a $15 million Facelift.”
Bradford also noted that the Annual Gardena Jazz Festival, which he founded 21 years ago, will continue to exist in the community while sponsors support it. “The $25 admission that is charged to festival patrons is a real bargain given the amount and quality of professional artists and musicians who comprise the event,” he said.
Bradford is a graduate of California State University, Dominguez Hills. He currently serves on the board of the Mervyn M. Dymally African American Political and Economic Institute, a non-partisan public policy think tank. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.
Even though he has not formally announced his candidacy for Lt. Governor in 2026, Bradford has formed a fundraising committee and will likely formally announce his candidacy with the launch of his campaign and the creation of a web site in the next few weeks.
