by Matthew S. Bajko, Assistant Editor

In December, gay state Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) received an early Christmas gift when Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) named him as chair of the powerful Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee just days ahead of the holiday. It was one of several changes Limón made to her chamber’s org chart ahead of being sworn in this month as the first Latina, the first mother, and the first woman of color to lead it.

It is a bit of déjà vu for Laird, as back in the mid-2000s when he was serving in the state Assembly, he had chaired that chamber’s budget committee from 2004 to 2008. For the second half of those years gay former legislator Mark Leno, a Democrat from San Francisco, was chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

“You had to go by a gay guy to get money in the Assembly; that was the way it was,” quipped Laird, who was reelected to a four-year term in his central coast Senate seat in 2024 and was a budget committee member last year.

That dynamic of dual out leadership of committees with the power of the purse will be repeating itself this year, noted Laird, as Limón named lesbian Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee for 2026 beginning on February 1. A former assemblymember herself, Cervantes won election to her Southern California seat in the Legislature’s upper chamber two years ago.

“I look forward to working closely with Pro Tem Limón and my Senate colleagues to advance California’s values, while evaluating the fiscal impact of legislation and improving the lives of working families in the Inland Empire and across our Golden State,” stated Cervantes upon her appointment to the powerful post late last month.

Speaking to the Bay Area Reporter last week, Laird noted “so once again, you have to go by a member of the LGBTQ caucus to get money, at least in the Senate.”

(None of the out members of the state Assembly are chairing that chamber’s equivalent fiscal committees this year.)

Limón noted Laird’s past fiscal leadership experience in naming him chair of the budget committee this year. He is also chairing the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

“Senator Laird brings deep experience, sound judgment, and a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility to the Budget Committee,” she stated Limón. “His previous service as chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, along with his long-standing focus on education, the environment, and working families, will be invaluable as we work to deliver a budget that reflects California’s values and meets the moment.”

Laird’s appointment to his chairmanship took effect immediately when it was announced on December 23. It has been a whirlwind ever since, with Governor Gavin Newsom already proposing his draft budget proposal several weeks ago, and forecasts differing on what economic headwinds state legislators will be confronting this year as they work toward finalizing a balanced two-year budget document later this summer.

“Yesterday was brutal, as we had our first overview of the budget hearing,” said Laird during his January 22 phone interview with the B.A.R. “Then we went right up to the caucus meeting, and I presented on the budget to the caucus and then had hearings all afternoon. We have gone from zero to 60 immediately.”

While the Legislative Analyst’s Office in the fall had projected the state would be facing an $18 billion budget deficit this year, Newsom’s budget addressed cutting a mere $2.9 billion in state spending. With the actual amount a moving target impacted by everything from the Trump administration to natural disaster response, Laird said he isn’t daunted by taking over the budget gavel during a perilous fiscal year.

“I am looking forward to it. In tough times is when you do your best work,” said Laird, who chaired his chamber’s Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Education the past two years.

His budget chair predecessor, gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), told the B.A.R. he has full confidence in Laird’s ability to navigate the shifting economic winds battering the state’s coffers.

“It was a true honor to chair the Senate Budget Committee over the past two years. Both years were very challenging, with huge budget deficits and real risks to our communities. We worked very hard under those difficult circumstances to craft balanced budgets protecting health care, school and college funding, transit and housing funding, and support for our most vulnerable residents in the face of brutal federal assaults,” stated Wiener, who is running for a U.S. House seat this year. “I’m proud of that work. I can’t think of a more worthy and qualified successor than John Laird. He knows the budget inside and out and is a consummate professional. I’m confident he will make us all proud.”

LGBTQ advocates also praised the selection of Laird to chair the powerful committee when asked about his appointment by the B.A.R.

“Senator John Laird’s appointment as this year’s Senate Budget Chair is an important milestone for California and the LGBTQ+ community,” stated California LGBTQ+ Health and Human Services Network Director Dannie Ceseña, who is Two-Spirit and Native. “Maintaining LGBTQ representation in this role underscores the ongoing value of lived experience in shaping budget priorities that impact millions of Californians.”

Statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California also hailed Limón’s tapping Laird to help oversee the budget talks this year in addition to her naming a number of out senators to top committee posts.

“We are thrilled to see Senator John Laird named Senate Budget Chair, along with other LGBTQ Caucus members serving as key committee chairs. Representation matters, and their leadership comes at a critical moment for our state,” stated gay EQCA spokesperson Jorge Reyes Salinas.

At the same time, Reyes Salinas and Ceseña also voiced concerns about the state’s fiscal commitments this year to meeting the needs of LGBTQ Californians. It comes as a number of organizations serving queer and trans people, including several based in the Golden State, are suing the Trump administration due to their federal contracts being suspended last year until courts ruled for the funding to be reinstated as the lawsuit proceeds.

"Thankfully, Governor Newsom’s proposed budget does not include cuts to LGBTQ+ programs, and we will continue to closely monitor the budget process as it moves forward,” stated Reyes Salinas. “However, while the governor’s proposal preserves many critical investments, it falls short in addressing the massive cuts to health care and food assistance programs under HR 1. Equality California stands in strong solidarity with our health care and immigration partners who are on the frontlines responding to these harms.”

He was referring to House Resolution 1 otherwise known as President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” adopted last year. With LGBTQ leaders anxious about their ability to receive future federal allocations, having state leaders in Sacramento fund myriad programs serving queer and trans people is even more critical, noted Ceseña.

“As many of our community-based organizations continue to operate under immense financial strain navigating federal attacks, stripped funding, and increased demand for services, we are encouraged by the continued presence of LGBTQ leadership in state budget negotiations. At the same time, we remain concerned that the governor’s proposed budget lacks explicit investment in TGI health and fails to allocate dedicated funding streams to stabilize LGBTQ+ community-serving organizations, many of whom are barely able to keep their doors open,” stated Ceseña. “We look forward to working with Senator Laird, legislative leadership, and our statewide partners to ensure that the final budget reflects the needs of LGBTQ+ Californians and the organizations that serve them.”

Added Reyes Salinas, “Our goal is to ensure continued investments in health care and reproductive freedom, support immigrant communities, and protect access to health care for transgender youth and adults. We look forward to working with legislative and budget leaders over the coming months to ensure the final budget reflects California’s values of equity and inclusion.”

Asked about the LGBTQ leaders’ budgetary concerns, Laird pointed to one allocation Newsom has carried over in his budget proposal last year. State leaders had appropriated $15 million in the 2025-2026 budget for gender-affirming care via Covered California, the state’s health insurance program, and Newsom has recommended the same amount be in the 2026-2027 budget.

“So we obviously have five months to go to lock down the budget, but we will fight hard to make sure that remains,” Laird pledged. 

He will also be advocating on behalf of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus and its budget priorities, said Laird, which will be compiling a list of its funding asks in the coming months just like the other affinity groups in the Legislature.

“Sometimes how much of that we can do depends on the budget situation,” Laird noted.

He has yet to weigh in on the proposed billionaire’s tax unions and other progressive groups are aiming to put before California voters this year to help shore up the state’s coffers. Laird told the B.A.R. he wants to wait on doing so until after the Democratic Caucus in the Senate holds its retreat with its 30 members in early February.

“We will talk about everything from revenues to expenditures, so I don’t want to get ahead of the caucus,” he explained.

Other out lawmakers in leadership roles
Limón tapped all of the out Senate members for top roles this legislative session. She named lesbian Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley) the Democratic Caucus chair and as chair of the Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services.

She also kept gay Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) as one of the assistant majority whips and named him chair of the Insurance Committee. Limón picked Menjivar and gay Senator Christopher Cabaldon (D-Yolo) to be presiding officers, also naming Cabaldon chair of the Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection Committee.

Chairing the Education Committee will be bisexual Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena), while Wiener was named chair of the Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee.

As chair of the Senate Select Committee on Older LGBTQIA+ Californians, Laird told the B.A.R. he plans to have that body hold a hearing by the end of March on the results of a survey the California Department of Aging conducted into the needs of the state’s aging queer and trans residents. That conversation likely will highlight fiscal needs that he will advocate for during the budget negotiations, he predicted.

Asked what his response is to LGBTQ advocates concerned about the state’s investments into the community’s needs, Laird told the B.A.R. that he is “very sympathetic” to their concerns. He noted they are not limited solely to the LGBTQ community, especially when it comes to health care services, and cautioned that state leaders may be hampered in their ability to respond this year depending on what happens in Washington, D.C.

“We have to play everything out in terms of the budget,” said Laird, adding that, “Our goal is going to be to minimize disruptions in the health care system in general. We are going to have some problems because of the federal cuts. Chances are we cannot backfill every federal cut.”

Providing Laird some distraction from the budgetary matters are the two kittens, Max and Penny, that Laird and his partner of 30 years, John Flores, adopted late last year.

“Our last cat died a year ago and so we waited. They were 12 weeks old when we adopted them,” said Laird, who married Flores in 2008. “We broke the first rule that says don’t adopt kittens when you have a Christmas tree!”

He joked the pair “are terrorists” who constantly get into trouble and learned how to turn the lights off on the Christmas tree. Electrical controls apparently are their thing, as they also figured out how to turn the couple’s television off, noted Laird, as well as how to turn it on.

“We were in the bedroom late at night, and I heard a noise in the living rom. The younger kitten had figured out how to turn on the TV. I go out there to see she is sitting on the couch in the dark watching TV,” recalled Laird.

Despite their rambunctious spirits, “we love them,” said Laird. “They are unbelievably cute.”

Published in the Bay Area Reporter.