SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) today led a bipartisan budget oversight hearing that examined the budgets and operations of key California state departments that are charged with protecting California consumers.

“Central Valley consumers, and all Californians, are threatened every day by scams and unfair business practices,” Senator Hurtado said. “These threats are very real and growing – whether it’s price fixing, secret bid rigging, financial manipulation or identity theft. I’ll work on a bipartisan basis to ensure that our California agencies in charge of consumer protection step up to protect our families from increasingly sophisticated scams and financial harm.”

Senator Hurtado is the Chairperson of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 4 – the Senate budget subcommittee that oversees state administration and general government. Included in its jurisdiction are the executive branch departments that oversee consumer protection and licensing programs – the Department of Consumer Affairs and its many boards and commissions, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, the Privacy Protection Agency.

During Thursday’s hearing, the bipartisan panel heard from state officials who manage many of the consumer protection and licensing programs in state. These officials testified about the status of state budget investments and how the departments are implementing laws previously passed by the Legislature.

Senator Melissa Hurtado is Chair of Senate Budget Subcommittee #4 on State Administration and General Government and currently represents the 16th Senate District in the California Legislature, which includes portions of Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Kern Counties.

###