[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jeremy Bearer-Friend

Last Friday, the Department of Corrections succeeded in fleecing another $2 billion from the State, thanks to the rubber stamp of the State Public Works Board. The money will provide interim financing for California's meteoric prison expansion bill, AB 900.

At 10am on March 14th, a standing room only crowd peppered with party reps and journalists from across the state awaited the start of the session. By 10:30 am, the Board had approved interim financing for all three AB 900 bonds in three separate 5-0 votes.

A letter from Senator Carole Migden, Legislative Adviser to the Public Works Board and Chair of the Democratic Caucus, explained, "Due to the State's current financial crisis, I do not believe it is fiscally prudent to authorize lease revenue bonds which will increase the State's structural deficit." Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, Chair of the Budget Subcommittee on Education, submitted a similar letter requesting a delay.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

As reported yesterday, Assemblymember Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) was formally elected this morning as the next Assembly speaker by the Democratic caucus, reports the LA Times. She will be the first African-American woman to serve as speaker, and only the second woman.

The Sac Bee’s Capitol Alert has compiled a list of a reactions to Bass’s election.State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, the chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, went as far to compare her to Barack Obama: “With Karen Bass’s election as Assembly Speaker, we are witnessing, at this historic moment, our own unique brand of ‘Golden State Change We Can Believe In’.”

Frank Russo at the California Progress Report also has kind words to say about Bass, calling her a “a Solid Progressive Who Walks the Walk.” Russo takes a look at her voting record in the Assembly, and highlights her methodical approach to getting things done (she talked to each of her eventual supporters for hours, one on one, in a private campaign).

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Los Angeles Democrat Karen Bass, the Assembly's Majority Leader, will be elected Speaker-designate of the Assembly on Thursday morning, the California Majority Report has learned.
 
Bass will be the first African-American woman to hold the post, and the first woman to serve as Speaker for a full term. Republican Doris Allen was elected speaker in a caretaker capacity from June 5, 1995 - September 14, 1995.
 
A formal vote will happen in the Democratic Caucus on Thursday morning.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

According to Capitol Weekly, it's a done deal.

Assemblywoman Karen Bass captured the speakership Wednesday night to replace Speaker Fabian Nunez following a round of closed-door meetings.

Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat and the Assembly's majority leader, received a majority of support in the Democratic caucus to win the job. Nunez engineered the deal that put her over the top. Several legislators, including some who had hoped to be speaker themselves, announced as they left the meeting that  Bass had won.

"She's got it," said Assemblyman Hector de la Torre, D-Southgate, after the final meeting.

Other than a brief few months during the post-Prop. 93 Willie Brown fallout, Bass will be the first female Speaker of the Assembly, and the first Democratic woman overall.  She becomes the 3rd African-American, and the 1st African-American woman.  2008 continues to be a year of firsts.

I also think that Bass and Darrell Steinberg well make an excellent leadership team, though it'll be somewhat short-lived, as Bass is termed out in 2010.  I can't think of many better combinations than this.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

The Capitol Weekly got the scoop:

"Assemblywoman Karen Bass captured the speakership Wednesday night to replace Speaker Fabian Nunez following a round of closed door meetings.

Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat and the Assembly's majority leader, received a majority of support in the Democratic caucus to win the job. Nunez helped put together the deal that put her over the top. Several legislators, including some who had hoped to be speaker themselves, announced as they left the meeting that  Bass had won."

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

I don’t know who will be elected—or agreed upon by the California Democratic Assembly Caucus--to be the next Speaker and to take that position when the legislature gavels down in August at the end of session. But if the interview I and a few others had with Fiona Ma last night is any indication, the process will be a bit more in the open than past races and a bit more transparent to the public. The vote will take place in private in one of the warren of back rooms behind the Assembly Chambers, but there is more of a public discussion going on than I can remember in years and decades past. And it was fascinating, even if Ma doesn’t make become Speaker, to hear her talk about how she sees the position, what she has accomplished in her first year as a legislator, and her agenda for the future.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

In the post term-limits era, it has been unusual to have a contested race for Speaker. Speakers Bustamante, Villaraigosa, Hertzberg, and Wesson were all pre-ordained. Speaker Nunez emerged as speaker after a lengthy four-way battle with now Sen. Jenny Oropeza, and then-Assemblymembers Dario Frommer and Joe Nation.
 
So this year's wide open battle -- with an election set for March 11 -- is fairly unique. The number of candidates and potential candidates is larger than it's ever been. And Nunez said yesterday he's not making an early endorsement.
 
Unlike Congress, the election will be decided by outgoing members as well as those who will be returning next year. For example, Speaker Nunez, Assemblymember Mark Leno, and other termed out legislators will get votes. Yet freshmen elected in November won't get a vote for the Speaker that will lead them (they do get a formal vote in December, but Speaker Nunez said yesterday the vote would come from within the Democratic Caucus next month, making that vote pro forma only).
 
Assembly-watchers tell me that a Speaker election is unlike any other. It's a personal, member-to-member struggle. Personal loyalties and friendships are put ahead of ideology. The role of outside interest groups is limited.
 
That said, here's the current line-up and the odds of them picking up the Speakership.
 
Karen Bass   3-1