Darrell Steinberg will be the Next CA Senate Pro Tem

From CHC Board of Governor Member Maureen Higgins of Sloat, Higgins, Jensen & Associates:

This morning the Senate Democratic Caucus met and agreed to make Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) the next Senate President pro tempore later this year.  The Caucus will vote and make it official on August 21.  There was no vote this morning, just an agreement to get behind one candidate at this time.  Perata will continue to lead the efforts of the Caucus throughout the remainder of this Session. At a press conference today, Padilla gave his support to Steinberg and Perata said there was consensus in the caucus behind Steinberg. Steinberg said that until the power is transferred, "you will not see an inch of difference between me and Senator Perata". 

The Assembly Speaker also gave a short press conference today.  He explained that he was going to let the process of selecting the next speaker evolve as naturally as possible, and that he is going to allow things to evolve for at least a couple of weeks before making any decisions. He discussed the importance of voting for the next speaker and said he wants to grant more time in deference to those who are interested in the position. It was hard to hear, but I believe he said the discussion would take place March 11th. He also said the November elections mean that whoever is selected this year will need to be reconfirmed next January.

See also this LA Times story on the announcement: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-senate8feb08,0,139145.story