Roger Dickinson serves as the Policy Director for the Local Government Commission, providing direction and advocacy at the state and local levels for the policies, programs, and priorities of the Commission. In addition, he works with the Housing Concepts Coalition sponsored by the Resources Legacy Fund. The Coalition brings together a diverse set of stakeholders to advocate for and support legislative and administrative steps to increase housing.
Previously, until March, 2019, Roger served as the Executive Director of Transportation California, a non-profit construction industry coalition which provides public education and advocacy to increase state funding for surface transportation infrastructure. During Roger’s tenure, the legislature passed and the governor signed SB 1, The Road Repair and Accountability Act, the largest transportation funding legislation in California history, and the voters passed Proposition 69 in June, 2018, and defeated Proposition 6 in November, 2018. As a result, California now enjoys an additional more than $5 billion per year in funding for roads, bridges, public transportation, and active transportation.
Roger was a shareholder in the law firm of Greenberg Traurig from 2015 to 2017 as a member of the Government Law and Policy Practice Group. He represented a variety of clients to assist them in working with state and local government agencies in addressing legislative and administrative issues.
Roger was elected to the State Assembly in November 2010, and reelected in November 2012, and represented the 7th Assembly District including the Cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento. In his two terms in the Assembly, Dickinson established himself as an effective lawmaker. In his first year, he achieved a 100% bill signing success rate – seven bills were approved by the legislature and all seven were signed into law. In the second year of his term, nine more bills were signed by the Governor. In 2013, 11 Dickinson bills were signed into law by Governor Brown. In 2014, his most successful year, 15 bills were sent to the Governor and all 15 were signed in law – another 100% success rate. As a legislator, Dickinson focused on issues related to environmental quality, education, health and human services for children and families, economic development, and consumer protection.
Assemblymember Dickinson served as Chair of the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee. He also served on the Assembly Budget Committee, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee #1 on Health and Human Services, the Assembly Judiciary Committee, and the Assembly Business, Professions and Consumer Protection Committee. Among other committees, he served as Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Delinquency Prevention and Youth Development. During the 2011-12 session, he served as Chair of the Accountability and Administrative Review Committee and on the Natural Resources Committee.
Prior to his election to the Assembly, Dickinson served on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors beginning in a special election in January 1994, and was subsequently re-elected to four four-year terms, serving through 2010. As a member of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, Dickinson played key roles on issues such as health care, welfare reform, economic development, clean air, improved transportation, and smart growth. He was instrumental in the building of Raley Field, home of the Sacramento River Cats; the transition of McClellan Air Force Base into a thriving economic center; the construction of a new primary health care center for Sacramento County; the conversion of the county vehicle fleet to clean fuels; the creation of Birth and Beyond, a home visitation program for at-risk families; the creation of the Dry Creek Parkway; and the turnaround of the Grant Joint Union School District; among other things. Roger also served on the board of LGC, among many other boards and commissions.
Prior to his election to the Board of Supervisors, Dickinson participated in numerous community organizations. He spent 20 years as a member of the Regional Transit Board of Directors and was chair of the board four times. In addition, Dickinson served on the board and as President of the American Lung Association of Sacramento, and chaired the Sacramento Transportation Coalition. He is the former President of the Friends of Light Rail, board member of the Sacramento Tree Foundation, and board member of Families First.
Roger currently serves on the boards of the MS Society of Northern California, the Aerospace Museum of California, and the Sacramento Tree Foundation, and is a co-founder of SMART, Sacramento Metro Advocates for Rail and Transit.
Dickinson received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley where he lettered in varsity basketball and afterward earned a law degree at UCLA in 1976. He spent seven and a half years with the California Department of Consumer Affairs where he oversaw a statewide project to improve small claims court. In private practice, he helped to form the firm of Kemnitzer, Dickinson, Anderson & Barron emphasizing automobile warranty law and sales misrepresentation cases. He has litigated cases up to the California Supreme Court.
Dickinson lives with his wife, Marj, in the Woodlake neighborhood where they have owned a home for more than 40 years.