[6] She graduated from Wilson High School[6] and then attended Occidental College, majoring in psychology and studying abroad at the University of Madrid in her junior year.
[8] She represented the 5th district, a largely white, wealthy, and conservative part of the county,[13] stretching from Aliso Viejo to San Clemente.
"[15] In 2009, Bates joined in the Board's unanimous vote to overhaul the county Planning Department, which had been criticized in an audit for serious lapses.
[18] Bates was reelected to her seat in the November 2018 elections, despite a Democratic wave in Orange County[20] and statewide Republican losses.
[20] In January 2019, at the beginning of the session, the Senate Republicans voted to oust Bates as leader, replacing her with social conservative Shannon Grove of Bakersfield.
The law requires previously committed SVPs to return to a state hospital after completing their new prison sentence, so long as mental health evaluators agree that the inmate still meets SVP criteria.
[25] Bates authored bills to address opioid abuse and to improve regulation of facilities that shelter and treat drug addicts.
[27][28] Bates sponsored Brandon's Law, a measure that prohibits the operators of drug rehabilitation facilities from making misrepresentations or false claims about the services they offer or their location.
[38] Bates has stated that "sea level rise and coastal erosion are two major threats to California’s coast" and that "Legislators must come together to find a consensus on solutions.
[42] She also called the bill "a false promise that would ruin the state’s precarious finances and threaten funding for other critical priorities" and said the “Legislature should refocus its efforts on improving existing health programs and on helping those who do not have access to necessary care.
"[43] In 2015, Bates introduced legislation to allow Saddleback Memorial Medical Center's San Clemente campus to operate as a stand-alone emergency room in an effort to keep the ER open.
[45][46] Bates opposed the California Internet Consumer Protection and Net Neutrality Act of 2018, a California net neutrality law, sponsored by Senator Scott Wiener, that barred internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking or restricting bandwidth (throttling or delegating) services or websites and barring "monopolistic" practices among ISPs.
Bates said that net neutrality should be left to the federal government and that the law could deter telecommunications companies from investing in infrastructure in California.
The law required companies with more than 20 employees to guarantee California mothers and fathers 12 weeks of protected parental leave after the birth of a child.
[53] Bates sponsored a bill requiring the California Department of Education to report on the use of existing lockdown drills in K-12 public schools.
[54] With the support of Encinitas mayor Catherine Blakespear, Bates sponsored bipartisan legislation in 2018 (SB 1226) to make it easier to build, and issue permits for, accessory dwelling units (ADUs or "granny flats") to ease the California housing shortage.
[55] Bates co-authored legislation, signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2018, allowing the creation of an Orange County trust to help house homeless people.
[56] In August 2021, Bates and fellow Republican Mike Morrell were the Senate's sole "no" votes on legislation that extended a statewide eviction moratorium through January 2022 for tenants who suffered loss of employment and income during the COVID-19 pandemic.