[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

History was made on Tuesday May 13, 2008 under the dome of the California State Capitol when Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) was sworn in as the first African-American female Speaker of the California Assembly. She is the first African-American female to hold such a high legislative post anywhere in the United States. In her speech after the swearing in ceremony Speaker Bass said she’s ready to begin tackling the many challenges facing the state.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Karen Bass is making history as we speak.  She is currently being sworn in as the first Democratic female speaker in California history. Furthemore, she is the first African-American female to be Speaker in any of the 50 states and the federal government.

Good Luck Speaker Bass. And if you are really prepared to take on reforming our tax structure, we'll be in good hands for the next two years.

With so much worth protecting and so much that threatens our economic well-being, it is far past time to move beyond simply patching over budget problems to finding a real, creative -- and bipartisan -- way off the budget roller coaster we seem to be stuck on year after year after year.(LAT 5/13/08)

by Bob Brigham [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

History will be made today at the state capitol when current Assembly Majority Leader Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles, District 47) is sworn in as the first African-American female Speaker of the California Assembly. She will be the first African-American female to hold such a high legislative post anywhere in the United States. Speaker-elect Bass will have just about 24 hours before she will know the extent of the state’s financial crisis. Governor Schwarzenegger is scheduled to release his revised budget proposal Wednesday afternoon.  Speaker-elect Bass says, regarding the state budget deficit, she’s concerned but hopeful that a balanced approach of spending cuts and new revenues can be hammered out.

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 Democratic presidential contest is getting closer to California,both on the map and on the calendar, as the Los Angeles Times reportson a heated exchanges between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on theNevada campaign trail. More California representatives are starting to make endorsements too—of note recently are Rep. George Miller and State Sen. Gil Cedillo for Obama.

Women and Latinos in California will be key to the chances of both Democrats Obama and Clinton as well as the Republicancandidates, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. But California is alsoa far cry from the wind mills and rural diners of Iowa and NewHampshire—the retail part of the campaign is largely over, and much ofthe battle will be over the airwaves and in newspapers and pressconferences. With two female Senators, a female Speaker of the U.S.House and a swelling Latino population, these groups are targetedheavily.