GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Challenges Ahead for New Legislative Leaders
By Felipe Fuentes, AGC Legislative Advocate C
aught in the national wave of sexual harassment revela- tions that began last October
from the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the Legislature reconvened with three vacancies in the Assembly and with pending investigations in the Senate. Assemblymembers Bocanegra
and Dababneh resigned after multiple women accused each man of inappropriate sexual advances. Assemblymember Ridley-Tomas abruptly resigned citing an unspecified medical condition. As a result of these December 2017 resignations, the Governor called primary special elections to fill the vacancies in the
State Assembly for April 3. Te general elections for these special elections will be consolidated with the regularly scheduled June primary election. Te winners of these special elections will serve the unexpired terms of these resigned assemblymembers and will have to campaign concurrently for their 2018 terms. Barring any additional resignations
or election upsets, the regular 2018 election cycle will add six new senators and no new assemblymembers. Having lost its supermajority in the Assembly because of resignations, Democrats currently cannot raise taxes, pass urgency legislation, override guberna- torial vetoes or place ballot measures for voters on the statewide ballot without
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Republican legislative votes. As we move into the second year of
the 2017-18 legislative session, three of the four legislative leaders are recently selected by their peers to lead their respective houses. Assemblymember Anthony Rendon is now the “dean” of the legislative leadership, having been elected as Speaker of the Assembly by his colleagues in January of 2016. His colleagues in leadership have yet to serve a full year as leader. Here is a look at the 2018 legislative
leadership.
The Senate Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) is the
first woman and first openly gay senator elected Pro Tem of the California
with
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