"Assemblyman John Pérez, an openly gay Latino Democrat from Los Angeles, made history Thursday when he was unanimously chosen by the Assembly's Democratic Caucus to succeed Karen Bass as the lower house's leader," reports the Chron's Marisa Lagos.
"Pérez, a freshman lawmaker who is expected to be formally
voted in
as the 68th Assembly speaker in January, will become the body's first
openly gay leader. The Los Angeles-raised UC Berkeley graduate will
inherit a mountain of challenges, in particular the
state's staggering
projected $20.7 billion deficit through June 2011. "It's obviously an incredibly moving experience to
have the
unanimous support of my colleagues," Pérez, 40, said shortly after the
caucus vote. "I think it says more about California
than it does about
me - it means that California is a place where everybody
has a seat at
the table, that we're a state where everybody brings
forward their
contributions." "Advocates for the gay community immediately praised
Pérez's
election, calling it a historic moment for not just
the state but for
the nation." Coming soon to an anonymous sleazy piece of political
mail near you... Perez wasn't the only gay Latino to get a pay raise
Thursday. Torey Van Oot reports, " "Directors of the
state's stem cell agency voted Thursday to triple the salary of former
state lawmaker and California Democratic Party Chairman
Art Torres.
Jeff Denham is officially not running for Lieutenant
Governor. But is he running for Assembly Republican Leader? Adam Ashton reports, "Denham, R-Atwater, met in the past two days with Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, other state Republican leaders and his family before
reaching his decision to run for the 25th Assembly District seat. It
will require him to move from Merced County to Stanislaus
County --
much of which he represents now in the 12th Senate District that
includes the city of Madera." Meanwhile, Susan Ferriss reports on the fight between the Assembly and Senate over education
legislation. "The Assembly approved a bill Thursday designed to
obtain up to $700
million in Race to the Top federal education funds,
but Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger said he'll veto the union-backed proposal if it reaches
his desk. "On Wednesday, the Assembly Committee on Education
rejected a Senate version of a Race to the Top bill
that the governor favors. "The
Assembly and Senate bills were authored by Democrats
who said they're
trying to position California for a state-by-state competition for the
money." And the week in politics is hashed out in this week's Podcast with myself and KQED's John Myers. Politico has a Q&A with Rep. Judy Chu over the federal health care compromise. And finally, from our German James Bond FIles,
"German police arrested a man who claimed to be a "secret
agent"
after a high speed chase in pursuit of a car with a
blue flashing light
on its roof. "Police in the southern city of Fuerth caught up with the man after he raced past them, ignored
signals to pull over, and ran a red light as they gave
chase. "Smelling strongly of alcohol, the 44-year-old whispered only that he was "one of them," on a
secret mission and belonged to the Federal Crime Office -- a body similar to the FBI -- local police said. "A check revealed he had no such credentials." To which we say: Check again...