Hannah-Beth Jackson is a former California legislator, practicing attorney, educator and small business owner. From 2012 to 2020, she served in the State Senate, representing nearly one million residents in the 19th Senate District, which includes Santa Barbara County and western Ventura County. From 1998 to 2004, she represented the 35th State Assembly District.
During her legislative career, Hannah-Beth served as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and received national recognition as a champion for women’s equality. The Huffington Post identified her as one of 11 women in the United States “blazing new trails” in American politics and she was described as “the state senator shifting California’s workplace culture” by The New York Times.
Hannah-Beth is the author of the California Fair Pay Act, landmark legislation that strengthens the state’s equal pay law, and Senate Bill 826, the first law in the nation that requires publicly-held corporations to include women on their board of directors. She is a joint author of legislation that created the nation’s first affirmative consent standard (“Yes Means Yes”) for the state’s college and university campuses. In response to the #MeToo movement, she authored significant legislation to prevent and respond to sexual harassment. Even as the Trump Administration sought to roll back Title IX protections, she authored legislation to ensure victim-centered processes for responding to sexual harassment and assault on college campuses. In addition, she is the author of laws that strengthened and expanded California’s Paid Family Leave program and protect survivors of domestic violence.
A champion for the environment, Hannah-Beth is the author of Senate Bill 188, blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to expand oil development off the California coast, as well as legislation that strengthened the state’s pipeline safety laws, reduced the threat of future oil spills, and capped abandoned oil wells. She has been a leading advocate in the fight against climate change and a strong supporter of developing clean energy sources. She is also the author of the nation’s first industry-funded “take back” program for unused medications and needles, leading the way for extended producer responsibility legislation.
Among Hannah-Beth’s other legislative accomplishments are laws to improve California’s wildfire preparedness and response, reduce gun violence, expand services for aging Californians, and support military veterans struggling with mental illness and drug addiction. She is an outspoken advocate for Internet privacy protection and women’s reproductive rights.
Hannah-Beth is married to retired Superior Court Judge George Eskin, and they share three children and six grandchildren. She and her husband have resided in Santa Barbara for more than 40 years.
