Irwin was born in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles to Dutch immigrants John and Barbara Van Egmond, and grew up in the Woodland Hills neighborhood. She graduated with a systems engineering degree from the University of California, San Diego, where she was an Academic All American swimmer.
Career
After graduating from UC San Diego, Irwin worked as an engineer for three years at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, then for five years at Teledyne. In 2003, Irwin was appointed to the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission, ran for City Council the following year, and became mayor of Thousand Oaks in 2008. In 2014, Irwin successfully ran as a Democrat in the race to represent California's 44th State Assembly district, defeating Republican opponent Rob McCoy. Irwin was reelected in 2016, defeating Republican opponent Kerry Nelson. She was reelected again in 2018, defeating Republican opponent Ronda Baldwin-Kennedy.
Legislative Efforts
Irwin is the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Veterans Affairs, and the Assembly Select Committee on Cybersecurity. She also serves on the Committees on Agriculture, Business & Professions, Higher Education, and Privacy and Consumer Protection. Irwin has also been appointed to other significant roles including the Governor’s Military Council, and as Co-Chair of the National Conference of State Legislature’s Task Force on Cybersecurity.
2015-2016 Session
During her first term in office, Irwin passed significant legislation. Irwin improved the cybersecurity of the state by mandating state agencies undergo independent security assessments, she banned powdered alcohol, expanded the ability of University of California research to be turned into real-world applications, and worked with Attorney General Kamala Harris to create the OpenJustice Web portal to provide better access to criminal justice data.
2017-2018 Session
During her second term in office, Irwin helped secure critical funding for infrastructure projects in Ventura County, including $68.6 million for a grade separation project at Rice Avenue in Oxnard,CA, and $9.5 million for emergency wastewater treatment facility repairs in Oxnard, CA. She continued her work passing significant cybersecurity legislation, enacting into law the first ever security requirement for Internet of Things devices. Irwin also significantly changed how California Community Colleges approached remedial education in an effort to get students into transfer level courses.
2019-2020 Session
In 2019 Irwin focused heavily on gun violence prevention legislation in response to the Borderline Shooting in Thousand Oaks, CA. Her legislation strengthened Gun Violence Restraining Orders, in part by allowing them to extend to up to five years. She also required law enforcement agencies to have policies about using Gun Violence Restraining Orders. Irwin also secured $3 million to support local law enforcement efforts to recover firearms from individuals listed in the Armed and Prohibited Possessors System. Irwin also authored ACR-17 which renamed a portion of U.S. Route 101 in Thousand Oaks after Sgt. Ron Helus, from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office who died in the line of duty during the Borderline Shooting. In 2020 Irwin shifted the majority of her efforts towards assisting her district’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Irwin spearheaded efforts to collect personal protective equipment for front linehealth care workers and organized blood drives during a local shortage. Irwin also brought together local governments, academics, private businesses, and non-profits to conduct an COVID-19 antibody testing study in Ventura County. Irwin worked with the group to identify reliable and available serology tests for the study, and helped coordinate the locations for the free county wide test locations. The antibody testing study was developed to not only understand the prevalence of COVID-19 in Ventura County, but was also modeled to understand the prevalence in targeted groups including first responders, low-income households, and those experiencing homelessness.
Thousand Oaks Memorial Controversy
In October 2019, Irwin pulled out of attending a fundraising event for the family of an officer killed in the Borderline shooting. An organizer of the event claimed that Irwin's withdrawal was due to the planned attendance of Ronda Kennedy, a Republican who lost to Irwin in the 2018 election. After the Ventura County Sheriff's Office also withdrew from the fundraiser, citing a policy of non-participation in political events, the event was postponed indefinitely.
Personal Life
Irwin married Jon Irwin, a corporate executive, in 1986, and has three children. After her efforts to remove provisions from the California Consumer Privacy Act in 2019, she received criticism for possible conflicts of interest based on her husband's position as COO of Ring. Irwin claimed that she consults with the Assembly's ethics officer on any potential conflicts of interest.
