Phillip Chen

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American politician (born 1978)

title: "Phillip Chen" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["asian-american-state-legislators-in-california", "republican-party-members-of-the-california-state-assembly", "living-people", "1978-births", "american-politicians-of-taiwanese-descent", "california-politicians-of-chinese-descent", "university-of-southern-california-alumni", "california-state-university,-fullerton-alumni", "people-from-yorba-linda,-california", "asian-conservatism-in-the-united-states", "american-wushu-practitioners", "21st-century-members-of-the-california-state-legislature", "politicians-from-whittier,-california", "academics-from-whittier,-california", "businesspeople-from-whittier,-california"] description: "American politician (born 1978)" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Chen" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician (born 1978) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Phillip Chen
image	Phillip Chen official headshot.jpg
office	Member of the California State Assembly
constituency	55th district (2016–2022)
59th district (2022–present)
term_start	December 5, 2016
predecessor	Ling Ling Chang
birth_date
birth_place	El Monte, California, U.S.
party	Republican
residence	Yorba Linda, California
occupation	Politician
module	{{infobox Chinese
hide	no
order	ts
child	yes
t	陳
s	陈
p	Chén Lì Dé}}
education	California State University, Fullerton (BA)
University of Southern California (MPA, PhD)
::

::callout[type=note] a California politician ::

| name = Phillip Chen | image = Phillip Chen official headshot.jpg | alt = | office = Member of the California State Assembly | constituency = 55th district (2016–2022) 59th district (2022–present) | term_start = December 5, 2016 | term_end = | predecessor = Ling Ling Chang | successor = | birth_date = | birth_place = El Monte, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | party = Republican | spouse = | children = | residence = Yorba Linda, California | occupation = Politician | profession = | religion = | signature = | website = | footnotes = | module = {{infobox Chinese |hide=no |order=ts |child=yes |t=陳 |s=陈 |p=Chén Lì Dé}} | education = California State University, Fullerton (BA) University of Southern California (MPA, PhD)

Phillip Chen (born April 22, 1978) is an American politician and psychologist who is a member of the California State Assembly. He is a Republican representing the 59th district, encompassing parts of North Orange County, and small parts of San Bernardino County. The district includes the cities of Brea, Yorba Linda, Placentia, Villa Park, Orange, North Tustin, Anaheim Hills, Chino, and Chino Hills. Prior to being elected to the state assembly, he was a school board trustee for the Walnut Valley Unified School District.

Education

Chen graduated from Servite High School in Anaheim. In 2002, Chen earned his B.A. in Communications from California State University, Fullerton. In 2005, Chen earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Southern California and, in 2014, also earned a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the university.

Career

Chen is the owner of a property management company.

In 2013, Chen became an Adjunct Faculty Professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Chen is a former Los Angeles County Reserve Sheriff’s Deputy. Chen was appointed by former California Governor Pete Wilson to the Governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Planning, overseeing California’s juvenile justice programs. He was a member of the State Advisory Group, Juvenile Justice Legislative Committee and Juvenile Justice Native American Committee.

Chen was appointed to serve as a Board Member for the California Physical Therapy Board and worked as a health deputy to former Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

Chen also served as adjunct faculty at California State Fullerton from 2007-2008 and at California State University, Los Angeles in 2016.

Political career

Chen was elected in November 2011 to the Walnut Valley Unified School Board and re-elected to a second term in 2015.

In 2014, Chen ran for the California State Assembly. He lost the jungle primary with a third place finish. Diamond Bar City Councilwoman Ling Ling Chang went on to easily win the general election.

Chen was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2016, when Chang left the State Assembly in an unsuccessful run for the California State Senate. He was appointed to serve in leadership as Deputy Whip to the Assembly Republican Caucus. His committee membership consists of the Banking and Finance Committee (where he serves as Vice-Chair), the Business and Professions Committee, the Insurance Committee, the Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy Committee, and the Utilities and Energy Committee.

In 2018, in the wake of California's growing mental health and homeless epidemic, Chen authored Assembly Bill 2156, to clarify and fine tune the definition of “gravely disabled”. Chen later pulled that bill from consideration by the Assembly's Health Committee. That same year, Chen also introduced AB 3005 which aimed to protect the sensitive personal information of children in foster care. Like his other bill, Chen also requested this bill to be pulled from consideration by the relevant committee.

In 2019, Chen introduced AB 517 to create a Property Crime Task Force in Orange County to prevent crimes as well as identify and arrest criminals who participate in property crimes. Chen's bill died after clearing the public safety committee.

To address the growing number of homeless encampments, Chen introduced AB 1908, the Homeless Encampment and Litter Program (HELP), putting more accountability on Caltrans in coordinating access to housing and supportive services for those who need it most. The bill died in committee with no action taken. A few days after introducing AB 1908, Chen introduced AB 2021 in an effort to preserve open space in Southern California. The bill would have required the California Department of Parks and Recreation to seek opportunities for acquiring land to expand Chino Hills State Park. The bill unanimously passed the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, but then died in the Appropriations Committee.

In 2021 Chen helped secure funds for the Titan Gateway Pedestrian Bridge at Cal State Fullerton. Chen, a graduate of the school, said that although the school is outside his district, many students are constituents in his district, and the bridge would be a great investment in the students.

Wushu career

Chen founded the CSUF Wushu Club in 1997 as president and coach. The team competed in the Collegiate Wushu Tournament for the first time in 1999. During this time, the club grew in its standing in the university and became a for-credit course. Chen was the tournament director of the 2001 Collegiate Wushu Tournament hosted at CSUF.

Chen was an A-team member of the 1999 US Wushu Team and competed at the 1999 World Wushu Championships in Hong Kong, where he finished seventh in nanquan and tenth in nandao. A year later at the 2000 Pan American Wushu Championships, he was the Pan American champion in nandao and additionally won silver medals in nanquan and nangun. The following year, Chen was again an A-team member of both the Berkeley and Baltimore US Wushu Teams but did not compete in the following World or Pan American championships.

Electoral history

Personal life

Chen and his mother are small business owners who own and operate a property management company. Chen's brother, David, is a Deputy District Attorney with the Orange County District Attorney's office.

References

(September 29, 2016). "Chen for Assembly". The Orange County Register.
"Assembly Member Phillip Chen's Biography". [[Vote Smart]].
"LinkedIn Profile".
"Governor Pete Wilson endorses Phillip Chen for State Assembly".
"2015 Bio information for Walnut Valley Unified School District". wvusd.k12.can.us.
"CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LOS ANGELES Department of POLITICAL SCIENCE FALL 2016 PART TIME Faculty Office Hours".
"Walnut Valley Unified School District post on November 2012 election".
"Search Results for "phillip chen"".
"Rendon Announces Assembly Committee Assignments".
"Bill Text - AB-2156 Mental health services: gravely disabled.".
"Bill Text - AB-2156 Mental health services: gravely disabled.".
"Bill Text -".
"AB-3005 Juvenile case files: inspection".
"Bill Text -".
"Bill Text -".
"Bill Text - AB-1908 Department of Transportation: Homeless Encampment and Litter Program.".
"Bill Text -".
"Bill Text - AB-2021 State park system: Chino Hills State Park: expansion.".
"Bill History - AB-2021 State park system: Chino Hills State Park: expansion.".
(September 20, 2021). "CSUF celebrates receiving $2 million in funding".
(September 29, 2021). "CSUF honors support for pedestrian bridge, arboretum funding".
Ramos, Michelle. (2007-05-01). "Wushu Club Strikes Campus". [[Daily Titan]].
(2020-08-12). "CSUF's Wushu team competes at tournament". [[Daily Titan]].
Kalamian, Raffi. (2001-02-10). "2001 Collegiate Wushu Championship".
Kalamian, Raffi. (1999-11-20). "1999 World Wushu Games Results".
Kalamian, Raffi. (2000-07-27). "2000 Pan Am Games in Brazil".
"June 3, 2014, Statewide Direct Primary Election - State Assemblymember".
"June 7, 2016, Presidential Primary Election - State Assemblymember".
"November 8, 2016, General Election - State Assemblymember".
"June 5, 2018, Statewide Direct Primary Election - State Assemblymember".
"November 6, 2018, General Election - State Assemblymember".
"March 3, 2020, Presidential Primary Election - State Assemblymember".
"November 3, 2020, General Election - State Assemblymember".
"June 7, 2022, Primary Election - State Assemblymember".
"November 8, 2022, General Election - State Assemblymember".
"March 5, 2024, Presidential Primary Election - State Assemblymember".
"November 5, 2024, General Election - State Assemblymember".
"State Bar of CA :: David P. Chen".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::