Andreas Borgeas

Andreas Borgeas is an American politician in the California State Senate. He is a Republican representing the 8th district, encompassing parts of the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada. Prior to being elected to the state senate, he was a Fresno County supervisor.

Andreas Borgeas
Member of the California State Senate
from the 8th district
Assumed office
December 3, 2018
Preceded byTom Berryhill
Member of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors from the 2nd District
In office
January 2013 – December 2018
Succeeded bySteve Brandau
Member of the Fresno City Council from the 2nd District
In office
November 2008 – January 2013
Succeeded bySteve Brandau
Personal details
BornArizona, US
Political partyRepublican
ResidenceFresno, California
Alma materNorthern Arizona University
Harvard University
Georgetown University (JD) Panteion University (PhD)
ProfessionInternational Law Professor
Websiteborgeas.cssrc.us

He represents all or portions of Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Tuolumne Counties.[1]

Education

Borgeas earned a J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law School and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from Panteion University.[1][2] He conducted his PhD field research in, and published extensively on, China and the neighboring Central Asian Republics.[3]

Career

Academia

After graduating college, Borgeas was a law clerk for Judge Oliver Wanger of the U.S. District Court of Eastern California. Borgeas then practiced law at Luce Forward.[1][2] For over a decade he has been a professor in the fields of international law and security affairs at the San Joaquin College of Law in Clovis, and is an adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey.[3]

Politics

In 2008, Borgeas started his political career by running successfully for the Fresno City Council. California.[1][2]

In 2012, Borgeas was elected to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors .[1][4]

In November 2018, Borgeas won the election and became a Republican member of California State Senate for District 8. Borgeas defeated Democrat Paulina Miranda with 59.6% of the votes.[1][2]

White House Visit

In October 2019, Borgeas was invited by President Donald J. Trump to witness the signing of two executive orders at the White House. The orders require government agencies to publish guidance documents online and require the government to inform citizens about cases brought against them, and respond to their arguments.[5]

Personal life

Borgeas' wife is Anna. They have two sons. Borgeas and his family live in Fresno, California.[2][4] Borgeas has said growing up in Phoenix, Arizona helped shape his political views at an early age.[6]

Borgeas is known to be heavily involved in Fresno's Greek and Armenian communities. He is also known for his involvement with the Fresno Greek Fest[7] and as an advocate for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.[8]

Political Views

Bipartisanship

Borgeas has been lauded for his bipartisan leadership when it comes to addressing regional issues on numerous occasions. The Fresno Bee has acknowledged Borgeas' objective and deft handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

CEQA Reform

Borgeas has been a staunch advocate for California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reform. In an op-ed Borgeas stated "...CEQA has morphed into a legal weapon for lawyers and activist groups to stall essential projects..."[10] and narrowly passed Senate Bill 659 through the Senate Judiciary Committee.[11]

Assembly Bill 5

Borgeas has been a fierce opponent of Assembly Bill 5 passed by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez in 2019. In a tweet, Borgeas claimed AB 5 "...limit[s] an individual's ability for flexible employment and destroys entire industries across California. Independent contractors and small businesses are the backbone of a thriving California economy."[12] He organized a town hall at Clovis Community College to discuss the bill's impact on freelancers and independent contractors.[13]

Water

Borgeas has advocated for state and federal support to improve the Friant-Kern Canal, which is critical for water delivery to the agricultural industry in the San Joaquin Valley. Senate Bill 559 introduced by state Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) would have allocated $400 million in state funding to make necessary repairs to the canal as a result of subsidence from groundwater overdraft.[14]

Borgeas has also vocalized support for the federal government's plan to increase water deliveries to California farmers. During President Donald J. Trump's visit to the San Joaquin Valley in February 2020, Borgeas stated,"The ball is now in Governor Newsom’s court to provide clean, reliable and ample water supplies to Valley farmers and communities. The state must ensure that infrastructure and storage are a top priority. It’s simple: no water, no farms, and no food.”[15]

Key Legislation

Inyo Adventure Trails

In 2019 Governor Gavin Newsom signed Borgeas' Senate Bill 402 allowing the Adventure Trails system in Inyo County to remain in operation and provide the community access to trails. The bill had support from the Inyo County Board of Supervisors, the Off Road Legislative Association, and the Rural County Representatives of California.[16]

CEQA Reform

As an advocate for CEQA reform, Borgeas introduced SB 659 (2019). SB 659 would have allowed courts to award attorney’s fees to a prevailing party in CEQA lawsuits if they found that the losing party engaged in bad faith tactics that employed to unreasonably delay a project. The bill was limited to awarding attorney's fees for CEQA suits specifically concerning infill housing projects.[17] In a narrow 5-4 vote, the bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee earning the support of several Democrat lawmakers.[17] Ultimately, the bill was killed in the Senate Rules Committee and the bill's Democrat supporters were removed from the committee.[18]

Committees

As a member of the California State Senate, Borgeas serves on a number of committees. He is Vice-Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, with other committee assignments including Governmental Organization; Insurance; Natural Resources and Water; Joint Legislative Audit; Growing Impact of Artificial Intelligence in California; California, Armenia & Artsakh Mutual Trade, Art & Cultural Exchange; Preparing California’s Future Workforce; California’s Wine Industry; and Governor’s 2019 Report: “Wildfires and Climate Change – California’s Energy Future.”[3]


gollark: Use VP9, support is better.
gollark: It is possible to make GIFs with better colours via methods.
gollark: - things are, on average, generally improving- any economic system which operates at scale, i.e. any able to maintain our modern standard of living, has to wrestle with this complexity too- none of this implies that supply and demand "is made up"
gollark: I don't think this is actually true though. Prices of technology in terms of hours of work have gone down a lot, and the power of it has gone up.
gollark: Presumably because making complex and bureaucracy-driven institutions actually work sanely is an unsolved problem.

See also

References
  1. "Senator Andreas Borgeas". cssrc.us. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  2. "Andrea's Borgeas' Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  3. "Biography". Senator Andreas Borgeas. 9 October 2012.
  4. "A Fresnan Will Represent District 8 in State Senate. Who Will It Be?". gvwire.com. September 10, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  5. Taub, David (11 October 2019). "Borgeas Goes to White House. Talks About Trump Meeting". GV Wire. GV Wire.
  6. Taub, David (10 September 2018). "A Fresnan Will Represent District 8 in State Senate. Who Will It Be?". GV Wire. GV Wire.
  7. Warszawski, Marek. "It took me 20 years to attend the Fresno Greek Fest. Don't make the same mistake". The Fresno Bee. McClatchy.
  8. McEwen, Bill (30 October 2019). "House Recognizes Armenian Genocide in Rebuke to Turkey". GV Wire. GV Wire.
  9. Warszawski, Marek. "Coronavirus crisis separates real leaders among Fresno politicians from the phonies". The Fresno Bee. McClatchy.
  10. Borgeas, Andreas. "Legislation Is More Effective Than Litigation". mymotherlode.com. mymotherlode.com.
  11. Regele, Adam (2 May 2019). "Job Creator Housing Bill Narrowly Passes Senate Committee". Advocacy - California Chamber of Commerce.
  12. Catherine, Thorbecke. "How California's decision to recognize ride-share drivers as employees affects the gig economy". ABC News. ABC News.
  13. Zamora, Eric. "Watch a Fresno panel discussing AB 5's negatives for the job market". The Fresno Bee. McClatchy.
  14. "FEDS TO TACKLE FRIANT-KERN CANAL SUBSIDENCE". The Business Journal. The Business Journal.
  15. George, Carmen. "What did Trump sign in Bakersfield? What we know about why he came to the Valley". The Fresno Bee. McClatchy.
  16. "Senator Borgeas' First Bill Signed by Governor Newsom". Senator Andreas Borgeas. 3 September 2019.
  17. Tavlian, Alex (30 April 2019). "Senate panel advances Borgeas CEQA reform bill". The San Joaquin Valley Sun. Valley Future Foundation.
  18. "Welcome to the Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary". senate.ca.gov. California State Senate.
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