Newsom Swears in Amy Tong as Agency Leader

Gov. Gavin Newsom made it official on Tuesday afternoon, capping the swift rise of the state’s top technology official to lead the agency charged with improving the management and accountability of government programs.

In a ceremony at the Governor’s Office, Newsom administered the oath of office to Amy Tong as secretary of the California Government Operations Agency (GovOps). Like her predecessor Yolanda Richardson, Tong will have responsibility for the entities that are part of GovOps including the Franchise Tax Board, the Census Office, the Financial Information System for California, the departments of General Services, Human Resources, Tax and Fee Administration, and Technology (CDT), and the Office of Digital Innovation (ODI).

Tong, 48, was director of CDT and served as the state’s chief information officer (CIO) from June 2016 until January when, as of Jan. 1, she became the director of ODI. Newsom’s office announced the move Dec. 1, as well as her subsequent appointment to GovOps secretary Feb. 7. Tong’s extensive career at the state prior to being named CIO included time as the chief deputy director of the Office of Systems Integration and as agency chief information officer of the California Health and Human Services Agency from 2014 to 2016.

GovOps offered its congratulations on Twitter Tuesday to Tong, whose family attended the ceremony, and said: “Welcome, Secretary Tong -- a proud first-generation immigrant with two decades of state government experience.”