Robert Rivas is Assembly speaker now. Here’s who he chose for his leadership team

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RIVAS APPOINTS NEW PRO TEM, MAJORITY LEADER

Via Grace Scullion...

New Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, announced his appointments for Speaker Pro Tem and Assembly Majority leader on Monday afternoon.

Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, will assume the role of Speaker Pro Tem, the second most powerful role in the Assembly.

Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, will be the new Majority Leader for the 62-member Democratic caucus — the largest .

Aguiar-Curry and Bryan were allies of Rivas during his long, bitter fight for the Speaker role — a fight that split the Democratic caucus.

At a news conference on Monday, Bryan said that the team would work on “building a different kind of culture in the body.” Rivas emphasized efficiency and unifying the caucus.

Replacing Aguiar-Curry as chair of the Assembly Local Government Committee is Assemblyman Juan Carrillo, D-Palmdale. Also announced on Monday was the new chair of the Agriculture Committee, Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, D-Merced. It was previously chaired by Rivas. Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz, will succeed Bryan as chair of the Assembly Elections Committee.

Rivas told the news on Monday that other committee leadership shake-ups were coming, though mostly in the next session to “minimize disruptions in the legislative year.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“New day. New Speaker. #CALeg”

- Brian Ebbert, Assembly speaker’s floor director and parliamentarian, via Twitter.

Best of The Bee:

• Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, D-Merced, has been appointed chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, which helps oversee California’s $50 billion farming industry, via Juan Esparza Loera.

This story was originally published July 5, 2023 at 4:55 AM.