Richard Pan

Pan was born in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to immigrant parents from Taiwan.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University, a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master of Public Health from Harvard University.[2]

Prior to being elected to the State Senate in 2014, he was a member of the California State Assembly representing the 5th Assembly District, and after the 2010 redistricting, the 9th Assembly District. Pan was Chair of the California Asian American & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus.

Following a measles outbreak that began in California[3][4] and infected 131 people, Pan and Senator Ben Allen introduced California Senate Bill 277 in 2015, which eliminated philosophical and religious beliefs exemptions to vaccine requirements for California school children. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. Pan authored laws to expand newborn screening for severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome (AB395 in 2011), adrenoleukodystrophy (AB1559 in 2014) and all conditions recommended by the federal DHHS Recommended Universal Screening Panel (SB1095 in 2016). Pan authored legislation to extend the California Children's Services Program managed care carve-out (AB301 in 2011) and to establish the Medi-Cal Children's Health Advisory Board to guide Medi-Cal policy affecting children (AB357 in 2014). In 2021 he authored a law (SB 742) that makes illegal to "harass, intimidate, injure or obstruct" people who are on their way to get a vaccination; the law was inspired by an incident in January when protesters targeted and briefly shut down a mass vaccination site in Los Angeles.[5]

Pan and his wife, Wen Li-Wang, have two children.[6]