March 14, 2008

De La Torre, Portantino stripped of chairmanships

The first fallout of the contested speakership race hit the Assembly late Thursday. Two Democrats and one-time candidates for speaker were stripped of their chairmanships of influential standing committees.

Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, was removed as chair of the powerful Assembly Rules Committee, a job which put him at the center of the action in the lower house. The post also comes with an enviable office space and a large staff.

Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, has been tapped as the new chair.

Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, was removed as chairman of the Assembly Higher Education Committee. A replacement was not immediately named.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez made the moves as Democrats prepared to leave Sacramento for spring vacation.

Nunez spokesman Steve Maviglio confirmed the changes but would not discuss them, saying the decisions were "internal caucus business."

The moves are the first significant house restructuring since Assemblywoman Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, beat out nearly 10 other announced contenders to win the speakership in late February.

Among her opponents were both Portantino, a freshman, and De La Torre, a sophomore like Bass and a member of Nunez's leadership team.

It is unclear why those two Democrats were singled out for punishment, unlike other top contenders, such as Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, a Fremont Democrat and chair of the Governmental Organization Committee.

On Feb. 6, the day after Proposition 93 failed and opened the doors for public jockeying for speaker, a rumor spread through the Capitol that Nunez planned to push Bass in as speaker through a procedural maneuver the next day.

The story, or so it went, was that the speaker would “vacate the chair,” perhaps even with Republican votes, and put Bass up as a candidate. Nunez has adamantly denied any such plan ever existed.

But other wanna-be speakers took the threat seriously, gathering that evening to plot how to thwart Bass’ ascent.

Portantino and De La Torre were among the cohort of Democrats who met that night. But then again, so were other Democrats, who have not faced any discipline.

While Bass continues to serve as speaker-elect, no formal timetable has been established for when she will grab the reins of the Assembly. Nunez has suggested he would be willing to step down before the end of the legislative session.

Bass, who is termed out in 2010, will have, at most, a year and a half speakership.

Posted by Shane Goldmacher on March 14, 2008 8:28 AM