A long-serving California assemblyman is spending his last year in office in the pursuit of happiness.
Amid nagging crime and the rising cost of living, Democrat Anthony Rendon has created a first-in-the-nation group to examine what makes his constituents happy, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
"Because if we have everybody clothed, everybody housed, everybody has a job and they're miserable, then we've failed at what we're trying to do," Rendon said, suggesting that more lawmakers should look at how to make people happy.
The Select Committee on Happiness and Public Policy Outcomes held its first public meeting earlier this week. After hearing from experts, the committee plans to issue a report on its findings around late August.
About 1-in-4 California adults surveyed in September 2023 by the Public Policy Institute of California said that they are "not too happy," according to the AP.
Californians' happiness declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Mark Baldassare, the group's survey director. The dip is still being researched.
Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo told the AP that she hopes the committee can respond to the state of mental health among California's youth.
"It's a true crisis that we have on our hands right now," said Schiavo, a Democrat representing part of the San Fernando Valley. "This is really getting to the heart of what that crisis is about."
For his part, Rendon said that he enjoys spending spare time with his 4-year-old daughter, recounting how he took her ice skating and treated her to a donut.
"Those are the types of things that make me happy," he said.
