Election Brings Major Changes to California Legislature
The midterm election has ushered in a new era in Sacramento politics.  California voters elected 31 freshman legislators to serve in the California Legislature.  This is the largest class of newcomers to be elected at once in nearly a decade with 21 new members joining the State Assembly and 11 new members joining the Senate. Additionally, several close races are still yet to be determined as ballots continue being counted.  Final results from those races are expected soon, and all of the newly elected and standing members of the Senate and Assembly will convene an organizational session of the Legislature on December 5th wherein new members will be sworn in and procedural rules for the upcoming session will be adopted.

Only days after the election, sitting members of the Assembly Democratic Caucus were joined by their newly elected colleagues to determine who would be the next Speaker of the Assembly.  The leadership position has been occupied by Speaker Anthony Rendon for the last 6 years.  During the caucus meeting last week, the Assembly Democrats agreed that Speaker Rendon would serve as their leader until June 30th, at which time Speaker-elect Robert Rivas would take over the leadership position.  Speaker-elect Rivas, the Assembly Member from Salinas, will be working with the Speaker’s office in the meantime to facilitate a smooth transition into his new role.  This important and powerful position determines how the Legislature is run on a day-to-day basis, sets major policy and Budget priorities for the caucus, appoints the Chairs of Committees and Subcommittees, and oversees resources, staffing and many other responsibilities of the California Assembly.

After the organizing Session in early December legislators will return to their districts until the new Session kicks off on January 4th.