Dave Cox Papers, 1988-2010

Printable guide [HTML]

Summary

Creators:
Dave Cox, California Legislator
Abstract:
California legislator Dave Cox served as a State Assembly Member from 1999-2004, and as a State Senator from 2005-2010. The Dave Cox Papers consist of 6.5 cubic feet of records reflecting the interests and political activities of Cox during his 11 years in the California State Legislature. The records contain three series: bill files, correspondence, and subject files from 1988 to 2010.
Extent:
6.5 cubic feet of textual records and 4 DVDs
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English

Background

Scope and content:

The Dave Cox papers consist primarily of Assembly and Senate Bill Files, 1998-2010. The bill files document his legislative activity during his term as a member of the California State Legislature. The bills introduced by Dave Cox include a wide array of subjects, particularly: public utilities, infrastructure, and safety; crime and prisons; local governance and state relations; public health and healthcare; and insurance, small business, and consumer protection.

Correspondence files include communications with Governors Davis and Schwarzenegger in addition to subject-specific correspondence on topics such as the state budget, energy, and application support for organizations seeking state grants. Copies of constituent mailings during his time in the state assembly are also in this series.

Subject files are largely concerned with indigenous gaming, a topic on which Cox did not author legislation, and include files on casinos in Buena Vista and Plymouth. Materials covering his 1988 run for SMUD board are also in this series.

Biographical / historical:

Dave E. Cox, Republican, was a Legislator in California, serving in first the Assembly and then the Senate, from 1999-2010. He served as an Assemblymember from 1999-2004 in the 5th Assembly District, which included Sacramento County. From 2005-2010, he served as a senator of the 1st Senate District, which included the counties of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Plumas and Sierra, as well as portions of Nevada, Placer and Sacramento Counties.

Cox was born on February 20, 1938 in Holdenville, Oklahoma. He moved to California in 1956 and attended the University of San Diego where he received a bachelor's degree in business administration in1961 and Golden Gate University where he earned a Master of Science degree in 1983. Before becoming involved in public service, Cox worked in insurance and his time in that industry informed the legislation he authored while a legislator. Cox and his wife Maggie had three daughters and six grandchildren at the time of his death in 2010.

Prior to his election to the state legislature, Cox served on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. He also served on the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Board of Directors, was a Senior Warden for St. Francis Episcopal Church of Fair Oaks, and held memberships on the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross, the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Easter Seals, and KVIE-Channel 6, where he served as Chairman in 1982. Cox had an unsuccessful run for the 6th Senate district against incumbent Senator Leroy Greene in 1994.

Dave Cox was elected to the State Assembly in 1998 where he served three terms. He was the Republican Leader from March 26, 2001 to January 5, 2004. He was elected to two terms in the State Senate in 2004 and 2008. After battling prostate cancer for thirteen years, Cox died on July 13, 2010 at the age of seventy-two. He was succeeded by Ted Gaines who won a special election to fill his seat held on January 4, 2011.

During his tenure in the Legislature, Dave Cox was a member of the following committees:

  • Standing Committees
  • Banking and Finance, 1999-2001, 2004
  • *Vice Chair, 1999-2001
  • Budget, 1999-2000
  • Business and Professions, 2001
  • Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency and Economic Development, 1999-2000
  • Health, 2000-2001
  • Insurance, 1999-2001, 2004
  • Public Employment, Retirement, and Social Security, 2001
  • Subcommittees
  • Budget - Resources, 1999-2000
  • Select Committees
  • Aging of the Baby Boomers, 2002
  • Highway Patrol, 2004
  • Workforce Investment, 2002-2004
  • Special Committees
  • Structural Challenges to budgeting in California, 2003-2004
  • *Vice Chair, 2003-2004
  • Joint Committees
  • Legislative Audit, 2000-2001
  • Rules, 2001-2004

In addition, as a member of the Legislature, he served as vice chair of the Assembly Commission on Structural Challenges to Budgeting in California, 2001-2002, and was Vice Chair of the Speaker's Task Force on the Impact of Terrorism in California, 2002.

State Senate, 2005-2010
  • Standing Committees
  • Appropriations, 2007-2010
  • *Vice Chair, 2007-2010
  • Banking, Finance and Insurance, 2005-2010
  • *Vice Chair, 2005-2006
  • Energy, Utilities and Communications, 2005-2010
  • *Vice Chair, 2006
  • Environmental Quality, 2005-2006
  • Governmental Organization, 2005-2006
  • Health, 2005-2010
  • Local Government, 2005-2010
  • *Vice Chair, 2005-2008
  • *Chair, 2009-2010
  • Revenue and Taxataion, 1997-2004
  • Subcommittees
  • Appropriations - Fiscal Oversight and Bonded Indebtedness, 2007-2008
  • *Vice Chair, 2007-2008
  • Environmental Quality - Toxic Materials, 2006
  • Health - Aging and Long-Term Care, 2005-2006
  • Select Committees
  • Asian and Pacific Rim Economic Development, 2008
  • Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, 2009-2010
  • California European Trade, 2006, 2008
  • California Infrastructure, 2006
  • California's Horse Racing Industry, 2005-2006, 2008-2010
  • California's Wine Industry, 2005-2010
  • The Census, 2009-2010
  • West Nile Virus, 2006
  • Joint Committees
  • Fairs, Allocation and Classification, 2006, 2009-2010
  • Legislative Budget, 2009-2010
  • Protection of Lake Tahoe, 2009-2010
  • Caucuses
  • Republican Senate, 2006-2010
  • Rural, 2008-2010
Acquisition information:
California State Archives acquired the Dave Cox papers in a series of two transfers, beginning in 2004 (Accession Numbers: 2004-185 and 2010-189).
Accruals:

No further accruals are expected.

Physical location:
California State Archives
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
1020 "O" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814, US
Contact:
(916) 653-2246
reference@sos.ca.gov
Website