After obtaining his doctorate, Yee worked as a therapist in the Mental Health Department of San Francisco, the Oakland School District and with Asian American for Community Involvement, a non-profit that serves low-income people.
San Francisco School Board Yee was elected to the
San Francisco Board of Education in 1988 and served two four-year terms on the board including one as board president. During his tenure, Yee called for audits of all schools in the San Francisco Unified School District and fought to establish performance standards for educators.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors Yee was elected to the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1996. Representing the city's fourth district, Yee was appointed to chair the Finance Committee, where he helped establish the "Rainy Day" budget reserve and introduced General Obligation Bond Accountability Act. He was re-elected to the board in 2000.
California Assembly In November 2002, Yee was elected to the
California State Assembly to represent the 12th district. In his first year in the legislature, he was appointed to the Speaker's leadership team as the assistant speaker pro tempore. In 2004, Yee became the first Asian Pacific American to be appointed speaker pro tempore in the California State Assembly and was elected president of the National Asian Pacific American Caucus of State Legislators.
2003 – 2005 In his first term in the legislature, Yee had 15 bills signed into law. These bills include AB 1371 which strengthens informed consent requirements for mentally handicapped patients that take part in medical research. Yee had 11 bills chartered into law in 2004. Noteworthy bills included AB 2412 which allows part-time community college faculty to access unemployment benefits and AB 3042 which enhances sentences for child prostitution. Yee had 12 bills chartered into law in 2005. Included in his bill package were AB 800 which ensures a patient's medical records include his/her spoken language, AB 1179 which would have banned the sale of violent video games to children (which was later declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court.), and AJR 14 which states that California officially opposes the weakening of the federal offshore oil drilling moratorium Following news of the "
Hot Coffee mod" in
Rockstar North's
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Yee claimed that the
Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) knew about it in advance and criticized them for not rating the game "adults only". The controversy resulted from the Hot Coffee mod created by personal computer users of the game using hacking tools to create a modification to play a "minigame", or game-within-a-game, which was otherwise inaccessible to players. In response, Rockstar removed the content used for the modification. That same year, Yee passed
California Assembly Bills 1792 & 1793, a video game bill that criminalizes sale of video games rated M to children under 18 and require retailers to place M-rated games separate from other games intended for children. Yee's bills passed in part to mass media concentration on the speculative link between video game violence and real world violence, as well as several support of concerned parent groups. The bill was signed into law on October 7, 2005, and the
Entertainment Software Association (ESA) filed a lawsuit 10 days later. After the bill passed, it was ruled to be unconstitutional by Judge Ronald Whyte. The adverse ruling required the state to pay $324,840 to the ESA in legal fees. (This law was eventually argued before the
U.S. Supreme Court in 2010 in
Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, in which the court struck down the law as unconstitutional.)
2006 Yee had 10 bills signed into law in 2006. Notable bills included AB 1969, which increases renewable energy production in the state,
AB 2581, which aims to protect student free speech and prohibit school administrators from censoring school newspapers and broadcast journalism, AB 409, which establishes tighter controls and higher health standards for nail salons, and AB 1207, which adds sexual orientation to the list of protections in the Code of Fair Political Practices.
California Senate On June 6, 2006, Yee defeated his opponents
Mike Nevin and
Lou Papan to win the Democratic nomination for the
California State Senate. In the final vote tally certified on June 27, 2006, by San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum, Yee gathered 51.9 percent, Nevin received 35.4 percent and Papan took 12.7 percent of the vote. Since Jan 1, Nevin spent $887,562.80 of campaign contributions, Yee spent $673,372.59 and Papan ran a modest campaign, spending just $289,862.64. He was elected to the
California State Senate in the November 7, 2006 election by a landslide of 77.5% of votes cast. With
San Francisco and
San Mateo County having a high Democratic base Yee was elected on November 7, 2006. • Appropriations • Business, Professions and Economic Development • Governmental Organization • Human Services • Labor and Industrial Relations • Select Committee on Biotechnology • Select Committee on California's Wine Industry • Select Committee on California's Horse Racing Industry • Select Committee on Integrity of Elections • Select Committee on International Business Trade Yee formerly In 2006 Yee was named to the Gun Violence Prevention Honor Roll by the
Brady Campaign for his efforts that included co-authoring a first-in-the-nation bill to require new semiautomatic handguns be equipped with ballistics identification technology known as
microstamping. In May 2012, together with
Kevin de León, Yee proposed legislation to ban any semi-automatic rifle that used a
bullet button that makes the rifle a "fixed magazine rifle." SB 249 would ban conversion kits and rifles. According to his press release, "Absent this bill, California's assault weapon ban is significantly weakened. For the safety of the general public, we must close this loophole." Yee is quoted as saying, "It is extremely important that individuals in the state of California do not own assault weapons. I mean that is just so crystal clear, there is no debate, no discussion."
2007 Yee had 11 bills signed into law in 2007. Included in these bills was SB 279, making it unlawful to park cars for sale, deemed a public nuisance and traffic hazard, along public roads, SB 190, which brings more transparency to the compensation practices of administrators at the University of California and the California State University, SB 523, which increases the quantity of child support payments collected in San Mateo County, and SCR 52, which declares the legislature "finds that joint governance of the University of California Retirement Plan is necessary to ensure that significant pension plan decisions are based on full and accurate information, to prevent conflicts of interest from impacting the management and performance of the University of California Retirement Plan, and to ensure that the University of California Retirement Plan is financially sound and well managed in a fair and appropriate manner." On April 12, 2007, Yee criticized the United States Army's plan to spend $2 million in tax dollars to sponsor the Global Gaming League. Yee claims the military individuals on the site are "desensitized to real-life violence through the online violent video games." On August 29, 2007, Yee again criticized the ESRB, this time for not disclosing what content was removed from
Manhunt 2 to re-rate the game from an AO rating for violence to the ESRB Mature rating. Yee asked the
Federal Trade Commission to investigate the change in rating. In response, ESRB president
Patricia Vance stated the details for a product that has not yet been released will not be disclosed.
2008 Yee had fourteen bills signed into law in 2008. SB 1217 allows public oversight of the state bar pilots commission, SB 1356, which aims to protect victims of domestic violence from the threat of jail when they refrain from testifying against their abuser in court, SB 1370, which protects teachers from the retaliatory action of school officials as a result of student speech, SB 1696, which states that contracts between a government and a private entity should be subject to the same disclosure requirements as other public records, and SB 1419, which creates a double-fine zone on 19th and Van Ness Avenues—an area with a historically high pedestrian collision rate. Yee and Assemblyman
Ted Lieu of Los Angeles challenged the legality of the
LPGA's English language policy, resulting in a revision of policy by the end of 2008. Yee introduced
SB 242, prohibiting businesses from denying services to customers that don't speak English (a modification of the
Unruh Civil Rights Act). in California. The bill was vetoed by Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger on October 11, 2009. On January 23, 2008, during a committee meeting, Yee announced his opposition to the health care plan sponsored by Governor Schwarzenegger and supported by a majority of Democrats in the California State House and Senate, while opposed by a majority of Republicans. Yee's opposition along with the opposition of Democratic Senator and Health Committee Chair
Sheila Kuehl led the
New York Times to predict that California's healthcare bill would be effectively killed.
2009 Yee had 9 bills signed into law in 2009. He wrote SB 340, which requires businesses to list all automatic renewal offer terms and obtain customer approval, SB 13, which provides $16.3 million for domestic violence shelters, SB 786, which preserves an individual's right to enforce open government laws, and SB 447, which reforms the criminal background check laws for people seeking employment at youth organizations. This action has been met with criticism from gamers that the Californian state senator is wasting resources on a law already judged unconstitutional at a time when the state is already facing economic problems
2010 In 2010 Yee introduced SB 1451, a bill that ensures California students do not learn from a modified curriculum designed by Texas-based textbook publishers. He wrote SB 399, a bill that would give a juvenile sentenced to life in prison without parole, the right to ask for a court review after ten years. He also introduced SB 920, a bill allowing Californians to opt out of having phone books delivered to their homes. The Senate rejected the bill, however. The remainder of Yee's bill package focuses on consumer protection, child safety, government transparency, None of his bills have been signed into law this year. Yee was also the third largest taxpayer-funded gas card spender in the senate for 2010 costing $5,314.66. A spokesman said he commutes daily from the
state Capitol to his district to hold daily and evening meetings to better serve his constituents. In April 2010, Yee filed a public records request to discover if any state funds were used by California State Stanislaus Foundation to hire and pay former
Alaska Governor
Sarah Palin $75,000 to speak at the school's 50th anniversary celebration on June 25. The foundation refused to divulge any information about the fees paid to Palin. In response, Yee introduced SB 330, which would require groups to abide by California's Public Records Act. In response to the disclosure, Yee said, "It's rather disappointing that Sarah Palin is asking for nearly $100,000 to speak at this anniversary event when we're looking at state increases in student fees, cancellations of classes and the fact that this money could be going to scholarships… She could do wonders for all of us ... by taking this money and donating it back to the foundation." The fundraising gala raised a then record $200,000 profit for the Cal State Stanislaus Foundation.
2011 California State Assemblyman
Paul Fong had introduced Assembly Bill 376, a legislation intended to ban a method of harvesting shark fins, but the details of which also stipulates that any commercial or culinary use of
any shark's fin become banned, in particular ''
Shark's fin soup, which Assemblyman Fong describes as: "Anything that is unhealthy, that the culture is practicing, we should stop doing it. We used to
bind women's feet and that was unhealthy for the woman"''. In what may be a described as a cynical analogy with a long obsolete practice of foot binding is echoed by Hawaii's former first lady
Vicky Cayetano who states that:
"shark fin soup is about as cultural as bound feet", however, Senator Leland Yee, while voicing his concern about the illegal shark finning trade, argued that the mentality behind AB376 constitutes
"the wrong approach and an unfair attack on Asian culture and cuisine... rather than launch just another attack on Asian American culture, the proponents of the (blanket) ban on shark fin soup should work with us to strengthen conservation efforts". Critics said the bill unfairly targeted the Chinese-American community because it only restricts the sale of shark fins, which are used almost exclusively in Chinese cuisine. The bill does not apply to other shark products like oil or meat. "I think what is most insidious about this particular bill is that it sends a very bad message, not only to us in California but to the rest of the world, that discrimination against Chinese-Americans is OK," Yee said. On January 19, 2011, conservative political commentator
Rush Limbaugh mocked Chinese president
Hu Jintao during his visit to the
White House on his radio show. "Hu Jintao — he was speaking and they weren't translating. They normally translate every couple of words. Hu Jintao was just going
ching chong, ching chong cha," said Limbaugh, who imitated Hu's speech. Yee criticized Limbaugh for his remarks: "His classless act is an insult to over 3,000 years of cultural history, and is a slap in the face to the millions of Chinese Americans who have struggled in this country and to a people who constitute one-quarter of the world's population." He demanded an apology from Limbaugh for what he and others view as racist and derogatory remarks. He also organized with civil rights groups—including
Chinese for Affirmative Action,
Japanese American Citizens League and the
California National Organization for Women—to boycott companies that advertise on
Limbaugh's talk show.
2014 On January 30, 2014, Yee voted in favor of
California Senate Constitutional Amendment 5. The proposed bill asked California voters to repeal provisions of
Proposition 209 and to permit state universities to consider an applicant's race, ethnicity or national origin in making admissions decisions. After hearing strong opposition to the bill from Asian-American community, Yee, along with Senators
Carol Liu and
Ted Lieu who had also voted for the bill, jointly issued a statement on February 27, calling for the bill to be withheld pending further consultations with the "affected communities."
Arrest and conviction on corruption charges and arms trafficking An affidavit was filed on March 14, 2014, and unsealed on March 26, 2014, charging Yee with violating Title 18 United States Code Section 1343 and 1346 for honest services wire fraud by allegedly taking bribes from Well Tech,
Ghee Kung Tong, and for medical marijuana legislation from undercover FBI agents in return for promises of official action; and Title 18 US Code Sections 371, 922(a)(1) and 922(1) for conspiracy to deal firearms without a license and to illegally import firearms from the Philippines by setting up an international weapons trafficking deal with undercover FBI agents. Yee was arrested on March 26, 2014, and charged with six counts of depriving the public of honest services and one count of conspiracy to traffic guns without a license. He was released on $500,000 bail. The FBI raided Yee's office at the California State Capitol and the San Francisco Chinatown office of the
Ghee Kung Tong fraternal organization. This was linked to the arrest, on March 26, 2014, of
Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow. Federal prosecutors on July 25, 2014, added charges of racketeering for trying to get campaign contributions from the owner of an unnamed National Football League team in exchange for supporting legislation favored by league owners and opposed by some players. On July 1, 2015, Yee pled guilty to charges of racketeering. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison on February 24, 2016, Yee placed fifth in the nonpartisan primary election. In November 2012, Yee declared that he would run for
secretary of state of California in 2014. On March 27, 2014, after being arrested on corruption charges, Yee's attorney stated that Yee would withdraw his candidacy for Secretary of State of California. Despite the charges pending against Yee, and his withdrawal from the race, Yee received 9.8% of the vote in the non-partisan primary for Secretary of State. Yee's 2010 mayoral race ended in debt, and financing his first statewide race for California Secretary of State in 2014 was problematic. Yet Yee opposed CA Proposition 15 on the June 8, 2010 statewide ballot in California which, had it been enacted, would have raised fees on registered lobbyists in California to fund with matching grants political campaigns for qualified candidates running for the Office of the California Secretary of State as a pilot project in 2014 and 2018. ==Personal life==