Dean Florez

Florez has also worked on farm worker safety. California was the first state to ban wooden bench seating on farm worker vans and require front–facing seating with seat belts. He helped develop an enforcement program focused on California's rural roads that is now being modeled for national legislation.

On April 3, 2009, Florez announced that he would be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor. He later announced his support for eventual winner Gavin Newsom. He currently heads up the 20 Million Minds Foundation, seeking to drive down the rapidly growing cost of a college education by making electronic textbooks widely available.

He was first elected to the California State Assembly in 1998 and served two terms. His mostly rural district stretches across 300 miles anchored by the city of Bakersfield in the south and the city of Fresno at its northern tip. On December 1, 2008, he was named Senate Majority Leader by incoming Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).

Dean Raymond Florez (born April 5, 1963 in Shafter, California) was a California State Senator from the 16th Senate District from 2002 until the end of his second term in November 2010.